HONG KONG • When residents of an apartment block complained of a foul smell, firemen broke into a unit and found the dead body of former actress Li Ching, once the queen of Hong Kong's fabled Shaw Brothers Studio.

Apple Daily reported that the 69-year-old, who lived alone, had apparently died days ago.

No foul play was suspected, the newspaper added, and efforts are being made to contact her family.

Born in Shanghai in 1948 as Li Guoying, she was raised in Hong Kong and joined Shaw Brothers when she was just 15.

In a career that spanned 19 years, she appeared in more than 60 movies with co-stars including Ti Lung and David Chiang.

Apple Daily noted that she once lived on the Peak, an enclave of expensive homes in Hong Kong.

But life was not always rosy, with the death in 1979 of her boyfriend of 10 years and that of her mother in 1983. Shortly after the second blow, she bowed out of acting.

Her death follows that of another Shaw Brothers star, Ching Li, in December last year. She was 72.