A Hollywood legend who loved visiting South Devon

HOLLYWOOD legend Jean Simmons, who had family connections in South Devon, has died aged 80.

The British film actress used to play bowls at Teignmouth and Newton Abbot when she was visiting from her home in Santa Monica, California.

Simmons regularly came to visit her brother Harold in Teignmouth and sister, Edna, in Brixham.

The film star had been known to turn up to watch Harold play bowls at Bitton Park and once played at the former Teignbridge indoor centre in Newton Abbot.

The famous beauty, star of such film classics as Spartacus and Great Expectations, once told the Herald Express: "I love this part of the world and I would love to spend more time here."

The chairman of Bitton Park bowls club, Marion Brealey, said: "I met her several times. She liked to come and watch her brother playing bowls whenever she was here and I think she did have a little go. Even though she was in her later years, she still looked absolutely beautiful. She was a real lady.

"Harold her brother was a lovely chap and he loved to play at Bitton Park but he has moved out of the area now."

Miss Simmons used to stay in Bella Vista Road during her visits to Brixham.

Her interest in bowls was inspired by her father Charles Simmons, who represented Great Britain as a gymnast in the 1912 Olympic Games.

She said that she would move to South Devon and take up bowls 'like a shot' if she could sort out arrangements in Hollywood for her beloved pet dogs.

She was born on January 31 in Crouch End, North London. Her film career spanned six decades and won her two Oscar nominations. She was once married to the film star Stewart Granger.

The actress, who moved to Hollywood in 1950, first made her name playing Estella in 1946's Great Expectations.

She went on to become one of Hollywood's leading ladies, starring alongside Gregory Peck, Paul Newman and Kirk Douglas.