Veteran British actress Jean Kent crushed by TV during heart attack, coroner say

                             

                         
Actress Jean Kent, who became known to U.K. audiences in the 1950s and 1960s, died after her television fell on her while she suffered a heart attack, according to a British inquest.

Kent, who appeared alongside Marilyn Monroe in The Prince and the Showgirl, was found unconscious in her home by housekeeper and friend Rita Betts the morning after suffering a heart attack. The actress had a TV stand on top of the right side of her body, Betts told authorities.



Kent was rushed to hospital but died two days later, on Nov. 30, aged 92.

Doctors concluded that her death “resulted from chest injuries preceded by a cardiac event which resulted in the fall,” according to pathologist Sheila Purdy. Kent suffered fractured ribs and bruising.

Coroner Peter Dean confirmed the account, saying Kent “died from accidental injury from a fall occurring against a background of significant pre-existing cardiac disease which may have precipitated (the fall).”

Kent, who became a post-war sex symbol and also acted alongside legendary British thespian Laurence Olivier, was born Joan Mildred Summerfield on June 29, 1921, in London. She was widowed by husband Josef Ramart, an Australian actor, who died in 1989.