A FADING actress who was devastated at losing her looks, hurled herself to her death from a block of flats.

In her 1960s heyday, Joanna Garcia, 55, was at the heart of London's showbusiness community.

She dated comic actor Harry H Corbett for four years and was a friend to Danny La Rue, Nanette Newman and a host of other household names.

From humble roots in her native Newcastle, she carved out a career as a singer and dancer in the West End. She claimed a place in the Young Generation dance troupe and was a member of Rolf Harris's stage show troupe.

Her work as a dancer led to television appearances in series including Dr Who, Casualty, The Bill and EastEnders.

But illness robbed Joanna of her looks, and in October last year her boyfriend of 20 years, make-up artist Bernie Browne, 55, came home to find she had thrown herself from the third floor window of their flat in Hampstead, London.

Coroner William Ransom, at St Pancras Coroner's Court on Monday, recorded a verdict that she took her own life.

Yesterday, Bernie told how Joanna's glamorous life spiralled downwards after she contracted a virus during a holiday in the Canary Islands five years ago.

"She fell seriously ill when she returned and was taken into hospital, where the doctors discovered she had cirrhosis of the liver and diabetes. Her weight plummeted from 12 stone to about seven stone and her looks started to fade," he said.

"I know that had a lot to do with what she eventually did. She became a virtual recluse. She used to say to me 'I used to look so beautiful', and, of course, to me she was still beautiful and I told her so."

Joanna had been involved in showbusiness since leaving Newcastle to be a dancer at the age of 17. But work dried up when she lost weight and her looks.

The coroner said: "This is a very sad matter of a lady who seems to have been well known in showbusiness circles."