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

She died peacefully in her London care home, in the company of her family after living with Parkinson's for a number of years, as stated by her family.

Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of disgruntled housewife Shirley in the director's award-winning motion picture, adapted from the acclaimed theatrical production by playwright Willy Russell.

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

'Sparkling Personality'

Her relatives said in a statement: "She was a multifaceted person 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 part she completely owned. 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 "devoted mother, our wonderful grandma and great-grandma", and actor John Alderton's "life-long love"

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was constantly supportive," they said, appreciating her carers, who cared for her with "respect, empathy, and above all affection"

"She experienced a calmer departure. 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"

Stage Success

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

A year later she returned to the character on the New York stage, where she picked up numerous prizes including a esteemed Tony Award.

The film of the same name was launched shortly after.

Her other films 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 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 appeared briefly as a medical attendant 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 Theater.

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

Her acting career that she met her husband John Alderton. They married in 1969 and had three children, their sons and daughter.

The couple performed together in a variety of screen projects, such as the series Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she played a maid in ITV's popular series.