🔗 Share this article The Renowned Actress Pauline Collins, Star of the Film Shirley Valentine, Dies at the Age of 85 Pauline Collins, best known for her role in the movie Shirley Valentine, has passed away 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 disease for several years, according to her family. Her legacy will be defined for her portrayal of disgruntled housewife Shirley in the director's award-winning film, adapted from the acclaimed stage play by playwright Willy Russell. Her critically acclaimed performance won her the Golden Globe for best actress along with a BAFTA award. 'Sparkling Personality' Collins starred opposite her spouse John Alderton in Upstairs Downstairs, appearing from 1971 to 1973 Her relatives said in a statement: "She was a multifaceted person to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her life. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on theater and film. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens." "She will always be remembered 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 beloved grandmother and great-grandma", and her husband John Alderton's "life-long love" "Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was constantly supportive," they said, thanking her carers, who looked after her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love" "She experienced a more peaceful goodbye. We ask that you recall her at the peak of her career; so joyful and full of energy; and allow us privacy to contemplate a life without her" Broadway Role She initially performed the lead part of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theater 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 picked up numerous prizes including a esteemed Tony Award. The movie adaptation was released later that year. Her other films included 1991's City of Joy with actor Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which brought her wider recognition worldwide. Born in Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised near the city of Liverpool and started out her career as a educator. Her love of the stage led her to take up acting on a side basis, and in 1957 she had a cameo role as a medical attendant 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 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. It was through acting that she encountered her spouse John Alderton. They wed in 1969 and had a family of three, 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 the acclaimed ITV program.