🔗 Share this article

The celebrated actress Pauline Collins, best known for her performance in the film Shirley Valentine, has passed away at the age of 85.

Her passing was peaceful in her London care home, surrounded by her family after living with Parkinson's disease for a number of years, as stated by her family.

Collins will be best remembered for her depiction of unhappy homemaker Shirley in the director's acclaimed film, based on the acclaimed stage play by Willy Russell.

Her praised acting also earned her the Golden Globe for best actress as well as 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 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 part she completely owned. We were familiar with all those aspects of her personality because her magic was contained in each one of them."

The statement continued she was their "loving mum, 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 said, thanking her carers, who looked after her with "respect, empathy, and above all affection"

"She could not have had a calmer departure. We ask that you recall her at the height of her powers; radiant and energetic; and allow us privacy to reflect on life in her absence"

Broadway Role

She initially performed the lead part 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 returned to the character on the New York stage, where she picked up numerous prizes 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, filmed in Calcutta, which brought her wider recognition worldwide.

Born in Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised 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 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.

After a number of stage roles, she used her Liverpool accent to secure a part on The Liver Birds.

Her acting career that she met her husband John Alderton. They wed in 1969 and had three children, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.

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