California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger underwent surgery yesterday to repair the leg he broke while skiing with family in Idaho over the weekend, a spokeswoman for his office said.

A medical team led by orthopedic surgeon Kevin Ehrhart, who once performed hip surgery on former US President Ronald Reagan, began operating on Schwarzenegger's right leg yesterday morning, spokeswoman Sabrina Lockhart said. The operation to repair a fracture to the upper portion of his thigh bone, known as the femur, was expected to take less than two hours, she said.

The name of the California hospital where the Republican governor was admitted was undisclosed for security reasons. Schwarzenegger, 59, an Austrian-born former bodybuilder and Hollywood action star, was elected governor in 2003 in a special recall campaign that ousted Gray Davis, then the Democratic incumbent.