Pauline Collins, the Oscar- and Golden Globe-nominated "Shirley Valentine" star, has died. She was 85.

A Nov. 6 statement from her family shared with USA TODAY announced the actress had died "peacefully" this week in her London care home. She had battled Parkinson's disease for several years.

"Pauline was so many things to so many people, playing a variety of roles in her life. A bright, sparky, witty presence on stage and screen. Her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens," the statement read. "She will always be remembered as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine – a role that she made all her own."

The statement continued: "More than anything, though, she was our loving mum, our wonderful Grandma and great-Grandma. Warm, funny, generous, thoughtful, wise, she was always there for us. And she was John's life-long love. A partner, work collaborator, and wife of 56 years."

Her husband, fellow actor John Alderton, released a separate statement that called his longtime wife "a remarkable star."

"She wanted everyone to be special and she did this by never saying 'Look at me.' It's no wonder that she was voted The Nations Sweetheart in the 1970’s," he wrote, in part. "But her greatest performance was as my wife and mother to our beautiful children."

Collins' family encouraged donations to the nonprofit Parkinson's UK.

Pauline Collins found her breakout role in ITV drama 'Upstairs, Downstairs'

Acting while earning money as a teacher in London for six years, Collins had a prolific career acting in U.K. TV shows beginning in the early 1960s, when she appeared on the pioneering medical soap opera "Emergency-Ward 10."

Among her notable roles was playing Samantha Briggs on Season 4 of "Doctor Who" in 1967; she returned for an episode of the rebooted BBC show in 2006 to play Queen Victoria.

She also starred in the first season of the Liverpool-set sitcom "The Liver Birds" in 1969 and a few years later found her breakout role as maid Sarah Moffa in "Upstairs, Downstairs." She starred alongside Alderton, whom she married in 1971, on the ITV series; the two went on to work on several projects together, including the 2002 comedy "Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War."

Speaking with The New York Times in 1988 about "Upstairs, Downstairs," Collins said, "I was 30 years old. Which for a big break was quite old, really."

Pauline Collins won Tony, Olivier awards as Shirley Valentine

Her road to Hollywood acclaim began in 1988, when she stepped on to the Vaudeville Theatre stage in London's West End as the unhappy Liverpool housewife Shirley Valentine. The following year, she had brought her Laurence Olivier Award-winning role in Willy Russell's one-woman play to Broadway, ultimately winning a Tony Award.

Lewis Gilbert's film adaptation premiered later that year, and earned both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for "Shirley Valentine."

"There are as many Shirley Valentines here as there are in England," she told The New York Times during her run on Broadway. "Men, too, as well. Lots of men wrote to me. This is not a feminist play. It's a humanist play. On a broader scale it's about everybody who has unfulfilled areas in their lives, and that applies to men as well as women."

Her other credits include 1992's "City of Joy," which also starred Patrick Swayze; 1997's "Paradise Road" with Glenn Close, Frances McDormand and Cate Blanchett; and Dustin Hoffman's "Quartet" (2012) alongside Maggie Smith and Michael Gambon.

In 2001, Collins was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for her services to drama. She told the BBC at the time, "I was amazed that I should be awarded anything - I think I said 'What's it for?'"

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Pauline Collins, 'Shirley Valentine' star and Oscar-nominated British actress, dies at 85

Reporting by KiMi Robinson, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

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