Pauline Quirke

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Pauline Perpetua Sheen ( Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is an English actress who has played Sharon Theodopolopodous in the long-running comedy series '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017). For this role, she won the 1990

British Comedy Award The National Comedy Awards (known as the British Comedy Awards from 1990 to 2014) is an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom, celebrating notable comedians and entertainment performances of the previous year. The British Comedy Awards ( ...

for Best Newcomer. She was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1996

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miniseries '' The Sculptress''. Her other television credits include '' Maisie Raine'' (1998–1999), '' Down to Earth'' (2000–2003), ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British soap opera that is broadcast on ITV1. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, ...

'' (2010–2012) and ''

Broadchurch ''Broadchurch'' is a British crime drama television series broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV for List of Broadchurch episodes, three series between 2013 and 2017. It was created by Chris Chibnall, who acted as an executive producer and wrote a ...

'' (2013–2015).

Career

Early work

Quirke began her career as a child actress with an appearance in ''

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' was a BBC police procedural television series about daily life at a fictional London police station, with the emphasis on petty crime, successfully controlled through common sense and human understanding. It ran from 19 ...

.'' Another early role was that of an autistic teenager in the 1975 TV drama ''Jenny Can't Work Any Faster''. By 1976 she had her own TV show, ''Pauline's Quirkes'', on

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a franchise holder for a region of the British ITV television network serving London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until the night of 31 December 1992. Thames Television broa ...

, which featured pop music, teenage topics, and comedy sketches. This was also the first television show in which Quirke and Linda Robson appeared together regularly. In 1976 she played the lead role in the "Special Offer" episode of ATV's ''

Beasts Beast most often refers to: * Non-human animal * Monster Beast or Beasts may also refer to: Bible * the Beast (Revelation), Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation Computing and gaming * Beast (card game), English n ...

'', by

Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British S ...

, also starring Wensley Pithey and

Martin Shaw Martin Shaw (born 21 January 1945) is an English actor. He came to national recognition as Doyle in ITV crime-action television drama series '' The Professionals'' (1977–1983). Further notable television parts include the title roles in '' ...

. Quirke also had a small role in the movie ''

The Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890), often erroneously called John Merrick, was an English man known for having severe deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "the Elephant Man" and then we ...

'' in 1980. Quirke played Veronica in ''

Shine on Harvey Moon ''Shine on, Harvey Moon'' is a British television series made by Witzend Productions and Central Television for ITV from 8 January 1982 to 23 August 1985 and briefly revived in 1995 by Meridian Broadcasting. This generally light-hearted serie ...

'' in 1982. Quirke's big break came in 1989, when she began playing the part of Sharon Theodopolopodous in the

...
sitcom '' Birds of a Feather'' with

Linda Robson Linda Patricia Mary Dunford ( Robson; born 13 March 1958) is an English actress and television presenter. She is best known for playing Tracey Stubbs in the sitcom '' Birds of a Feather'' (1989–1998, 2014–2020) and her appearances as a weekl ...

and Lesley Joseph. The series ran on the BBC from 1989 to 1998 and was resurrected on ITV between 2014 and 2017, with a final episode in December 2020 in which Quirke did not appear.

Later work

From 1994 to 1999, Quirke appeared in a series of Surf adverts with

, and the pair worked together on the BBC documentary series '' Jobs for the Girls''. In 1996, she starred in the

...
television adaptation of '' The Sculptress'' by

Minette Walters Minette Caroline Mary Walters DL (born 26 September 1949) is an English crime writer. Life and work Walters was born in Bishop's Stortford in 1949 to Samuel Jebb and Colleen Jebb. As her father was a serving army officer, the first 10 year ...

, receiving much critical acclaim for her performance, including a British Academy TV Award nomination for

Best Actress Best Actress is the name of an award which is presented by various film, television and theatre organisations, festivals, and people's awards to leading actresses in a film, television series, television film or play. The first Best Actress aw ...

. When '' Birds of a Feather'' ended, Quirke began playing DI Maisie Raine in '' Maisie Raine'', a drama series for

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, ...

, which ran in 1998 and 1999. From 2000 to 2003, Quirke starred opposite

Warren Clarke Warren Clarke (born Alan James Clarke; 26 April 1947 – 12 November 2014) was an English actor. He appeared in many films after a significant role as Dim in Stanley Kubrick's ''A Clockwork Orange''. His television appearances included '' Dalz ...

in the

...
series '' Down to Earth''. She made a return to comedy in 2000 when she starred with

Neil Stuke Neil Robert Stuke (born 22 February 1966 in Deal, Kent) is an English actor best known for his role of Matthew in the TV sitcom '' Game On'' and more recently for playing Billy Lamb in the BBC legal drama ''Silk''. Career Stuke played Matthew ...

, Robert Daws and

Pippa Haywood Philippa Haywood (born 6 May 1961) is a British actress. She won the 2005 Rose d'Or Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for '' Green Wing'' (2004–2006). Her other television credits include '' The Brittas Empire'' (1991–1997), Chimera ...

...
sitcom ''

Office Gossip ''Office Gossip'' is a British sitcom that aired on BBC One in 2001. Starring Pauline Quirke, it was written by Paul Mayhew-Archer, who co-wrote '' The Vicar of Dibley'', and George Pritchett. Recently, it has been aired in the United States on ...

''. After a start with over six million viewers, the show found its ratings dropped and it was cancelled after only one series. However, Quirke was nominated for ''Most Popular Comedy Performer'' at the

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are vot ...

for her role. In 2002, she starred alongside Nitin Ganatra in ''Being April'', a comedy drama for

. Quirke appeared in ''

Carrie's War ''Carrie's War'' is a 1973 English children's novel by Nina Bawden set during the Second World War. It follows two young London evacuees, Carrie and her younger brother Nick, into a Welsh village. It is often read in schools for its literary a ...

'' in 2004 and in 2005, played a major role in ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, first broadcast on ITV from 16 August 1983 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, '' Woodentop'', broadcast in August 1983. The programme focused o ...

'' as Cath Wilson, a woman wrongly convicted of murdering a child. In 2006, Quirke played Colleen McCabe in ''The Thieving Headmistress'' and in 2008, she appeared in an episode of ''

My Family ''My Family'' is a British sitcom created and initially co-written by Fred Barron, which was produced by DLT Entertainment and Rude Boy Productions, and broadcast by BBC One for eleven series between 2000 and 2011, with Christmas specials broadc ...

'' as Sharon the Bank Robber. Quirke has frequently been seen in the audience of '' Strictly Come Dancing'' and has appeared on its companion show '' It Takes Two'' more than once. She was a contestant on BBC's ''

Celebrity MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. In the UK, it is produced by the BBC. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 2 ...

'' in June 2007, but was disqualified for creating a dish that was described by Loyd Grossman as "in no way resembling a meal". In 2009 and 2010, she played the lead role in the

...
daytime drama series '' Missing'' as DS Mary Jane "MJ" Croft, head of a Missing Persons Unit. In May 2010, it was announced that Quirke would be joining the rural soap opera ''

'' as Hazel Rhodes, the mother of established character, Jackson Walsh. Quirke said, "I've never done anything like this before so it's something different for me and I'm very happy to be a part of it." On 16 May 2011, it was announced that Quirke had decided to quit ''

''. Her character left on 25 January 2012. From 2013 to 2015, Quirke had a recurring role as Susan Wright in ITV drama series ''

'', appearing in all eight episodes of the first series and returning to feature in two of the eight episodes of the second series. Her pet

Labrador , nickname = "The Big Land" , etymology = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Canada , subdivision_type1 = Province , subdivision_name1 ...

, Bailey, also appeared in the programme. She was a guest panellist on '' Loose Women'' on two occasions. In 2015, she played the role of Paula Winton in the ten-part comedy thriller '' You, Me and the Apocalypse'' for Sky1. Quirke decided not to be involved in the final episode of '' Birds of a Feather'' in December 2020, to concentrate on her Performing Arts Academies. She was appointed

Member 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 ...

(MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to young people, the entertainment industry and charity.

Filmography

Selected stage credits

Awards and nominations

Personal life

Quirke has two children, Emily and Charlie (who stars as Travis in '' Birds of a Feather'') and is married to producer Steve Sheen who also worked on ''Birds of a Feather'' as an executive producer from 2014 until 2017. In 2007 The Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts opened at various locations across the UK. Quirke set this up as an extracurricular centre for young people who want to learn performing arts.

References

External links

Official websitePauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts
*
Pauline Quirke at BBC Comedy GuidePauline Quirke at BBC Drama Faces
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quirke, Pauline Living people English child actresses English film actresses English stage actresses English soap opera actresses English television actresses Actresses from London People from Hackney Central Alumni of the Anna Scher Theatre School 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses 1959 births Members of the Order of the British Empire