🔗 Share this article

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

Her passing was peaceful in her London residence, surrounded by her loved ones after living with Parkinson's for a number of years, as stated by her relatives.

Her legacy will be defined for her portrayal of unhappy homemaker Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning film, based on the acclaimed theatrical production by playwright Willy Russell.

Her praised acting won her the Golden Globe for outstanding actress along with a BAFTA award.

'Sparkling Personality'

Her relatives released a statement saying: "She was a multifaceted person to countless individuals, 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."

"Her memory will endure as the legendary, determined, lively, and insightful 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."

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 carers, who cared for her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"

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

Broadway Role

Collins first played the lead part 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 returned to the character on the New York stage, where she earned several awards including a esteemed Tony Award.

The movie adaptation was launched shortly after.

Her other films included the 1991 film City of Joy with 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 started out her career as a teacher.

Her passion for theater led her to take up acting on a part-time basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a medical attendant in the Emergency Ward 10.

She featured in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, playing a fictional dancer 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 Liver Birds.

Her acting career that she met her husband John Alderton. They wed in 1969 and had a family of three, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.

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