Pauline Collins, Lead Actress of the Film Shirley Valentine, Dies at Eighty-Five Years Old

Pauline Collins, best known for her performance in the film Shirley Valentine, has died at the eighty-five years old.

Her passing was peaceful in her London care home, in the company of her loved ones after living with Parkinson's disease for a number of years, according to her family.

Collins will be best remembered for her depiction of unhappy homemaker Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning motion picture, adapted from the acclaimed theatrical production by playwright Willy Russell.

Her critically acclaimed performance won her the Golden Globe Award for outstanding actress as well as a BAFTA award.

'Witty Presence'

Her relatives released a statement saying: "Pauline was so many things to countless individuals, portraying diverse characters in her career. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on stage and screen. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens."

"Her memory will endure as the legendary, determined, lively, and insightful Shirley Valentine - a role that she made all her own. We knew all those aspects of her personality because her charm was embedded in each one of them."

The statement continued she was their "loving mum, our beloved grandmother and great-grandma", and her husband John Alderton's "life-long love"

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was constantly supportive," they said, appreciating her caregivers, who cared for her with "respect, empathy, and above all affection"

"She experienced a calmer departure. We hope you will remember her at the height of her powers; radiant and energetic; and allow us privacy to contemplate a life without her"

Broadway Role

She initially performed the title role of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in London in 1988. She received that year's Olivier Award for best actress.

A year later she reprised the role on Broadway, New York, where she picked up numerous prizes including a esteemed Tony Award.

The film of the same name was launched shortly after.

Her other films included the 1991 film City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which brought her wider recognition worldwide.

Born in Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near the city of Liverpool and started out her career as a teacher.

Her love of the stage inspired her to pursue acting on a side basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a nurse in the Emergency Ward 10.

She starred in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, playing a fictional dancer in a London adult entertainment venue, the Windmill Theater.

Following several theater parts, she used her Liverpool accent to secure a part on The Liver Birds.

Her acting career that she met her husband John Alderton. They wed in 1969 and had a family of three, their sons and daughter.

The couple performed together in a variety of screen projects, such as Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she portrayed a servant in the acclaimed ITV program.