Susan Sarandon. (Joseph Marzullo/WENN.COM)

Actress Susan Sarandon was forced to skip her own charity fundraiser at her New York table tennis club last week after falling ill with food poisoning.

The Dead Man Walking star, 65, was due to host the Versus Celebrity Ping Pong Tournament at SPiN on Wednesday but bowed out of the bash at the last minute.

Her representative reveals Sarandon fell sick with "food poisoning", reports the New York Daily News.

However, the spokesperson insists the actress still considered the event "a huge success without her" as former basketball stars John Starks and Wally Szczerbiak showed off their skills with a ping pong ball and were named among the party's competition winners, earning big money cheques for their favourite charities.