Pauline Collins, best known for her role in the movie Shirley Valentine, has died at the age of 85.
Her passing was peaceful in her London care home, in the company of her loved ones after living with Parkinson's for a number of years, according to her family.
Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of disgruntled housewife Shirley in the director's award-winning motion picture, based on the celebrated theatrical production by Willy Russell.
Her critically acclaimed performance also earned her the Golden Globe for outstanding actress as well as a BAFTA award.
'Sparkling Personality'
Her relatives said in a statement: "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 illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens."
"Her memory will endure as the legendary, determined, lively, and insightful Shirley Valentine - a part she completely owned. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her magic was contained in every single role."
They added she was their "devoted mother, our wonderful grandma and great-grandma", and her husband John Alderton's "eternal partner"
"Kind, humorous, giving, considerate, intelligent, she was constantly supportive," they expressed, thanking her carers, who looked after her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"
"She could not have had a calmer departure. We ask that you recall her at the peak of her career; radiant and energetic; and allow us privacy to contemplate a life without her"
Broadway Role
Collins first played the title role of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in London in 1988. She won that year's Olivier award for outstanding actress.
The following year she returned to the character on the New York stage, where she picked up numerous prizes including a esteemed Tony Award.
The movie adaptation was released later that year.
Her other films included 1991's City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which gained her international fame globally.
Born in Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near Liverpool and started out her career as a educator.
Her love of the stage inspired her to pursue acting on a side basis, and in 1957 she appeared briefly as a medical attendant in the Emergency Ward 10.
She starred 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 land a role 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 alongside each other in a number of television and film roles, such as Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she portrayed a servant in the acclaimed ITV program.
