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Pauline Collins, widely recognized for her role in the film Shirley Valentine, has died at the age of 85.

Her passing was peaceful in her London residence, surrounded by her loved ones after battling Parkinson's disease for several years, as stated by her relatives.

Collins will be best remembered for her depiction of unhappy homemaker Shirley in the director's acclaimed motion picture, based on the celebrated theatrical production by Willy Russell.

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

'Charming and Witty'

Collins' family released a statement saying: "She was a multifaceted person to so many people, portraying diverse characters in her life. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure 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 part she completely owned. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her magic was contained in each one of them."

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

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, 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 calmer departure. We ask that you recall her at the height of her powers; so joyful and full of energy; and allow us privacy to reflect on life in her absence"

Stage Success

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.

A year later she reprised the role on the New York stage, where she earned several awards including a esteemed Tony Award.

The movie adaptation was released later that year.

Additional movie roles included the 1991 film City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which brought her wider recognition globally.

Born in Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near Liverpool and began her professional life as a educator.

Her love of the stage inspired her to pursue acting on a side 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 striptease nightclub, the Windmill Theatre.

After a number of stage roles, she used her Liverpool accent to land a role on the show The Liver Birds.

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

Alderton and Collins starred together in a number of television and film roles, such as Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she portrayed a servant in the acclaimed ITV program.