LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The B-movie actress allegedly murdered by music producer Phil Spector was a temperamental diva who once joked about suicide, a writer who worked with her told jurors here Tuesday.

Lana Clarkson, who Spector is alleged to have shot dead, was disappointed at the way her acting career had panned out shortly before she died, writer John Barons told Los Angeles Superior Court.

Defense lawyers say Clarkson, 40, shot herself in the foyer of Spector's castle-like mansion just a few hours after meeting the 67-year-old rock legend for the first time in February 2003.

Barons, a part-time bartender, said he had originally cast the statuesque blonde to play her idol Marilyn Monroe in December 2002 but fired her one month later because of her demanding ways.

Questioned by defense attorney Roger Rosen, Barons painted a picture of an actress slowly coming to terms with the fact she would never find stardom.

"If you don't make it in this business by the time you're 40, you might as well give up," Barons quoted Clarkson as saying.

Clarkson, best known for roles in 1987's "Amazon Women on the Moon" and 1991's "The Haunting of Morella," also said if her prospects didn't improve she "might as well find a bridge," Barons testified.

"I'm sure she was kidding," Barons added.

Barons described Clarkson as an "eager" and "ready-to-go" actress who arrived at one audition dressed as Monroe. "The passion was more for fame, but she enjoyed acting," he said.

Clarkson had been difficult to work with and demanded numerous changes in the script, Barons said. She was fired after she announced to other cast members that she had rewritten the play, he testified.

Spector, best known for creating the groundbreaking "Wall of Sound" recording technique, is regarded as one of the most influential figures in rock-pop music history.

Famed for his work with The Beatles, Tina Turner, The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes and The Ramones, he faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.