Tough guy actor Dennis Farina has been arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after a loaded gun was found in his carry-on luggage.

The weapon was discovered at a security checkpoint.

Police said the 64-year-old actor told them that he had forgotten the .22-calibre handgun was in his luggage.

Police Sgt Dennis Beacham of the LAPD's Pacific Division said Farina was booked for investigation of carrying a concealed weapon. Bail was set at £12,500.

Farina's latest film, the Ashton Kutcher-Cameron Diaz comedy What Happens in Vegas, opened on Friday.

Farina, an ex-Chicago policeman, has often been cast in the role of a mobster or police officer. He has starred in TV's Law & Order and Crime Story and in such films as Snatch and Get Shorty.