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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 care home, in the company of her family after living with Parkinson's disease for several years, as stated by her relatives.

Her legacy will be defined for her portrayal of unhappy homemaker 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 best actress along with a Bafta.

'Charming and Witty'

Her relatives said in a statement: "Pauline was so many things to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her life. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on theater and film. Her distinguished work saw her play politicians, mothers and queens."

"She will always be remembered as the legendary, determined, lively, and insightful Shirley Valentine - a role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those aspects of her personality because her charm was embedded in every single role."

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

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was constantly supportive," they expressed, thanking her caregivers, who cared for her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"

"She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye. We hope you will remember her at the height of her powers; radiant and energetic; and allow us privacy to reflect on life in her absence"

New York Theater

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

The following year 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 released later that year.

Her other films included 1991's City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, filmed in Calcutta, which brought her wider recognition globally.

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

Her passion for theater led her to take up acting on a part-time 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 Theater.

Following several theater parts, she employed her regional dialect to land a role on The Liver Birds.

It was through acting that she encountered her spouse John Alderton. They married in 1969 and had a family of three, their sons and daughter.

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