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Pauline Collins, best known for her performance in the film Shirley Valentine, has died at the eighty-five years old.

Her passing was peaceful in her London care home, in the company of her loved ones after living with Parkinson's for several years, according to her family.

Her legacy will be defined for her depiction of unhappy homemaker Shirley in the director's award-winning film, adapted from the acclaimed theatrical production by playwright Willy Russell.

Her critically acclaimed performance won her the Golden Globe Award for best actress along with a BAFTA award.

'Sparkling Personality'

Collins' family released a statement saying: "Pauline was so many things to countless individuals, playing a variety of roles in her career. A bright, sparky, witty presence on stage and screen. Her illustrious career 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 knew all those aspects of her personality 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"

"Kind, humorous, giving, considerate, intelligent, she was constantly supportive," they said, 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 reflect on life in her absence"

New York Theater

She initially performed the lead part of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in the UK capital in 1988. She received that year's Olivier Award for best actress.

A year later she returned to the character on Broadway, New York, where she picked up numerous prizes including a prestigious Tony award.

The movie adaptation was launched shortly after.

Her other films included 1991's City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, filmed in Calcutta, which gained her international fame worldwide.

Born in Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised near the city of Liverpool and started out her career as a teacher.

Her love of the stage led her to take up 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 featured in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, playing a fictional dancer in a London striptease nightclub, the Windmill Theatre.

Following several theater parts, she employed her regional dialect to secure a part on The Liver Birds.

It was through acting that she encountered her spouse John Alderton. They wed in 1969 and had a family of three, 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.