Channing charged with drunk driving

Actress Stockard Channing, who plays the fictional President's wife in the US television show The West Wing, has been charged with drunk driving.

Channing, 60, was stopped on a Los Angeles freeway last month in her black Porsche after driving through a roadblock by highway patrol officers to clear an accident.

Officers said they smelled alcohol on her breath and when she failed a sobriety test, she was arrested and charged with driving under the influence. A February 9 court date has been set in the case.

Channing, a prolific film and television actress, is best known for her role as First Lady Abigail Bartlet in the award-winning drama The West Wing.