🔗 Share this article Pauline Collins, Lead Actress of the Film Shirley Valentine, Passes Away at Eighty-Five Years Old Pauline Collins, widely recognized for her role in the film Shirley Valentine, has passed away at the eighty-five years old. She died peacefully in her London residence, in the company of her family after battling Parkinson's for a number of years, according to her family. Her legacy will be defined for her depiction of disgruntled housewife Shirley in the director's award-winning motion picture, adapted from the acclaimed stage play by Willy Russell. Her praised acting won her the Golden Globe for best actress as well as a BAFTA award. 'Witty Presence' Collins starred opposite her husband 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, portraying diverse characters in her life. A bright, sparky, witty presence on theater and film. Her distinguished work saw her play politicians, mothers and queens." "She will always be remembered as the legendary, determined, lively, and insightful Shirley Valentine - a role that she made all her own. We knew all those parts of her because her magic was contained in every single role." They added she was their "devoted mother, our beloved grandmother and great-grandma", and her husband John Alderton's "eternal partner" "Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us," they expressed, thanking her carers, who cared for her with "dignity, compassion, and most of all love" "She experienced a calmer departure. We ask that you recall her at the peak of her career; radiant and energetic; and allow us privacy to reflect on life in her absence" New York Theater 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 Broadway, New York, where she picked up numerous prizes including a esteemed Tony Award. The film of the same name was launched shortly after. Additional movie roles included 1991's City of Joy with actor Patrick Swayze, shot in Kolkata, which gained her international fame globally. A native of Exmouth in 1940, she grew up near Liverpool and began her professional life as a teacher. 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 Emergency Ward 10. She featured in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, playing a fictional dancer 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 show The Liver Birds. It was through acting that she met her husband John Alderton. They wed in 1969 and had three children, their sons and daughter. Alderton and Collins starred alongside each other in a number of television and film roles, such as Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she played a maid in the acclaimed ITV program.