Pauline Collins, Star of the Film Shirley Valentine, Passes Away at 85
Pauline Collins, best known for her performance in the film Shirley Valentine, has died at the age of 85.
She died peacefully in her London care home, surrounded by her loved ones after living with Parkinson's disease for a number of years, as stated by her relatives.
Her legacy will be defined for her portrayal of disgruntled housewife Shirley in Lewis Gilbert's award-winning motion picture, adapted from the celebrated theatrical production by Willy Russell.
Her critically acclaimed performance won her the Golden Globe Award for outstanding actress along with a Bafta.
'Charming and Witty'
Collins' family said in a statement: "Pauline was so many things to so many people, portraying diverse characters in her life. An intelligent, lively, and humorous figure on theater and film. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens."
"Her memory will endure as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine - a part she completely owned. We knew 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-grandmother", and actor John Alderton's "eternal partner"
"Kind, humorous, giving, considerate, intelligent, she was constantly supportive," 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 ask that you recall her at the height of her powers; radiant and energetic; and give us the space and privacy to contemplate a life without her"
New York Theater
She initially performed the title role 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 Broadway, New York, where she picked up numerous prizes including a esteemed Tony Award.
The movie adaptation 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, Collins was raised 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 starred in the film Secrets of a Windmill Girl in 1966, playing a fictional dancer in a London adult entertainment venue, the Windmill Theatre.
Following several theater parts, 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 a family of three, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.
The couple performed together in a variety of screen projects, such as Upstairs, Downstairs, in which she portrayed a servant in the acclaimed ITV program.
