Dinah Sheridan Dies,She was considered the quintessential English rose because of her elegance and quiet beauty.

The actress Dinah Sheridan, who starred in The Railway Children, has died.

Ms Sheridan, 92, who also starred in Genevieve, died peacefully at her home in Northwood, Middlesex this morning surrounded by her family, said her agent Gareth Owen.

The actress, the mother of actress Jenny Hanley and Sir Jeremy Hanley, was considered the quintessential English rose because of her elegance and quiet beauty.

She was born Dinah Nadyejda Ginsburg in Hampstead in 1920 to a Russian father and German mother who were photographers to the Royal Family.

Her first stage role came at the tender age of 12 and she subsequently went on tour as Wendy in Peter Pan which starred Charles Laughton as Captain Hook.

Ms Sheridan's film break came shortly after when she was 16 and appeared in such films as Irish And Proud of It (1938) until her momentum was interrupted by the Second World War.

In 1942 she married actor Jimmy Hanley and had three children, although one died at birth.

One daughter, Jenny Hanley, followed in her parents' footsteps and became a noted actress.

The couple appeared together in titles such as Salute John Citizen (1942), 29 Acacia Avenue (1945) and The Huggetts Abroad (1949).

Ms Sheridan's career peaked with the sparkling comedy Genevieve (1953), co-starring John Gregson, Kenneth More and Kay Kendall.