NEW YORK, Jan 24 — Actor Alec Baldwin yesterday pleaded guilty to a harassment charge stemming from a parking spot tussle, and agreed to attend a short-term anger management programme.

The New York actor — whose impersonation of Donald Trump on the sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live earned him an Emmy award — was released on conditional discharge after the Manhattan court hearing.

Baldwin, 60, is due back on March 27 for a compliance update on his anger management class.

He was arrested in November after punching a 49-year-old man in the face during a New York parking dispute, police said.

The younger man has already parked his vehicle and was attempting to buy a parking ticket prior to the dispute.

Baldwin was initially charged with harassment and assault, but following negotiations with the prosecutor pleaded guilty to the lesser harassment charge.

The actor, who gave no statement as he left the courthouse, is well-known for his strong personality and hot temper.

In 2014, he was detained by New York police for riding his bicycle the wrong way down a street.

In late 2013, NBC scrapped his late-night chat show after he allegedly subjected a photographer to a homophobic slur outside his apartment on the day that a Canadian actress convicted of stalking him was jailed.

And in 2011, he was thrown off a plane for "extremely rude” behaviour after refusing to turn his cell phone off. — AFP