Actress Bella Emberg was more than three-and-a-half times over the drink-drive limit when she collapsed and died on her bathroom floor, an inquest has heard.
The much loved performer - best remembered for her role as Russ Abbot's comedy sidekick Blunderwoman - was discovered at her home on January 12th this year by her housemate, Rosemary Ellis, the hearing was told.
The 80-year-old actress had gone to the toilet when she was found slumped against the door by her friend at around 1am on Jnaury 12th, the inquest heard.
Paramedics and police were called to the house in leafy Raynes Park, near Wimbledon, in south west London.
They managed to pull her out of the small space by the toilet door and into the hallway, the inquest heard.
But she could not be resuscitated and was declared dead at the scene.
Tests were done on her blood which showed she was three-and-half times over the legal limit to drive, the hearing was told.
Westminster Coroner's Court heard that the actress had 286 milligrams of alcohol in 100 millilitres of blood - the legal limit to drive is 80.
Coroner's officer Tracey Hull read a statement which said: "Her friend who lived with her tried to get a response from her but could not.
"She had last seen her get up and go to the toilet in the night.
"Police were called and an ambulance attended and she was found unresponsive on the floor.
"Her death was recorded on the scene at 1.20am.
"She had a long comedy career spanning 60 years and was best known for playing Blunder Woman."
Paramedic Steven Glover told the court in a written statement he managed to squeeze his arm through the door and pull Ms Emberg into the hallway.
PC Rebecca Mills, who was at the scene, added: "There was no sign of of alcohol misuse or any suspicious circumstances.
"From my memory everything appeared to be normal."
Described as a "huge comedy talent", Bella Emberg was most fondly remembered for her character Blunder Woman, the comic sidekick of hapless superhero Cooperman, in the 1980s television programme The Russ Abbot Show.
She also made appearances on shows including Doctor Who, Z Cars and The Benny Hill Show, in a career spanning six decades.
A post mortem examination by Dr Athanasis Vargiamidou found she died from "alcohol toxicity".
Assistant Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe said: "That's around three-and-a-half times the legal limit for driving so I find Ms Emberg was intoxicated at the time prior to her death as anything between 100 and 200 is considered intoxicated.
"There is nothing in her medical notes to suggest she was a heavy drinker, police found no evidence of chronic alcohol misuse.
"Police determined the death to be non-suspicious.
"I think this is a case of alcohol toxicity and I will record she died as a result of alcohol toxicity and my conclusion is her death was due to misuse of alcohol."
At the time of her death Ms Emberg had just finished filming a new Sky One comedy, In the Long Run, which was created by Idris Elba and also starred Bill Bailey.
When she died in January her passing prompted a flood of tributes from family, friends, colleagues and fans, although no family or friends attended the inquest.
Mr Abbot called her "a woman of immense warmth and generosity".
Emberg insisted the Blunder Woman character had been a positive thing, despite struggling to find work since the show finished in 1996.
Actor Les Dennis described her as a "funny, lovely friend", after her death, while comedian Bobby Davro called her "a true comedy talent".