Beloved Shirley Valentine star Pauline Collins has died at the age of 85, ending a career that spanned six decades – but also revealing the heartbreaking secrets she carried until the end.

The Oscar-nominated actress’ family has revealed she had been quietly battling Parkinson’s disease in her final years, as her health slowly declined behind closed doors.

Confirming her passing, her family said in a statement, “She was the heart of our family – bright, funny and endlessly loving. She went peacefully, just as she lived, with grace and warmth.”

The message continued, “We hope you will remember her at the height of her powers, so joyful and full of energy; and give us the space and privacy to contemplate a life without her.”
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PARKINSON’S BATTLE

Pauline passed away in a London care home surrounded by her family, who later revealed she had endured a private fight with Parkinson’s – the degenerative condition that slowly robs sufferers of movement and independence.

The actress, best known for her iconic role as the lonely Liverpool housewife who finds herself in Shirley Valentine, reportedly kept her condition out of the spotlight to protect her loved ones and her legacy.
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THE DAUGHTER SHE NEVER FORGOT

Long before fame and fortune, Pauline faced a heartbreak that haunted her for life – giving up her baby daughter for adoption when she was just 22.

In her memoir Letter to Louise, Pauline revealed she fell pregnant while still struggling to make ends meet as a young actress. Alone and with no means to raise a child, she made the agonising decision to give up her daughter, Louise, at birth.

“It was like having a piece of your heart ripped out,” she later wrote. “It floors you for the rest of your life.”

Years later, after finding success on stage and screen, she and Louise were tearfully reunited – a moment that brought her some long-sought peace.
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GLITTERING CAREER

Pauline shot to fame in the early 1970s as maid Sarah Moffat in the hit drama Upstairs, Downstairs, before conquering the world with Shirley Valentine – first on stage, then in the 1989 film that earned her a Best Actress Oscar nomination.

She was one of Britain’s most beloved performers.