Attenborough: 'I'm still alive and kicking'

Lord Attenborough has downplayed reports that his health is fading, insisting that he is "very much alive and kicking".

Speculation had arisen after a representative for the filmmaker was quoted as telling The Daily Telegraph that he was still "not well enough" to perform after being hospitalised in December following a fall at his home.

In a statement to PA, Attenborough assured fans that he is doing well, saying: "To paraphrase Mark Twain, reports regarding the demise of my career have been greatly exaggerated."

He went on to say that he is still recovering from his head injury, but that "it remains my intention to appear in the movie Ironclad later this summer and to take up offers to appear in two further films, one of them in Hollywood, during 2010".

He added: "I am also determined to direct and produce Silver Ghost, the epic love story I have been developing in conjunction with my producing partner, Anthony Haas, over the past four years."

Ironclad, which co-stars James Purefoy and Robert Carlyle, is scheduled to begin shooting this summer.