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

Her passing was peaceful in her London residence, in the company of her family after battling Parkinson's disease for a number of years, according to her relatives.

Collins will be best remembered for her portrayal of unhappy homemaker Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning motion picture, based on the acclaimed theatrical production by playwright Willy Russell.

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

'Charming and Witty'

Her relatives released a statement saying: "Pauline was so many things to so many people, 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 knew all those aspects of her personality because her charm was embedded in every single role."

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 always there for us," they expressed, thanking her carers, who looked after her with "respect, empathy, and above all affection"

"She could not have had 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 reflect on life in her absence"

Broadway Role

Collins first played the title role of Shirley Valentine at the Vaudeville Theater in London in 1988. She won that year's Olivier Award for best actress.

A year later she returned to the character on Broadway, New York, where she earned several awards including a esteemed Tony Award.

The film of the same name was released later that year.

Her other films included the 1991 film City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, filmed in Calcutta, which gained her international fame globally.

A native of Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near Liverpool and began her professional life as a educator.

Her love of the stage led her to take up acting on a part-time basis, and in 1957 she appeared briefly as a medical attendant in the TV series Emergency Ward 10.

She starred in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, portraying an imaginary performer 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 encountered her spouse John Alderton. They married 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 Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she portrayed a servant in ITV's popular series.