Pauline Collins, Star of Shirley Valentine, Passes Away at Eighty-Five Years Old

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

Her passing was peaceful in her London residence, in the company of her family after battling Parkinson's for several years, as stated by her family.

Her legacy will be defined for her portrayal of unhappy homemaker Shirley in the director's award-winning motion picture, based on the acclaimed theatrical production by Willy Russell.

Her praised acting also earned her the Golden Globe Award for best actress as well as a Bafta.

'Witty Presence'

Collins' family said in a statement: "Pauline was so many things to countless individuals, playing a variety of roles in her life. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on theater and film. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens."

"Her memory will endure as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine - a role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her magic was contained in each one of them."

They added she was their "loving mum, our beloved grandmother and great-grandmother", and actor John Alderton's "eternal partner"

"Kind, humorous, giving, considerate, intelligent, she was constantly supportive," they said, thanking her carers, who looked after her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"

"She experienced a more peaceful goodbye. We ask that you recall her at the height of her powers; radiant and energetic; and allow us privacy to contemplate a life without her"

Stage Success

Collins first played the lead part of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in the UK capital 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 earned several awards including a prestigious Tony award.

The film of the same name was launched shortly after.

Her other films included 1991's City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which gained her international fame worldwide.

Born in Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised near the city of Liverpool and started out her career as a educator.

Her love of the stage inspired her to pursue acting on a side basis, and in 1957 she appeared briefly 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 Theatre.

Following several theater parts, she used her Liverpool accent to land a role on the show The Liver Birds.

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

The couple performed together in a number of television and film roles, such as the series Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she portrayed a servant in the acclaimed ITV program.