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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 several years, according to her family.

Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of disgruntled housewife Shirley in the director's acclaimed motion picture, based on the acclaimed theatrical production by Willy Russell.

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

'Sparkling Personality'

Collins' family said in a statement: "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 play politicians, mothers and queens."

"She will always be remembered as the legendary, determined, lively, and insightful Shirley Valentine - a part she completely owned. We knew all those parts of her because her magic was contained in each one of them."

The statement continued she was their "loving mum, our beloved grandmother and great-grandmother", and actor John Alderton's "life-long love"

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us," they expressed, thanking her caregivers, who looked after her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"

"She experienced a calmer departure. We hope you will remember her at the peak of her career; so joyful and full of energy; and allow us privacy to reflect on life in her absence"

Stage Success

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

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

The movie adaptation was released later that year.

Additional movie roles included the 1991 film City of Joy with actor Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which gained her international fame globally.

A native of Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near Liverpool and began her professional life as a teacher.

Her passion for theater inspired her to pursue acting on a side basis, and in 1957 she appeared briefly 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.

Following several theater parts, she used her Liverpool accent to land a role on The Liver Birds.

Her acting career that she met her husband John Alderton. They wed in 1969 and had three children, 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.