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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, surrounded by her loved ones after living with Parkinson's for several years, as stated by her relatives.

Her legacy will be defined for her portrayal of unhappy homemaker Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's acclaimed film, adapted from the celebrated theatrical production by playwright Willy Russell.

Her praised acting won her the Golden Globe Award for outstanding actress as well as a Bafta.

'Charming and Witty'

Her relatives released a statement saying: "Pauline was so many things to so many people, 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."

"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 parts of her because her charm was embedded in each one of them."

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

"Kind, humorous, giving, considerate, intelligent, she was always there for us," they said, appreciating her caregivers, who looked after her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"

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

Broadway Role

She initially performed the lead part of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in London in 1988. She won that year's Olivier Award for outstanding actress.

A year later she returned to the character on Broadway, New York, where she earned several awards including a esteemed Tony Award.

The movie adaptation was released later that year.

Additional movie roles included the 1991 film City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, filmed in Calcutta, which gained her international fame worldwide.

A native of Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near the city of Liverpool and began her professional life as a teacher.

Her love of the stage led her to take up acting on a part-time basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a medical attendant in the TV series 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.

After a number of stage roles, she employed her regional dialect to secure a part on The Liver Birds.

Her acting career that she encountered her spouse John Alderton. They married in 1969 and had three children, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.

Alderton and Collins starred alongside each other in a number of television and film roles, such as the series Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she played a maid in ITV's popular series.