New York, Dec 19 : The man known as Deep Throat, the secret informant in the Watergate scandal that led to the downfall of US President Richard Nixon in 1974, has died at the age of 95.

Mark Felt, the "most famous anonymous source in American history," died in his sleep today at a California hospice, reported Bob Woodward, one of the two Washington Post journalists who exposed the Watergate affair.

The former FBI agent suffered from congestive heart failure, but the cause of death wasn't immediately known.