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The celebrated actress Pauline Collins, widely recognized for her performance in the film Shirley Valentine, has died at the eighty-five years old.

Her passing was peaceful in her London residence, in the company of her family after battling Parkinson's for several years, as stated by her family.

Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of disgruntled housewife Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning motion picture, based on the celebrated theatrical production by Willy Russell.

Her praised acting also earned her the Golden Globe Award for best actress along with a BAFTA award.

'Sparkling Personality'

Her relatives released a statement saying: "Pauline was so many things to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her career. A bright, sparky, witty presence on theater and film. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens."

"She will always be remembered as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine - a role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her charm was embedded in every single role."

The statement continued she was their "devoted mother, our beloved grandmother and great-grandmother", and her husband John Alderton's "eternal partner"

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us," they said, appreciating her caregivers, who cared for her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"

"She experienced a calmer departure. We ask that you recall her at the height of her powers; radiant and energetic; and give us the space and privacy to contemplate a life without her"

Broadway Role

Collins first played the title role of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in the UK capital in 1988. She received that year's Olivier award for best actress.

The following year she returned to the character on Broadway, New York, where she picked up numerous prizes including a prestigious Tony award.

The film of the same name was launched shortly after.

Her other films included 1991's City of Joy with actor Patrick Swayze, filmed in Calcutta, which gained her international fame globally.

A native of Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised near the city of 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 medical attendant in the Emergency Ward 10.

She starred in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, playing a fictional dancer in a London striptease nightclub, the Windmill Theater.

Following several theater parts, she employed her regional dialect to secure a part on the show The Liver Birds.

It was through acting that she met her husband John Alderton. They married in 1969 and had three children, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.

Alderton and Collins starred alongside each other in a variety of screen projects, such as the series Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she portrayed a servant in ITV's popular series.