Cary Elwes was airlifted to hospital after bitten by a rattlesnake at his home in California. The 59-year-old was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre in LA

Hollywood star Cary Elwes was recovering today after being bitten by a rattlesnake.

The British actor, star of such films as The Princess Bride, was working in the back garden of his Mailbu home in California when the reptile struck.

Elwes, 59, was airlifted to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles on Saturday.

It is unclear where he was bitten.

According to the US website TMZ, the injury was so severe “people around him felt it was a life-threatening injury”.

Symptoms from rattlesnake bites include numbness in the face of limbs, nausea, sweating and light-headedness.

People can usually experience pain, tingling, or burning with puncture marks visible.

In most treated cases, people fully recover from rattlesnake bites and are discharged from hospital with pain medication.

Elwes is no stranger to injuries leading to hospitalisation.

During the filming of The Princess Bride he was accidentally knocked out during a fake fight scene and required stitches.

After returning to set, he was then taken to hospital again when he broke a toe.

Elwes is the son of portrait painter Dominic Elwes.

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His acting credits are long, including playing Robin Hood: Men in Tights as well as role in the movies Hot Shots!, The Jungle Book, Days of Thunder, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and The Alphabet Killer.

He has also starred in The X-Files, Seinfeld and Stranger Things on television.

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