Paul Newman reportedly has lung cancer.
The Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid actor has been suffering from the potentially fatal disease for several months and just weeks ago had to pull out of directing a big-screen adaptation of John Steinbeck's book Of Mice and Men.
A friend of the actor - who used to be a chain-smoker - told the National Enquirer magazine: "We have known he is seriously ill for several weeks but his loved ones are being very protective and saying very little."
The legendary actor was reportedly diagnosed with the cancer at the New York's Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, a few hours drive from his Connecticut home, where he lives with his wife Joanne Woodward.
In March, a cancer patient claimed he had regularly seen Newman at the hospital.
He said: "He's been there a lot, he's even worked out in the waiting room, doing the squat thrusts. Last time, he was in there he had a long beard. Joanne is there waiting for him and being very sweet with the assistants."
However, his spokesperson played down his hospitalisation, saying Newman was "being treated for athlete's foot and hair loss".
Newman has previously denied reports he has cancer.
Meanwhile, Patrick Swayze, who announced in March he is battling pancreatic cancer, is returning to work.
The 55-year-old actor will play FBI agent Charles Baker in 13 episodes of hit US TV show The Beast.
In a statement, Swayze said: "I have searched for quite a long time to find a character that is this multi-layered, unpredictable and downright entertaining, as well as a project this current and cutting edged."
Bob DeBitetto, executive vice-president and general manager of A&E network, makers of The Beast, added: "Obviously, we've had candid conversations with him and his doctors, and we have a fairly high degree of expectation that Patrick will be good to work a full production schedule."
Swayze starred in a pilot episode of the program in January before announcing his illness, but is now hoping to complete the full 13-episode series.
In The Beast, Swayze's character teaches his rookie partner his unorthodox crime-fighting methods while secretly being investigated by an Internal Affairs team.
Australian actor and former Tarzan star Travis Fimmel will play Swayze's partner Ellis Dove. Filming is set to begin in Chicago this August.
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