Actress Patricia Medina, who became a Hollywood leading lady in the 1950s opposite Glenn Ford, Alan Ladd, Karl Malden and Fernando Lamas, has died in Los Angeles aged 92.

A close friend, Meredith Silverbach, said Ms Medina had been in declining health and died on Saturday.

The British-born actress was the widow of actor Joseph Cotten.

She arrived in Hollywood after World War II and initially signed with the MGM studio.

She played lead roles in Abbott and Costello in the Foreign Legion in 1950, Sangaree with Fernando Lamas in 1953, Plunder of the Sun with Glenn Ford in 1953, Botany Bay with Alan Ladd in 1953 and Phantom of the Rue Morgue with Malden in 1954.

Ms Medina wrote an autobiography, Laid Back in Hollywood, in 1998.

At her peak she was described as “the most beautiful face in England”.

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