Hollywood star forced to work as a cleaner before penniless death despite huge fame

Dubbed the "new Grace Kelly," Irish actress Constance Smith looked destined for Hollywood glory - but instead, her life spiralled into addiction, violence, and poverty before her penniless death in 2003. Smith was born in Limerick in 1928 and grew up in grinding poverty. But in the 1950s, she was plucked from obscurity and signed to Fox Studios, hailed as a striking newcomer with the potential to rival the biggest names of the day. She even presented an award at the 1952 Oscars - an honour reserved for rising stars.

For a time, she was courted by studio boss Darryl F. Zanuck, who saw her as a muse, and she appeared opposite major names, including Jack Palance. The actor nicknamed her the "Dublin Dietrich", while others called her "an intelligent man's Elizabeth Taylor." Some critics insisted she was the next Maureen O'Hara or even Grace Kelly. But her personal life was every bit as dramatic as the roles she played. Smith married three times, including to the son of an Italian Fascist senator who dismissed her as a "shoeless Irish peasant".

Later, she wed acclaimed British filmmaker Bryan Forbes, whose credits included Whistle Down the Wind.

Reflecting on her fall from grace, Forbes wrote: "When the blow fell... the Hollywood system allowed of no mercy. She was reduced to the status of a Hindu road sweeper."

Smith's tumultuous relationship with documentary-maker Paul Rotha made headlines in the 1960s when she was jailed for stabbing him in a drunken row. Rotha later forgave her and the couple remained together on and off for decades.

As the years wore on, Smith's star faded. Hollywood abandoned her, studios forcing her into an abortion and trying to rebrand her before casting her aside altogether.

With no roles and battling drink and drug problems, she ended up working as a cleaner in London.

Former colleagues said they recognised her face but couldn't place her as the woman once tipped to conquer Tinseltown.

Despite the decline, she left behind memorable roles in films such as Man in the Attic (1951) and Impulse (1957), where her sultry, noir-like qualities shone through.

Yet Hollywood in the 1950s was oversaturated with dark-haired beauties like Jane Russell, Ava Gardner and Gene Tierney - and Smith was never given the chance to truly break out.

As the years went on and Smith failed to get the parts she felt were commensurate with her abilities, she began an embittered descent into a life of drugs and alcohol.

Constance last acted in a run of minor films made in Italy between 1955 and 1959, including a role as Lucretia Borgia in La congiura dei Borgia (1959).

None of these did anything to resuscitate her failing career. During her time in Rome, she first attempted suicide by overdosing on barbiturates.

She made her last film appearance in 1959. Film scholar Ruth Barton later remarked: "It seems regrettable that Constance Smith should have been so completely forgotten given that she was once, if briefly, a Hollywood star."

Constance died of natural causes in 2003 in London. She was 74.