British actress Judy Carne was 76

Judy Carne, who starred as the 'Sock It To Me' girl on 1960s US sketch show Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, has died at the age of 76.

She became famous as a fall-girl on the show, plunging through trapdoors or being doused with water every time she said her catchphrase.

Carne was also known for her rocky marriage to Burt Reynolds from 1963 to 1965. She also had relationships with Vidal Sassoon, Stirling Moss, Anthony Newley, Steve McQueen and Warren Beatty – all detailed in her memoirs, in which she also spoke about her addiction to heroin.

Carne died at her home in Northampton, probably of pneumonia, a friend told the New York Times.

The actress also appeared in the sitcoms The Rag Trade and Fair Exchange, the 1962 comedy film A Pair of Briefs and the BBC sketch show Marks in His Diary with David Jason,and Alfred Marks and Hugh Thomas

She quit the Laugh-In show that made her name partway through the third series, complaining that it had become 'a bore', and saying that people would douse her with water on the street.

Published: 8 Sep 2015