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Pauline Collins, best known for her performance in the movie Shirley Valentine, has passed away at the eighty-five years old.

She died peacefully in her London residence, surrounded by her loved ones after battling Parkinson's disease for a number of years, as stated by her family.

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

Her praised acting won her the Golden Globe Award for outstanding actress as well as a BAFTA award.

'Sparkling Personality'

Collins' family said in a statement: "She was a multifaceted person to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her career. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on stage and screen. Her illustrious career 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 charm was embedded in each one of them."

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

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was constantly supportive," they said, appreciating her carers, 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 allow us privacy to contemplate a life without her"

New York Theater

She initially performed the title role of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theater in the UK capital in 1988. She received that year's Olivier Award for outstanding actress.

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

The film of the same name was released later that year.

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

A native of Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near Liverpool and started out her career as a teacher.

Her love of the stage inspired her to pursue 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 striptease nightclub, the Windmill Theater.

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

Her acting career that she met her husband John Alderton. They married in 1969 and had three children, their sons and daughter.

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