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

Her passing was peaceful in her London residence, surrounded by her family after battling Parkinson's disease for a number of years, according to her relatives.

Her legacy will be defined for her portrayal of unhappy homemaker Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning motion picture, adapted from the acclaimed stage play by Willy Russell.

Her critically acclaimed performance also earned her the Golden Globe Award for outstanding actress along with a BAFTA award.

'Sparkling Personality'

Her relatives said in a statement: "She was a multifaceted person 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."

"She will always be remembered as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine - a part she completely owned. We knew all those aspects of her personality because her charm was embedded in every single role."

They added she was their "devoted mother, our beloved grandmother and great-grandma", and her husband John Alderton's "life-long love"

"Kind, humorous, giving, considerate, intelligent, she was constantly supportive," they said, appreciating 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 peak of her career; radiant and energetic; and allow us privacy to contemplate a life without her"

New York Theater

Collins first played the lead part of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theater in London in 1988. She received that year's Olivier Award for best actress.

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

The movie adaptation was launched shortly after.

Her other films included the 1991 film City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which gained her international fame globally.

Born in Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised near Liverpool and started out her career as a teacher.

Her passion for theater inspired her to pursue acting on a side basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a nurse 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 Liver Birds.

Her acting career that she encountered her spouse John Alderton. They married in 1969 and had three children, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.

The couple performed together in a number of television and film roles, such as the series Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she portrayed a servant in the acclaimed ITV program.