A legendary Jewish Hollywood publicist was shot and killed in Beverly Hills on her way home from the premiere of the new Christina Aguilera film.

Ronni Chasen, 64, who represented stars including Natalie Wood and Morgan Freeman, was found dead in her car after being shot several times in the chest.

She was driving down Sunset Boulevard at the time, and police found the car crashed into a lamppost.

Hours earlier she had been mingling with celebrities at the opening night of the Cher film Burlesque.

Born in New York, she founded the Chasen & Company publicity firm.

Howard Bragman, a film publicist who worked with Ms Chasen, told the Los Angeles Times that she had been very well-respected in the industry.

He said: “She had been doing this forever. She had a lot of class, a lot of style and a lot of intelligence.”

Actor Steve Martin paid tribute to her on Twitter. He said: “Au revoir Ronnie Chasen, a Hollywood staple whom I worked with throughout my career.”

Police investigating what happened are looking at CCTV footage for clues.