The celebrated actress Pauline Collins, best known for her role in the film Shirley Valentine, has died at the eighty-five years old.
Her passing was peaceful in her London care home, surrounded by her loved ones after living with Parkinson's for several years, according to her relatives.
Collins will be best remembered for her depiction of disgruntled housewife Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning film, based on the celebrated stage play by Willy Russell.
Her critically acclaimed performance also earned her the Golden Globe Award for outstanding actress as well as a Bafta.
Her relatives said in a statement: "She was a multifaceted person to countless individuals, playing a variety of roles in her career. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on stage and screen. 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 knew all those parts of her because her magic was contained in each one of them."
The statement continued she was their "devoted mother, our wonderful grandma and great-grandma", and actor John Alderton's "life-long love"
"Kind, humorous, giving, considerate, intelligent, she was always there for us," they expressed, thanking her carers, who looked after her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"
"She could not have had a calmer departure. We ask that you recall her at the peak of her career; so joyful and full of energy; and give us the space and privacy to reflect on life in her absence"
She initially performed the title role of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theater in London in 1988. She received 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 film of the same name was released later that year.
Her other films included 1991's City of Joy with actor Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which gained her international fame worldwide.
A native of Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near the city of Liverpool and started out her career as a educator.
Her passion for theater led her to take up acting on a side basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a medical attendant in the Emergency Ward 10.
She featured in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, portraying an imaginary performer 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.
Alderton and Collins starred alongside each other in a number of television and film roles, such as Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she played a maid in ITV's popular series.
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