The British actor, Dirk Bogarde, has died at his home in London at the age of seventy-eight.

He was one of Britain's best known screen stars, appearing in more than sixty films during a long career.

His early roles were as a clean-cut, quintessential Englishman and his boyish good looks made him a popular figure with audiences during the 1950s.

He achieved international fame in later films such as The Servant, Darling and Death in Venice; he was knighted for his services to the cinema in 1990.

Dirk Bogarde was also a prolific writer, with seven volumes of autobiography and seven novels all becoming best-sellers.

He never married and had no children.