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Pauline Collins, best known for her role in the film Shirley Valentine, has died at the age of 85.

Her passing was peaceful in her London residence, in the company of her loved ones after battling Parkinson's disease for several years, as stated by her relatives.

Collins will be best remembered for her depiction of unhappy homemaker Shirley in the director's acclaimed motion picture, adapted from the celebrated theatrical production by playwright Willy Russell.

Her praised acting won her the Golden Globe Award for outstanding actress along with a Bafta.

'Sparkling Personality'

Collins' family said in a statement: "Pauline was so many things to countless individuals, playing a variety of roles in her career. 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 role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her magic was contained in every single role."

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

"Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us," they said, thanking her carers, who cared for her with "respect, empathy, and above all affection"

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

New York Theater

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

The following year she reprised the role on the New York stage, where she earned several awards including a prestigious Tony award.

The movie adaptation was released later that year.

Her other films included 1991's City of Joy with Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which gained her international fame worldwide.

A native of Exmouth in 1940, Collins was raised near Liverpool and began her professional life as a educator.

Her passion for theater led her to take up acting on a side basis, and in 1957 she appeared briefly as a nurse in the TV series Emergency Ward 10.

She featured in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, portraying an imaginary performer in a London striptease nightclub, the Windmill Theater.

After a number of stage roles, she employed her regional dialect to land a role on 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 alongside each other in a number of television and film roles, such as Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she played a maid in ITV's popular series.