Gérard Depardieu pees aboard a 'plane - in public

What class!

The headline could have been more vulgar, in keeping with the reported behaviour of one of France's best-known actors Gérard Depardieu, aboard a Paris to Dublin 'plane on Tuesday evening.

Gérard Depardieu (screenshot BFM TV report)

But why stoop to the level of the 62-year-old?

Depardieu apparently took a leak in front of fellow passengers after the cabin crew refused to allow him to use the loo just as the 'plane was ready to taxi for take off on Tuesday evening.

"'I need to piss. I need to piss,' is what Monsieur Depardieu said," according to one of the passengers aboard the flight operated by CityJet, a subsidiary of Air France-KLM.

"A member of the cabin crew informed Monsieur Depardieu that the 'plane was ready for take off, everyone had to remain seated and the toilets were locked but could be used in about 15 minutes," he told Europe 1 radio.

"The actor said he couldn't wait, so what did he do? He peed right there in front of everyone."

A spokeswoman for CityJet confirmed that an incident had taken place requiring the 'plane to return to the gate to be cleaned and causing a two-hour delay in take-off.

But the airline refused to release the name of the person involved saying simply that he had been escorted off the 'plane.

As the French celebrity news website Purepeople.com points out Depardieu is not unknown for saying exactly what he thinks or doing what he wants and has a reputation for what could politely be termed as, "his lack of social graces".

In April 2010 at the premiere of "Mammuth" in Paris he insulted a journalist who asked him why he had dedicated the film to his late son Guillaume, calling her, "A bitch."

And in August last year he was at it again, this time taking aim at French actress Juliette Binoche and questioning why she had been so successful in spite of being, "A nothing."