Hollywood star Patricia Morison has died at the age of 103, after 80 years of work on the stage and screen.

The original star of Kiss Me, Kate died at her home in Los Angeles on Sunday May 20 of natural causes, local reports claim.

She had gone into acting just as Hollywood's Golden Age was drawing to a close, making her name in films including The Song of Bernadette and The Fallen Sparrow.

Patricia would often bag roles that portrayed her as the villainess or 'other woman', thanks to her cascading dark locks that would tumble to her hips.
Patricia in the 1939 film The Magnificent Fraud - she'd styled her hair this way specifically so it would draw more attention to her face (
Image:
Moviepix)
Patricia seen in 2016 when she was 101 (
Image:
Getty Images North America)
She starred in hundreds of films, TV shows and stage productions over her career (
Image:
Hulton Archive)

Her other stand-out roles on the silver screen were as Sherlock Holmes' adversary Mrs Hilda Courtney in the 1946 film Dressed To Kill, in which she starred opposite Basil Rathbone.

She also appeared in Are Husbands Necessary?, Night in New Orleans, Song Without End, Lady on a Train and, in 1945, opposite Katharine Hepburn in the romantic comedy Without Love.
Rachel York, Patricia Morison and Anne Jeffreys at the after-party for Kiss Me, Kate in 2001 (
Image:
Getty Images North America)
Patricia with actor Donald O'Connor in 1952 (
Image:
Archive Photos)
Patricia seen at a Hollywood benefit in 2015 (
Image:
Getty Images North America)
Patricia on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1962 (
Image:
NBCUniversal)

Since retiring from acting, Patricia devoted herself to her beloved painting.

She never married or had children, and had lived in the same apartment complex since 1961.

Tributes have started flooding in for the star.

American singer Michael Feinstein tweeted a picture of Patricia as a young actress, and wrote next to it: "It is with great sadness that I share that the beautiful Patricia Morison passed away peacefully this morning.

"She was one of the most talented performers of our time... and one of the most beautiful souls I’ve ever had the privilege of knowing. RIP PatriciaMorison KissMeKate."