Pauline Collins has died peacefully aged 85, her family confirmed, saying she passed away at her care home in Highgate, London, surrounded by loved ones after living with Parkinson’s disease for several years. In a moving statement, they said they were “heartbroken,” adding that she was “our loving mum, our wonderful grandma and great-grandma,” and thanking the “angels” who cared for her “with dignity, compassion, and most of all love.”
Her husband and long-time collaborator John Alderton paid a personal tribute, saying Pauline’s “greatest performance was as my wife and mother to our beautiful children.” Reflecting on their decades working together, he said he had watched her “genius at close quarters,” praising her gift for bringing out the best in everyone on set because she never demanded, “Look at me.”
Collins, born in Devon and raised in Wallasey, first became a household name as Sarah Moffat in the hit period drama Upstairs, Downstairs and later its spin-off Thomas & Sarah. But it was Shirley Valentine that made her an international icon. She created the role on stage, winning the Laurence Olivier Award and then a clean sweep on Broadway including the Tony Award for Best Actress. Reprising the role on film in 1989, she won the BAFTA for Best Actress and earned an Academy Award nomination for her life-affirming portrayal of a Liverpool housewife who rediscovers herself in Greece.
After Shirley Valentine, Collins led and starred in a string of acclaimed dramas including Forever Green and The Ambassador, and appeared in films such as City of Joy, Paradise Road, Albert Nobbs, Quartet and The Time of Their Lives. She continued working well into later life, with screen credits into 2017. In recognition of her services to drama, she was appointed OBE in the 2001 Birthday Honours.
Collins married Alderton in 1969; they shared three children—Nicholas, Kate and Richard—and a life in Hampstead, London. Earlier in life, she had a daughter, Louise, with actor Tony Rohr and made what she once called the “heartbreaking” decision to give her up for adoption in 1964. Mother and daughter reunited when Louise was 21, a journey Collins documented in her memoir Letter to Louise.
Her family’s statement remembered her as “bright, sparky, witty… iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise,” and as the definitive Shirley Valentine—“a role that she made all her own.” They asked that she be remembered “at the height of her powers; so joyful and full of energy,” while requesting privacy as they grieve.
