🔗 Share this article

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

She died peacefully in her London residence, surrounded by her loved ones after living with Parkinson's for several years, as stated by her family.

Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of disgruntled housewife Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's acclaimed film, based on the acclaimed stage play by playwright Willy Russell.

Her praised acting won her the Golden Globe for best actress as well as a Bafta.

'Witty Presence'

Collins' family released a statement saying: "She was a multifaceted person to countless individuals, portraying diverse characters in her life. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on stage and screen. Her illustrious career 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 parts of her because her magic was contained in every single role."

They added 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 constantly supportive," they expressed, appreciating her caregivers, who looked after her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"

"She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye. We ask that you recall her at the height of her powers; so joyful and full of energy; and give us the space and privacy to reflect on life in her absence"

Broadway Role

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

The following year she returned to the character on Broadway, New York, where she earned several awards including a esteemed Tony Award.

The movie adaptation was released later that year.

Her other films included the 1991 film 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 began her professional life as a educator.

Her love of the stage led her to take up acting on a side basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a nurse 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 employed her regional dialect to secure a part on The Liver Birds.

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

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