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The celebrated actress Pauline Collins, widely recognized for her performance in the movie Shirley Valentine, has died at the age of 85.

She died peacefully in her London residence, surrounded by her loved ones after living with Parkinson's disease for several years, according to her relatives.

Collins will be best remembered for her depiction of unhappy homemaker Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning film, adapted from the celebrated stage play by playwright Willy Russell.

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

'Charming and Witty'

Collins' family released a statement saying: "Pauline was so many things to countless individuals, 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."

"She will always be remembered 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 magic was contained in each one of them."

The statement continued she was their "devoted mother, our beloved grandmother and great-grandmother", and her husband John Alderton's "eternal partner"

"Kind, humorous, giving, considerate, intelligent, she was constantly supportive," they said, thanking her carers, who cared for her with "respect, empathy, and above all affection"

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

New York Theater

Collins first played the lead part of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theatre in London in 1988. She won that year's Olivier award for best actress.

The following year she reprised the role on Broadway, New York, where she picked up numerous prizes including a prestigious Tony award.

The film of the same name was launched shortly after.

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, Collins was raised 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 side basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a nurse in the 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 Theatre.

Following several theater parts, she used her Liverpool accent to secure a part on the show The Liver Birds.

Her acting career that she met her husband John Alderton. They wed in 1969 and had three children, 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 portrayed a servant in ITV's popular series.