By Ashley Dean Misho | Arts and Entertainment Reporter<\/p>\n\n\n\n
www.zimgbcnews.co.zw<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Pauline Collins, the celebrated British actress who charmed audiences and critics alike with her Oscar-nominated performance in Shirley Valentine, has died at the age of 85.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her family announced that she passed away peacefully on November 6, 2025, in a London care home, surrounded by her loved ones. She had been living with Parkinson’s disease for several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a moving statement, Collins’s family remembered her as a bright, sparky, witty presence on stage and screen” and noted that her illustrious career saw her play politicians, mothers and queens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She will always be remembered as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine \u2014 a role that she made all her own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was the character of Shirley Valentine, a middle-aged housewife who rediscovers herself, that became Collins’s defining role.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She first brought the part to life in a one-woman stage play in London’s West End, a performance that earned her a Laurence Olivier Award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She then triumphed on Broadway, winning a Tony Award, before reprising the role for the 1989 film. Her cinematic portrayal earned her both a BAFTA and an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins’s career spanned decades, beginning on stage after she studied at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her breakout role on television came in the beloved 1970s drama Upstairs, Downstairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Her professional life was deeply intertwined with her personal one. She was married for over 55 years to actor John Alderton, whom her family called her “life-long love.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The couple frequently worked together, co-starring not only in Upstairs, Downstairs but also in the spin-off Thomas & Sarah and the sitcom No, Honestly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Collins is survived by her husband, John Alderton, 84, and their three children: Nicholas, Kate, and Richard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In their statement, her family concluded,<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye\u2026 We hope you will remember her at the height of her powers; so joyful and full of energy.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Zim GBC News | Global News From An African Perspective\u00a92025<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Ashley Dean Misho | Arts and Entertainment Reporter www.zimgbcnews.co.zw Pauline Collins, the celebrated British actress who charmed audiences and critics alike with her Oscar-nominated performance in Shirley Valentine, has… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":10803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[127],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10802","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10804,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10802\/revisions\/10804"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/10803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/zimgbcnews.co.zw\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}