Stacy Keach hospitalized

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Stacy Keach, in Los Angeles with a touring production of the play "Frost/Nixon," was hospitalized on Tuesday for an undisclosed health problem, his representative said.

Keach, 67, plays late former U.S. President Richard Nixon in the stage production of "Frost/Nixon."

"Actor Stacy Keach was hospitalized this morning (March 17) and is in a Los Angeles hospital in stable condition," his spokesman Dick Guttman said in a statement.

He said further details would be released on Wednesday.

Keach is perhaps best known for his portrayal of detective Mike Hammer on the 1980s television show of the same name. From 2005 to 2007, he starred in the TV drama "Prison Break."

His film roles include a boxer in 1972's "Fat City," a white supremacist in 1998's "American History X" and a preacher in the 2008 "W.", about former President George W. Bush.

In a December interview with Reuters, he talked about his need to keep working and stay busy, as well as his love of the game of golf which he tries to play once a week.

He was arrested in 1984 and jailed for six months after being caught carrying cocaine at London's Heathrow Airport.

"I never went near it again," he said. "Everyone at the time said the sentence was too harsh. But it saved my life."

The touring production of "Frost/Nixon" is scheduled to end its run in Los Angeles on March 29, and there were no details on how his hospitalization would impact the play.

Director Ron Howard adapted "Frost/Nixon" into a 2008 movie of the same name, which was nominated for a best picture Oscar and had Frank Langella in the role of Nixon.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)