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Pauline Collins once opened up about her most heartbreaking decision(Image: PA)

Pauline Collins’ decision to give up her firstborn was the “most awful thing” she ever did. The legendary Shirley Valentine actress died at her care home in Highgate, North London, this week. She was 85 years old.

Her family said she died “peacefully” surrounded by her loved ones, having battled Parkinson’s for several years. In her memoir, Letter To Louise, released in 1992, Pauline opened up about the toughest decision she has ever made in her life.

Aged just 22, as a working actress in Ireland, she fell pregnant with her first child. In a heartbreaking move, she made the decision to put Louise, her daughter, up for adoption – a decision she kept from her friends and family for several years. Pauline, of Irish extraction, was brought up as a devout Catholic in Wallasey, Cheshire.

In her memoir, she spoke of the heartbreaking time. “I had her adopted when she was six weeks old,” Collins wrote. She went on to add: “It was the most awful thing ever to do.

Pauline Collins dead: Shirley Valentine actress dies after years of Parkinson’s disease

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Aged 22, the actress fell pregnant and gave her daughter up for adoption when she was six weeks old(Image: PA)

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The actress was eventually reunited with her daughter, who at the time was 21(Image: PA)

“It’s extraordinary how you make these decisions in life. I thought my reasons for doing so were good. They were partly familial because my parents were teachers at Catholic schools and partly because I had not a penny in the world and nothing to offer this child.

“It is extraordinary thinking about it now because it means so little now. I remember thinking at one time if she was a boy it wasn’t so bad to be an illegitimate boy it was somehow more romantic. But it was tougher being an illegitimate girl because there would always people saying she will go the same way as her mother. For that reason I decided on adoption.”

Pauline continued: “It was awful, it broke my heart. It was like having a piece of your heart ripped out. I think it floors you for the rest of your life.” Later in Pauline’s life, her daughter, Louise, aged 21, tracked her down and they were reunited with one another.

But after her decision, Pauline knew the pair would be reunited someday, and it would be Louise who made the first move. She said: “I felt absolutely delighted when I opened her letter. I wasn’t surprised as three days before I had this extraordinary dream about her in which she was speaking to me so I knew it was coming. My three children were delighted.”

Pauline’s daughter, Kate, once wished for a sister and two weeks later, Louise came calling. Pauline starred in the first serithe es of sitcom The Liver Birds but did not become a household name until getting a regular role in Upstairs Downstairs in 1971.

She married fellow actor John Alderton in 1969. Her role in the 1989 film Shirley Valentine, playing the lead character of the bored Liverpudlian housewife, earned her an Oscar nomination.

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Confirming her death, a statement read: “We are heartbroken to announce that Pauline Collins died peacefully at her care home in Highgate this week, having endured Parkinson’s for several years.

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The late icon died surrounded by her loved ones at a care home in North London(Image: Mirrorpix)

“She was surrounded by her family. 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.

“She will always be remembered as the iconic, strong-willed, vivacious and wise Shirley Valentine – a role that she made all her own. We were familiar with all those parts of her because her magic was contained in each one of them. 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.”

The statement ended saying: “We particularly want to thank her carers: angels who looked after her with dignity, compassion, and most of all love. She could not have had a more peaceful goodbye. 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.”

Her husband, John Alderton, whom she married in 1969, said: “Pauline Collins was a remarkable star. I had the great good fortune to have worked with her more than any other actor in our many TV series, films and West End stage shows together, and watched her genius at close quarters.

“What I saw was not only her brilliant range of diverse characters but her magic of bringing out the best in all of the people she worked with. 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 nation’s sweetheart in the 1970s. She will always be remembered for Shirley Valentine, not only for her Oscar nomination or the film itself, but for clean-sweeping all seven awards when she portrayed her on Broadway in the stage play, in which she played every character herself.

“But her greatest performance was as my wife and mother to our beautiful children.” The actress’s family said that anyone wishing to donate in her memory can make a donation to Parkinson’s UK via their website, here.