Hollywood actress Sandra Bullock has been hit by another setback, with a US tabloid revealing that her father was violent towards his first wife.

In Rita Harrison's 1961 separation documents, filed in Alabama, she accused John Bullock of repeated violent behaviour, according to a US tabloid, which obtained the file.

In the papers, Harrison's lawyer claims Bullock 'committed violence on her person' and 'periodically flew into fits of rage'.

'He frequently demanded that I divorce him and told me that if I didn't he was going to get a divorce from Reno (Nevada) and I would be cut off without anything,' contactmusic.com quoted Harrison as saying.

Bullock's ex-wife also said he was an unfit father to their two daughters, Nancy and Katherine. She said her then-estranged husband never 'seemed to assume or take on the responsibilities of the children. He always seemed annoyed by family life'.

After the divorce, John Bullock met and fell in love with Sandra's mother Helga while he was working in Germany. His first wife, who is now 94 and living in Oregon, moved to Florida to bring up the couple's kids.

John Bullock's eldest daughter, Nancy, 62, said: 'What happened between my mother and father was a long time ago, and water over the dam. We've all moved on with our lives.'

The news comes just six months after Oscar winner Sandra split from her husband Jesse James over his infidelity. The couple is now divorced.