Nina Dean was a model from Hendon with a film star husband and a Hollywood lifestyle. But beneath the glamorous surface she was fighting a severe mental illness. One year after her death, HUGH CHRISTOPHER tells her story

The walls were daubed with paint and ink, the plug sockets had been pulled from the walls; the carpet was ripped from the floor and showed scorch marks where it had been set on fire.

In the middle of the destruction sat its tortured creator a semi-clothed woman staring into space, surrounded by the horrified faces of her family.

It is hard to imagine that just a few months earlier this same woman's life could be perceived, on a superficial level, as being every girl's dream.

Nina Dean was a beautiful former model living a life of luxury in Los Angeles with her film star husband. But the gloss and the glamour merely covered up the fact that Nina was a soul tormented by paranoid schizophrenia.

It is now around one year since she took her own life.

Nina grew up at a house in Newark Way, Hendon, with her brothers Jimmy and Alex. She was an artistic, lively girl who read writers such as Jean-Paul Sartre at 13 and modelled in fashion shows at 16, following her discovery at a hair salon.

As her looks blossomed, so did her career. By her late teens, her dark, sultry features were favoured by the likes of Yves Saint-Laurent, Chanel and Valentino. In the early 80s she was regularly seen on the catwalks of Paris and Milan.

But despite this jetset lifestyle, the sensitive Nina never really enjoyed the model existence.

"I think she enjoyed the attention but hated what she called the bitchiness of the other models," said brother Alex. "It was very competitive and she didn't like that. Looking back on it now, with hindsight, she was getting ill at this stage and we didn't pick up on it. We saw it as her being sensitive. If I knew what was to come, I would have done something."

Nina left modelling in her early twenties to take a job fronting a tanning salon in Albemarle Street, Mayfair. It was here that she met Frederic Forrest, an Oscar-nominated actor (for The Rose in 1979), when he was in Britain to shoot his latest film. It was, on the surface, a textbook Hollywood romance. He, the star of films such as One from the Heart and Apocalypse Now; she, the young, glamourous girl whisked off to live a life of luxury in Hollywood.

For eight years it appeared to live up to the billing: the house in Mulholland Drive neighbouring Marlon Brando, the trips to film sets across America, the financial freedom to live as they pleased.

But only a fortnight after the couple were married Nina returned home to Hendon. She had complained of being homesick and depressed in letters, yet it was only when Alex greeted his sister that he realised how serious her problems were.

"She looked awful. She was rambling on and on without making any sense," he said. "She said she wanted to stay at home. But it got really bad over the following weeks. She was in a terrible state. She was writhing around on the floor, screaming for a Bible. It was awful.

"We eventually had to have a hospital crisis team come to the house, but it was no good. Nina behaved as if she was completely normal, and it was like we, her family and friends, were the ones out of our heads."

A few weeks later she was found sitting half-naked by her husband and members of her family after destroying a flat in Willesden, where she lived alone. Nina was sectioned under the Mental Health Act for a month, and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

"It must have been horrendous for her. It was awful going up to see her because she would say, You did this to me.' It was paranoia and hurt. After she left we tried to get her readmitted several times. But it was the opinion of the doctors at the hospital that it would only make her worse, so we looked after her ourselves.

"We knew she was ill but the words coming from her mouth or her actions would devastate you. To cope with it as a family was really difficult," said Alex.

Despite being in the grip of mental illness, Nina continued to try and further herself. She studied for a BA in humanities and was a keen, and gifted, photographer a talent she kept largely to herself. She would also spend hours poring over books she got from the library in a bid to understand her condition.

"Nina knew exactly what her condition was, what the facts were and how she could try to control it. In many ways she was more clever than the consultants and doctors she saw," said Alex.

Choosing to ignore her medication, Nina's condition began to spiral further out of control. She tried to drive her car into a bus while on holiday in Spain. She began to isolate those closest to her, divorcing her husband and shunning her family. She lived a nomadic existence, travelling around the country alone.

On June 20, 2003 aged 41 she killed herself at a flat in Muswell Hill. The coroner's report was inconclusive as to the exact cause of death.

A box of photographs she had taken, which were found at her flat, provide her legacy. These delicate, intimate portrayals, mainly of flowers, show another side to her a calm amid the chaos.

"There is a great comfort for me in her photography. To know that, for all the torment in her head, she could still see beauty in things," said Alex.

Following the discovery, the brothers joined forces with mental illness charity Rethink. They will now exhibit and sell the photographs, with proceeds going to Nina's memorial fund.

The aim of the fund is to raise awareness of severe mental illness and push for early intervention from doctors, so that the period between diagnosis and treatment, which can be up to 18 months, is significantly reduced.

Contrary to popular belief, people with schizophrenia do not have split personalities that can change instantly, nor are they dangerous. If recognised early, it is a highly treatable condition. There is no clear-cut reason as to why people suffer from it, although it has been linked to brain abnormalities, genes and stress.

"What people see of severe mental illness is usually these pieces in the tabloid newspapers saying that a man was killed in a park by a paranoid schizophrenic, or something along those lines. There is still a huge stigma around the issue," said Alex.

"The other day I was sorting through Nina's stuff. For 20 years all we had seen was Nina in pain. I came across these photographs of her when she was modelling, enjoying herself at various parties, and she looked like any normal girl. And I thought, Let's remember her for that, for the fun, vivacious girl she once was.'"

To find out more about Nina's Fund contact Rethink on 0845 456 0455.