Nick Nolte arrested on suspicion of drunken driving

Actor Nick Nolte in a booking photo released Thursday by the California Highway Patrol.

LOS ANGELES (CNN) -- Actor Nick Nolte is free on $2,500 bail after being arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, the California Highway Patrol said Thursday.

Nolte, 61, failed a field sobriety test after being pulled over by a CHP officer Wednesday on the Pacific Coast Highway near Malibu, said Capt. Dan Bower, a Highway Patrol spokesman.

A CHP officer was giving someone a ticket when he heard tires squealing and saw a black Mercedes swerving across the highway, Bower said. The officer pulled over the vehicle, gave Nolte the field sobriety test and took him to a highway patrol station after he failed.

There was no immediate comment from Nolte or his lawyers.

Nolte was "weaving and driving erratically" and his speech was "slow and slurred" when stopped, Bower said. Authorities are awaiting the results of blood tests taken after Nolte's arrest before Malibu municipal prosecutors decide whether to bring charges, he said.

Nolte has appeared in more than 50 films since the 1970s. He was nominated for an Academy Award for best actor in 1991 for his performance in "The Prince of Tides."