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The celebrated actress Pauline Collins, best known for her role in the film Shirley Valentine, has passed away at the age of 85.

Her passing was peaceful in her London care home, surrounded by her family after living with Parkinson's for several years, according to her family.

Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of unhappy homemaker Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning film, adapted from the celebrated theatrical production by Willy Russell.

Her praised acting also earned her the Golden Globe for outstanding actress along with a Bafta.

'Charming and Witty'

Her relatives released a statement saying: "Pauline was so many things to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her career. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on theater and film. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens."

"Her memory will endure as the legendary, determined, lively, and insightful Shirley Valentine - a role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those aspects of her personality because her magic was contained in every single role."

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

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us," they expressed, thanking her carers, who looked after her with "respect, empathy, and above all affection"

"She experienced a calmer departure. We hope you will remember her at the peak of her career; 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 the UK capital in 1988. She received that year's Olivier award for best 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 launched shortly after.

Additional movie roles included 1991's City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which brought her wider recognition worldwide.

Born in Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised near Liverpool and began her professional life as a teacher.

Her passion for theater inspired her to pursue acting on a part-time basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a nurse in the TV series Emergency Ward 10.

She starred in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, playing a fictional dancer in a London adult entertainment venue, the Windmill Theatre.

Following several theater parts, she employed her regional dialect to land a role on The Liver Birds.

It was through acting that she met her husband John Alderton. They wed in 1969 and had three children, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.

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