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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 several years, as stated by her relatives.

Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of disgruntled housewife Shirley in the director's acclaimed film, based on the celebrated theatrical production by playwright Willy Russell.

Her critically acclaimed performance also earned her the Golden Globe for best actress along with a BAFTA award.

'Charming and Witty'

Her relatives released a statement saying: "She was a multifaceted person to countless individuals, playing a variety of roles in her career. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on theater and film. Her distinguished work 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 aspects of her personality because her charm was embedded in each one of them."

The statement continued she was their "loving mum, our wonderful grandma and great-grandma", and her husband John Alderton's "eternal partner"

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

"She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye. We hope you will remember her at the peak of her career; so joyful and full of energy; and allow us privacy to contemplate a life without her"

Stage Success

She initially performed the lead part of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in the UK capital in 1988. She won 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 movie adaptation was released later that year.

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

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

Her passion for theater inspired her to pursue acting on a part-time basis, and in 1957 she appeared briefly as a nurse in the TV series Emergency Ward 10.

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

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

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

Alderton and Collins starred alongside each other in a variety of screen projects, such as Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she played a maid in the acclaimed ITV program.