Actress and Tv producer Nancy Malone has died, aged 79.

The star of 1960s Tv drama Naked City died of pneumonia related to a battle with leukaemia on Thursday (08May14) at a hospital in Duarte, California.

She was Emmy nominated in 1963 for her work on the show and she won the Tv prize in 1993 as one of the producers of Tv special Bob Hope: The First 90 Years. She also earned two other nominations as a director.

Malone also co-founded the Women in Film nonprofit organisation, which is dedicated to helping women in entertainment and the media.

Women in Film bosses handed her their Crystal Award in 1977.

She also appeared in one of Tv's first soap operas, The First Hundred Years, The Long Hot Summer, Bonanza, The Fugitive, The Partridge Family, Big Valley, The Rockford Files, The Andy Griffith Show, Hawaii Five-0 and The Twilight Zone.

As a producer, she oversaw Tv movies including Sherlock Holmes in New York and The Violation of Sarah MCDavid, and she directed episodes of Dynasty, Melrose Place and Beverly Hills, 90210.