Pauline Collins (born 3 September 1940) is a British actress who first came to prominence portraying

Sarah Moffat Sarah Moffat (born Clémence Moffat; July 1882 –Unknown), also known as Sarah Delice and Clémence Dumas, is a fictional character in the ITV drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' and its spin-off '' Thomas & Sarah''. She was portrayed by Pau ...

in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'' (1971–1973) and its spin-off, ''

Thomas & Sarah ''Thomas & Sarah'' is a British drama series that aired on ITV in 1979. A spin-off from the BAFTA Award-winning series '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', it stars John Alderton and Pauline Collins reprising their ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' roles. Back ...

'' (1979). In 1992, she published her autobiography, titled ''Letter to Louise''. Collins played the title role in the play ''

Shirley Valentine ''Shirley Valentine'' is a one-character play by Willy Russell. Taking the form of a monologue by a middle-aged, working class Liverpool housewife, it focuses on her life before and after a transforming holiday abroad. Plot Wondering what has ...

'' for which she won the

Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards ...

, and the

Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play The Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play is an honor presented at the Tony Awards, a ceremony established in 1947 as the Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre. The award is given to actresses for quality leadi ...

. She reprised the role in the 1989 film adaptation of the play, winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and receiving a nomination for the

Academy Award for Best Actress The Academy Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance in a leading role in a film released that year. ...

. She also starred in the television dramas ''

Forever Green ''Forever Green'' is a television programme originally broadcast on ITV in the United Kingdom from 26 February 1989 to 24 May 1992. It was made for London Weekend Television by Picture Partnership Productions, now named Carnival Films. Cast *P ...

'' (1989–1992) and '' The Ambassador'' (1998–1999). Her other film appearances include ''

City of Joy ''City of Joy'' (french: La Cité de la joie) is a 1985 novel by Dominique Lapierre. It was adapted as a film by Roland Joffé in 1992. Calcutta is nicknamed "the City of Joy" after this novel, although the slum was based on an area in its twi ...

'' (1992), '' Paradise Road'' (1997), ''

Albert Nobbs ''Albert Nobbs'' is a 2011 drama film directed by Rodrigo García and starring Glenn Close. The screenplay, by Close, John Banville and Gabriella Prekop, is based on the 1927 novella ''Albert Nobbs'' by George Moore. The film received mixed ...

'' (2011), ''

Quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

'' (2012), and ''

The Time of Their Lives ''The Time of Their Lives'' is a 1946 American fantasy-comedy film starring the comedic duo Abbott and Costello and directed by Charles Barton. Plot In 1780, master tinker Horatio Prim arrives at the Kings Point estate of Tom Danbury. Although ...

'' (2017).

Early life and career

Collins was born in

Exmouth Exmouth is a harbor, port town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and seaside resort, sited on the east bank of the mouth of the River Exe and southeast of Exeter. In 2011 it had a population of 34,432, making Exmouth the List of town ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, the daughter of Mary Honora (née Callanan), a schoolteacher, and William Henry Collins, a school headmaster. She is of Irish extraction, and was brought up as a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

Wallasey Wallasey () is a town within the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, in Merseyside, England; until 1974, it was part of the historic county of Cheshire. It is situated at the mouth of the River Mersey, at the north-eastern corner of the Wirral Pe ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's county t ...

. Her great-uncle was Irish poet

Jeremiah Joseph Callanan Jeremiah Joseph Callanan, or James Joseph Callanan (1795–1829), Irish poet, was born in Cork city in 1795, died 19 September 1829 at the Hospital of São José, Lisbon, Portugal. Life Callanan studied for Catholic priesthood at Maynooth Coll ...

. Collins was educated at Sacred Heart High School and studied at the

Central School of Speech and Drama The Royal Central School of Speech and Drama was founded by Elsie Fogerty in 1906, as The Central School of Speech Training and Dramatic Art, to offer a new form of training in speech and drama for young actors and other students. It became a ...

in London. Before turning to acting, she worked as a teacher until 1962. She made her stage debut at

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places Australia * Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area * Windsor, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland **Shire of Windsor, a former local government authority around Wi ...

in ''A Gazelle in Park Lane'' in 1962 and her West End debut in ''

Passion Flower Hotel ''Passion Flower Hotel'' (also known as ''Leidenschaftliche Blümchen'', also known as ''Boarding School'') is a 1978 coming of age comedy film directed by André Farwagi. It is a liberal adaptation of the 1962 novel '' Passion Flower Hotel'' an ...

'' in 1965. During the play's run, she made her first film, ''Secrets of a Windmill Girl'', released in 1966. More stage roles followed. Collins played Samantha Briggs in the 1967 ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series depicts the adventures of a Time Lord called the Doctor, an extraterrestrial being who appears to be human. The Doctor explores the u ...

'' serial ''

The Faceless Ones ''The Faceless Ones'' is the mostly missing eighth serial of the fourth season in the British science fiction television series ''Doctor Who'', which was first broadcast in six weekly parts from 8 April to 13 May 1967. In this serial, the Sec ...

'' and was offered the chance to continue in the series as a new companion for the Doctor, but declined the invitation. Other early TV credits include the UK's first medical soap ''

Emergency Ward 10 ''Emergency Ward 10'' is a British medical soap opera series shown on ITV between 1957 and 1967. Like ''The Grove Family'', a series shown by the BBC between 1954 and 1957, ''Emergency Ward 10'' is considered to be one of British television's ...

'' (1960), and the pilot episode and first series of ''

The Liver Birds ''The Liver Birds'' is a British sitcom, set in Liverpool, North West England, which aired on BBC1 from April 1969 to January 1979, and again in 1996. The show was created by Carla Lane and Myra Taylor. The two Liverpudlian housewives had met ...

'', both in 1969. Collins first became well known for her role as the maid

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...

in the 1970s

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

drama series '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. The character appeared regularly throughout the first two series, the second of which also starred her actor husband,

John Alderton John Alderton (born 27 November 1940) is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in '' Upstairs, Downstairs'', '' Thomas & Sarah'', '' Wodehouse Playhouse'', ''Little Miss'' (original television series), '' Please Sir!'', '' No, Hones ...

, with whom she later starred in a spin-off, ''

'' (1979), and the sitcom ''

No, Honestly ''No, Honestly'' is a British television sitcom that starred real-life married couple John Alderton and Pauline Collins as Charles ("C.D.") Danbee and Claira Burrell. It depicted their meeting and courtship up to their first wedding anniversar ...

'' written by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham, as well as in a series of short-story adaptations called ''

Wodehouse Playhouse ''Wodehouse Playhouse'' is a British television comedy series based on the short stories of P. G. Wodehouse. From 1974 to 1978, a pilot and three series were made, with 21 half-hour episodes altogether in the entire series. The series has been ...

'' (1975–1978). She co-narrated

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

's animated British children's TV series ''

Little Miss "Little Miss" is a song written and recorded by the American country music duo Sugarland. It was released in November 2010 as the second single from the album '' The Incredible Machine''. Before the album's release, the song charted on the ''B ...

'' with Alderton in 1983. In connection with her ''Upstairs, Downstairs'' role, Collins recorded a 1973 single for Decca: '' What Are We Going to Do with Uncle Arthur?'' (performed by her character several times during the series) backed with ''With Every Passing Day'' (a vocal version of the show's theme). She was a subject of the television programme '' This Is Your Life'' in April 1972, when she was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

''Shirley Valentine'' and recent years

In 1988, Collins starred in the one-woman play ''

'' in London, reprising the role on Broadway in 1989 and in the 1989 film version. The film won a number of awards and nominations; Collins was nominated for the Oscar as Best Actress, and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Both the play and the feature film used the technique known as " breaking the fourth wall," as the character Shirley Valentine directly addresses the audience throughout the story. After ''Shirley Valentine'', Collins again starred alongside her husband in the popular ITV drama series ''

'' created and written by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham in which the fictitious couple escape the city with their children to start a new life in the country. It ran from 1989 to 1992 over 18 episodes. Collins was voted sexiest woman in Britain in 1990. Collins' film credits include 1992's ''

'', 1995's ', 1997's '' Paradise Road'', and 2002's '' Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War'', which also featured Alderton. In 1999 and 2000, Collins starred as Harriet Smith in the BBC television drama ''

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or sov ...

'', where she played the lead role of the British ambassador to Ireland. Other television credits include ''

The Saint The Saint may refer to: Fiction * Simon Templar, also known as "The Saint", the protagonist of a book series by Leslie Charteris and subsequent adaptations: ** ''The Saint'' (film series) (1938–43), starring Louis Hayward, George Sanders an ...

'', ''

The Wednesday Play ''The Wednesday Play'' is an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 for six seasons from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually original works written for television, although dramatic adaptations of fiction ...

'', ''

Armchair Theatre ''Armchair Theatre'' is a British television drama anthology series of single plays that ran on the ITV network from 1956 to 1974. It was originally produced by ABC Weekend TV. Its successor Thames Television took over from mid-1968. The Canad ...

'', ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'', '' Tales of the Unexpected'', ''Country Matters'', and ''The Black Tower''. In 2002, she guest-starred in '' Man and Boy'', the dramatisation of Tony Parsons' best-seller. In 2005, she appeared as Miss Flite in the BBC production of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

' ''

Bleak House ''Bleak House'' is a novel by Charles Dickens, first published as a 20-episode serial between March 1852 and September 1853. The novel has many characters and several sub-plots, and is told partly by the novel's heroine, Esther Summerson, and ...

''. In 2006, she became the third actor to have been in both the original and new series of ''Doctor Who'', appearing in the episode " Tooth and Claw" as

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

. Later in 2006, she appeared in ''

Extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

'', a programme wherein eight celebrities campaigned on behalf of an animal to save it from

extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

. Collins campaigned to save the

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies. It ranks among the biggest wild cats alive today. It is considered to belong to the world's charismatic megafauna. The tiger is estimated to have been present in ...

and won the public vote. In December 2007, she appeared as the

fairy godmother In fairy tales, a fairy godmother () is a fairy with magical powers who acts as a mentor or parent to someone, in the role that an actual godparent was expected to play in many societies. In Perrault's ''Cinderella'', he concludes the tale wit ...

in the

pantomime Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking ...

Cinderella "Cinderella",; french: link=no, Cendrillon; german: link=no, Aschenputtel) or "The Little Glass Slipper", is a folk tale with thousands of variants throughout the world.Dundes, Alan. Cinderella, a Casebook. Madison, Wis: University of Wisconsi ...

'' at the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

in London. In 2011, she was cast as part of

Sky 1 Sky One was a British pay television channel operated and owned by Sky Group (a division of Comcast). Originally launched on 26 April 1982 as Satellite Television, it was Europe's first satellite and non-terrestrial channel. From 31 July 1989, ...

's new comedy-drama '' Mount Pleasant''. She played the role of Sue, Lisa's mum, in the first two series running into 2012. She did not return to the third series in 2013, and her character was killed off in the fourth series in 2014. In late 2015, she appeared as Mrs Gamp in the BBC TV series ''

Dickensian Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian er ...

''. Collins was appointed an

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in the 2001 Birthday Honours for services to drama.

Personal life

Collins married actor

in 1969 and lives in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

, London, with her husband and their three children, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard. She also has an older daughter, Louise, with actor

Tony Rohr Tony Rohr (born 1940) is an Irish actor. Career Rohr played Grandad in '' The Lakes'' and Solomon Featherstone in ''Middlemarch''. He has also appeared in ''The Bill'', ''The Long Good Friday'', '' McVicar'', '' Softly, Softly'', ''Crown Court' ...

. Collins gave Louise up for adoption in 1964 when she was a penniless single mother. They were reunited when Louise was 22 years old. Collins's book, ''Letter To Louise'', documents these events.Letter to Louise
/ref>

Filmography

Awards and nominations

* Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress (winner) *

Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual cer ...

in 1989 for Best Actress in a Play (winner) *

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway theatre, Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945� ...

for Outstanding Broadway Debut (winner) *

Drama Desk Award The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

for Outstanding Actress in a Play (winner) *

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

for Best Actress (winner) *

(nominee) *

Golden Globe Award The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...

for Best Actress, Comedy or Musical (nominee) * BAFTA for Best Film Actress (winner)

References

External links

* *
Pauline Collins images2001 profileArticle about Collins' receipt of the OBEPauline Collins
Aveleyman) {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Pauline 1940 births Alumni of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama Best Actress BAFTA Award winners Drama Desk Award winners English film actresses English people of Irish descent English Roman Catholics English stage actresses English television actresses Laurence Olivier Award winners Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire People from Exmouth Tony Award winners People educated at Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Actresses from Devon