Troubled actor Randy Quaid is being held on a $500,000 bail after the Hollywood star and his wife were arrested trying to cross into Canada from the US at the weekend.

The arrest relates to a 2010 trespassing allegation in California. Quaid, 65, and his wife Evi are being held awaiting extradition after facing charges of vandalism and squatting in a California property which the pair claim belongs to them.

After the initial charges were filed in 2010 the pair fled to Canada, requesting refugee status, claiming their lives were in danger from "organised crime". Their request was denied.

It's just the latest in the strange saga of the Quaid's apparent descent into delusional paranoia over the last decade.

Quaid, the older brother actor Dennis Quaid, has appeared in more than 90 films from The Last Picture Show, and 1973's The Last Detail, for which he earned an Oscar nomination, to the 80s hits like the Vacation comedies and Independence Day. He went on to star in Saturday Night Live and portrayed former US president Lyndon Johnson in the telemovie LBJ: The Early Years, for which he won a Golden Globe.

But around 2005, Quaid's once eccentric behaviour took an odd turn when he sued the producers of Brokeback Mountain, in which he co-starred, alleging they intentionally misrepresented the film as a low-budget art house film with no prospect of making money in order to secure his services at below market rates. When the the film became a huge hit, Quaid sought $10 million. The film's producers agreed to pay Quaid a bonus and the suit was dropped.

Then followed a string of minor run-ins with the law before in 2009 the pair checked out of a hotel leaving a $10,000 unpaid bill. They were arrested, paid a $20,000 bond, and then proceeded to skip five court hearings before they were caught in Texas, where the pair were found erecting a museum dedicated to Randy.

They posted a $40,000 bond this time, and appeared at their next two court hearings - at the first, Evi clutched Randy's Golden Globe award; at the second, Randy wore a sheriff's badge and Evi had a credit card glued to forehead. They were promptly sent to jail, but posted $100,000 bail and the charges dropped.

Things got seriously weird when the pair began giving interviews stating that Randy was being target by a group called "Hollywood star whackers", who they allege were the people who may have "killed" actors including David Carradine, Heath Ledger and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

These "Hollywood assassins", they claim, have been trying to kill the pair for years.

"They follow us, they tail us, they tag our mobile phone, they hack our computer," Quaid said in a 2010 interview. "We believe there to be a malignant tumour of star whackers in Hollywood. It's possible for people to gain control of every facet of your life. We're not faking it.

"I am being embezzled by a monstrous ring of accountants, estate planners and lawyers who are mercilessly slandering me and trying to kill my career and, I believe, murder me in order to gain control of my royalties."

In 2011, the pair even produced a film, Star Whackers, detailing their account of life "on the run" from the Whackers.

In recent years, the Quaids have been posting bizarre video rants on their YouTube channel, denouncing the US authorities' attempts to force them back.

A Canadian Immigration and Refugee Board spokesperson said Quaid will have a detention review hearing later this week.