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Pauline Collins, best known for her performance in the film Shirley Valentine, has passed away 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 acclaimed film, based on the celebrated theatrical production by Willy Russell.

Her praised acting also earned her the Golden Globe Award for outstanding actress as well as a Bafta.

'Sparkling Personality'

Collins' family 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 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 each one of them."

The statement continued she was their "loving mum, our beloved grandmother and great-grandmother", and her husband John Alderton's "life-long love"

"Kind, humorous, giving, considerate, intelligent, she was always there for us," they said, appreciating her carers, 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 peak of her career; so joyful and full of energy; and allow us 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 outstanding actress.

The following year she returned to the character on the New York stage, where she earned several awards including a prestigious Tony award.

The movie adaptation was released later that year.

Additional movie roles included 1991's City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which gained her international fame globally.

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 part-time basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role 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 adult entertainment venue, the Windmill Theatre.

After a number of stage roles, she employed her regional dialect to land a role on the show The Liver Birds.

Her acting career 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 the acclaimed ITV program.