🔗 Share this article

Pauline Collins, widely recognized for her performance in the film Shirley Valentine, has passed away at the age of 85.

She died peacefully in her London care home, surrounded by her family after battling Parkinson's disease for several years, as stated by her family.

Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of unhappy homemaker Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning motion picture, based on the celebrated stage play by playwright Willy Russell.

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

'Charming and Witty'

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

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

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

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was constantly supportive," they said, appreciating her carers, who cared for her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"

"She experienced a calmer departure. We ask that you recall her at the height of her powers; radiant and energetic; and give us the space and privacy to reflect on life in her absence"

Stage Success

She initially performed the title role of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in London in 1988. She received that year's Olivier award for best actress.

The following year she reprised the role on the New York stage, where she earned several awards including a prestigious Tony award.

The movie adaptation was released later that year.

Additional movie roles included the 1991 film City of Joy with actor Patrick Swayze, filmed in Calcutta, which gained her international fame worldwide.

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

Her love of the stage inspired her to pursue acting on a side 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, portraying an imaginary performer in a London adult entertainment venue, the Windmill Theater.

After a number of stage roles, she employed her regional dialect to secure a part on the show The Liver Birds.

Her acting career that she encountered her spouse John Alderton. They married in 1969 and had three children, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.

The couple performed alongside each other in a number of television and film roles, such as the series Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she played a maid in ITV's popular series.