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The Scots star of The King And I, Deborah Kerr, has died, aged 86.
Born in Helensburgh, Argyll and Bute, in 1921, she is probably best remembered for her 1957 Oscar-nomated role as the governess to Yul Bryner's King Of Siam, but also starred in From Here To Eternity and Black Narcissus.
She received six Oscar nominations during her career, for roles which also included The Sundowners and Separate Tables, and was finally awarded an honorary statuette in 1994. The Academy described her as "an artist of impeccable grace and beauty, a dedicated actress whose motion picture career has always stood for perfection, discipline and elegance."
Kerr - who was awarded a CBE in 1997 - had been suffering from Parkinson's disease, died in Suffolk on Tuesday, her agent said.
Born Deborah Jane Trimmer, Kerr began her career in repertory theatre before heading off to entertain the troops during the Second World War. She scored her first major role in 1941's Major Barbara and went on to star in films over the next four decades, appearing alongside Hollywood heartthrobs including Burt Lancaster, Cary Grant and Robert Mitchum.
Despite her many roles, she will be best remembered for her sultry sex scene with Lancaster in From Here to Eternity and her dancing with Yul Brynner in The King and I.
She was always self-effacing, saying: "I am really rather like a beautiful Jersey cow, I have the same pathetic droop to the corners of my eyes", and attributed her success to "an awful lot of luck".
On receiving her honorary Oscar, she said: "I must confess, I've had a marvellous time."
She leaves a husband, the novelist and screenwriter Peter Viertel (White Hunter Black Heart), two daughters and three grandchildren.
