Film noir actress Sterling dies

Jan Sterling was a long-time companion of Sam Wanamaker

Hollywood actress Jan Sterling, best known for her film noir performances of the 1940s and 50s, has died aged 82.

Among her screen credits were Billy Wilder's Ace in the Hole and disaster movie The High and the Mighty, for which she was nominated for an Oscar.

She was the widow of actor Paul Douglas and was a close companion of the late actor and director Sam Wanamaker.

Sterling died at the Motion Picture and Television Fund's home and hospital facility in Los Angeles on Friday.

"I remember Jan Sterling as being a very funny woman," said actor Robert Arthur, who starred with her in Ace in the Hole.

"For me she was the comic relief in an otherwise grim story. She uttered the famous line: 'I never go to church because it bags my nylons'," he added.

Born Jane Sterling Adriance, her dramatic intensity and striking blonde looks made her ripe for Hollywood in the 40s and 50s.

Other acting credits included Flesh and Fury, The Human Jungle and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue.

But after the 50s she made only a handful of TV and film appearances.

she lived in London for a number of years but returning to California in 2002.

Her only son, Adams Douglas, died three months ago of heart failure.