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The celebrated actress Pauline Collins, best known for her role in the film Shirley Valentine, has passed away at the eighty-five years old.

She died peacefully in her London residence, surrounded by her family after battling Parkinson's for several years, according to her family.

Collins will be best remembered for her depiction of disgruntled housewife Shirley in the director's award-winning film, based on the acclaimed theatrical production by playwright Willy Russell.

Her praised acting won her the Golden Globe Award for best actress along with a Bafta.

'Sparkling Personality'

Her relatives said in a statement: "She was a multifaceted person to countless individuals, portraying diverse characters in her life. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on stage and screen. Her distinguished work saw her play politicians, mothers and queens."

"Her memory will endure as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine - a part she completely owned. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her charm was embedded in each one of them."

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

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us," they said, appreciating her caregivers, who cared for her with "respect, empathy, and above all affection"

"She experienced 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 lead part of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theater in the UK capital in 1988. She won that year's Olivier award for best actress.

A year later she returned to the character on Broadway, New York, where she earned several awards 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 gained her international fame globally.

A native of Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised near the city of 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 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 married in 1969 and had three children, 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.