"Maybe I am, in some way, obnoxious," Hugh Grant once said. With characteristic hesitancy he added: "I must say, I watch myself doing interviews on TV and I think, 'Yeah, that is sick-making'."

Paparazzi photographer Ian Whittaker probably shares this view.

The comic actor allegedly assaulted Mr Whittaker earlier this week with a tub of baked beans.

It is just the latest incident in Grant's eventful career and his love-hate relationship with the British media.

He was once the pin-up boy of British acting, with box office hits such as Four Weddings and Funeral and Notting Hill. The critics still largely admire his acting performances and he has even appeared in a Woody Allen film.

But he is now routinely referred to as a "grumpy luvvie" in the tabloids following the break up of two celebrity relationships.

He and Imran Khan's ex-wife Jemima Khan became an item in 2004 but they separated earlier this year, just as Grant's former girlfriend Liz Hurley was preparing to get married.

Grant's relationship with Hurley lasted almost 13 years, before ending in 2001.

It famously survived Grant's encounter with Los Angeles prostitute Divine Brown in 1995. He was fined and given two years probation for indecent conduct in a public place.

At the time of his arrest Grant's uncomfortable looking mug shot was blazoned over the world's press. But then Hurley forgave him after "tearful" phone calls and his public apology on an American chat show.

In 2004 Grant announced that he was giving up acting, citing lack of interest. But films staring the foppish actor have continued to appear.

These include the successful Music and Lyrics earlier this year. In it he played a washed up pop star alongside his friend Drew Barrymore.

Grant has come a long way since growing up the son of an executive carpet salesman in Chiswick.

In 2004 one friend told the Telegraph "Hugh lives his life as though he is in an Evelyn Waugh novel."

That at least is the public image that Grant would like to cultivate, but there are no Los Angeles prostitutes or tubs of baked beans in Brideshead Revisited.