The Renowned Actress Pauline Collins, Lead Actress of Shirley Valentine, Passes Away at the Age of 85

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

She died peacefully in her London residence, in the company of her loved ones after battling Parkinson's disease for several years, according to her relatives.

Collins will be best remembered for her depiction of disgruntled housewife Shirley in the director's award-winning motion picture, based on the celebrated stage play by Willy Russell.

Her critically acclaimed performance won her the Golden Globe for outstanding actress along with a Bafta.

'Charming and Witty'

Her relatives released a statement saying: "She was a multifaceted person to countless individuals, playing a variety of roles in her life. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on stage and screen. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens."

"She will always be remembered as the legendary, determined, lively, and insightful Shirley Valentine - a part she completely owned. We were familiar with all those aspects of her personality because her magic was contained in each one of them."

They added she was their "devoted mother, our beloved grandmother and great-grandmother", and her husband John Alderton's "life-long love"

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

"She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye. We ask that you recall her at the height of her powers; so joyful and full of energy; and allow us privacy to contemplate a life without her"

Stage Success

She initially performed the title role of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in the UK capital in 1988. She won that year's Olivier award for outstanding actress.

The following year she reprised the role on the New York stage, where she earned several awards including a prestigious Tony award.

The movie adaptation was released later that year.

Additional movie roles included 1991's City of Joy with actor Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which brought her wider recognition worldwide.

A native of 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 medical attendant in the TV series Emergency Ward 10.

She featured in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, portraying an imaginary performer in a London striptease nightclub, the Windmill Theatre.

After a number of stage roles, she used her Liverpool accent to secure a part on the show The Liver Birds.

It was through acting that she met her husband John Alderton. They wed in 1969 and had three children, their sons and daughter.

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