Alec Baldwin and his daughter Ireland. He allegedly hung up on her after threatening to take an overdose / AP Source: AP

However, the 30 Rock star later blamed her mother - Kim Basinger - for the bizarre chain of events.

Sources claim Baldwin, 51, was arguing with his daughter Ireland on the phone at about midnight when he allegedly told her: "I'm tired of this. I'm going to take some pills. I'm going to end this." Then he hung up.

Ireland, 14, tried calling Baldwin back a short time later, but he didn't pick up the phone. She then called the police.

Sources said the call came in as a "possible alcohol or drug overdose".

Police rushed to Baldwin's New York home and took him to hospital.

Baldwin was examined for about 45 minutes and released.

It turns out he hadn't taken an overdose -- just an Ambien pill to get some sleep, sources said.

But if he was agitated at being hauled off to the hospital, it was nothing compared to his anger toward Basinger -- whom he allegedly accused of prompting Ireland to call 911.

At one point, Baldwin "was heard complaining that his daughter was put up to do this by Kim Basinger to embarrass him", a source said.

Another source close to the actor said pals think that Basinger made sure the incident became a media firestorm - and that the timing was suspicious.

"It's strange that this would happen so close to the Oscars," which Baldwin will host March 7, the source said.

The couple had a messy split in 2000 and a bitter custody battle. Basinger's reps did not respond to a request for comment.

Baldwin "was agitated" over the incident, a source said.

His spokesman, Matthew Hiltzik, said yesterday: "This was a misunderstanding on one person's part. Alec was quickly released from the hospital. He's completely fine."

Hiltzik scoffed at the idea that the actor was suicidal or that he had done something to harm himself.

Read more at the New York Post.