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The celebrated actress Pauline Collins, best known for her role in the film Shirley Valentine, has passed away at the age of 85.

She died peacefully in her London care home, surrounded by her loved ones after living with Parkinson's for a number of years, according to her family.

Her legacy will be defined for her depiction of disgruntled housewife Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning motion picture, adapted from the celebrated stage play by Willy Russell.

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

'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 theater and film. Her distinguished work 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 knew all those aspects of her personality because her charm was embedded in each one of them."

They added she was their "loving mum, our wonderful grandma and great-grandma", and actor John Alderton's "life-long love"

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us," they said, appreciating her caregivers, who looked after her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love"

"She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye. We hope you will remember her at the peak of her career; so joyful and full of energy; and give us the space and privacy to contemplate a life without her"

New York Theater

She initially performed the lead part of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theater in London in 1988. She won that year's Olivier Award for outstanding actress.

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

The movie adaptation was released later that year.

Her other films included the 1991 film City of Joy with actor Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which brought her wider recognition worldwide.

Born in Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near Liverpool and began her professional life as a teacher.

Her passion for theater inspired her to pursue 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 adult entertainment venue, the Windmill Theater.

After a number of stage roles, 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 a family of three, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.

Alderton and Collins starred alongside each other in a number of television and film roles, such as the series Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she portrayed a servant in the acclaimed ITV program.