Lancaster Stable After Moderate Stroke : Actor: Oscar-winning movie star is having trouble speaking, his doctors say.

Doctors treating Burt Lancaster confirmed that the 77-year-old actor, who has been plagued with failing health in recent years, suffered a moderate stroke and was having trouble speaking, a family spokesman said Saturday.

Scott M. Ostrow, a longtime friend and financial adviser, said during a press conference at Los Alamitos Medical Center that the Oscar-winning film star and onetime acrobat was in stable condition and that he was in “fine” spirits.

Ostrow added that Lancaster “has some right-side weakness as well as some difficulty in speech.”

“Mr. Lancaster, his family, his wife, are overwhelmed by the public expression of concern and sympathy,” Ostrow told reporters outside the private hospital.

“Doctors have advised us that it will be several days before they will be able to give us a full report as to the nature and extent of his treatment and recovery,” Ostrow said, adding that the stroke was the first for the actor, who celebrated his birthday Nov. 2.

Ostrow’s statements provided the first details about complications after the actor’s collapse Friday morning at the John Douglas French Center for Alzheimer’s Disease, located a block from the north Orange County hospital.

Lancaster was rushed to the medical center at about noon after he “felt faint” while visiting an unidentified friend, who is a patient at the Alzheimer’s disease facility, Ostrow said.

Hospital physicians and Lancaster’s personal doctors put the actor through tests Friday to determine the extent of the stroke, Ostrow said. Lancaster’s private physician, Dr. Gary Sugarman, who was chauffeured to the hospital, declined to say Friday how long Lancaster would remain there.

Ostrow’s comments suggested that his friend of 44 years would stay in Orange County while further tests were conducted. Hospital officials said Saturday afternoon that Lancaster would remain at the hospital at least until today.

Los Alamitos Medical Center and John Douglas French Center officials, citing patient confidentiality and the wishes of Lancaster’s family, have kept a tight clamp on information regarding the actor’s condition.

Lancaster, who starred in more than 60 films during his long career, has had sporadic health problems for the last 10 years.

In January, 1980, Lancaster was operated on for abdominal problems and underwent heart bypass surgery in August, 1983. In 1988, the actor was released from the film “Old Gringo” because of health problems.

Most recently, Lancaster had leading roles in such films as “Field of Dreams,” in which he played a soft-spoken, white-haired doctor; “Local Hero,” and “Rocket Gibraltar.” He won an Academy Award in 1960 for his portrayal of an evangelist in “Elmer Gantry.” He shared an Oscar as co-producer of the 1955 best picture, “Marty.”