🔗 Share this article

The celebrated actress 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 residence, in the company of her loved ones after battling Parkinson's 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, adapted from the acclaimed stage play by Willy Russell.

Her critically acclaimed performance won her the Golden Globe for outstanding actress as well as a Bafta.

'Charming and Witty'

Collins' family released a statement saying: "Pauline was so many things to countless individuals, portraying diverse characters in her life. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on theater and film. Her illustrious career saw her portray leaders, parents, and royalty."

"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 magic was contained in each one of them."

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

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us," they said, thanking her caregivers, who looked after 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; so joyful and full of energy; and give us the space and privacy to contemplate a life without her"

Stage Success

Collins first played the lead part of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theater in London 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 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.

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

Her passion for theater led her to take up acting on a part-time basis, and in 1957 she appeared briefly as a nurse in the TV series 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 used her Liverpool accent to secure a part on The Liver Birds.

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

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