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

She died peacefully in her London care home, in the company of her family after living with Parkinson's disease for a number of years, according to her family.

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

Her praised acting also earned her the Golden Globe Award for outstanding actress as well as a Bafta.

'Witty Presence'

Her relatives released a statement saying: "She was a multifaceted person to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her career. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on theater and film. 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 role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those aspects of her personality because her magic was contained in each one of them."

They added she was their "loving mum, 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 caregivers, who looked after her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"

"She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye. We hope you will remember her at the height of her powers; radiant and energetic; and allow us privacy to reflect on life in her absence"

New York Theater

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 reprised the role on Broadway, New York, where she picked up numerous prizes including a prestigious Tony award.

The movie adaptation was released later that year.

Her other films included the 1991 film City of Joy with actor Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which brought her wider recognition worldwide.

Born in Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near the city of Liverpool and began her professional life as a educator.

Her passion for theater 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, playing a fictional dancer in a London striptease nightclub, the Windmill Theater.

After a number of stage roles, 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 a family of three, their sons and daughter.

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