FILM and TV star Jean Kent, one of the biggest stars in Britain in the 1940s and 1950s, has died aged 92.

Her death was announced by author and former film critic Michael Thornton, who was a close family friend.

She had been injured in a fall at her home in Westhorpe, Suffolk and died at West Suffolk Hospital in Bury St Edmunds yesterday afternoon.

Thornton said: "I knew Jean for more than 50 years. She was a feisty, funny, outspoken character who never took herself too seriously. She knew what it meant to be a star and regarded it as her job to live up to that position and never to disappoint the public."

Kent's last public appearance was on her 90th birthday in 2011 when she was honoured by the British Film Institute.

She made 45 films during her career, starring along the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Michael Redgrave and Laurence Olivier.

Kent is also known for her regular appearance in Gainsborough Pictures melodramas, which were popular in the 1940s. More recently, her work included appearances on TV shows Crossroads and Lovejoy.