Pauline Perpetua Sheen (née Quirke; born 8 July 1959) is a retired English actress. She began her career with roles on various television series, before fronting her own comedy sketch show, ''Pauline's Quirkes'', in 1976. She later starred as Vicky Smith on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

drama series ''

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'' (1982–1983), and achieved fame with her portrayal of Sharon Theodopolopodous on the long-running sitcom '' Birds of a Feather'' (1988–1999, 2014–2017), for which she won a

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 (1 ...

and was nominated on three occasions for a

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

. In 1997, she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress for her role in the BBC miniseries ''

The Sculptress ''The Sculptress'' is a crime novel by English writer Minette Walters published in 1993. She won an Edgar and a Macavity Award for the book. The novel was adapted as a BBC-TV series in 1996, starring Pauline Quirke as Olive Martin. Synopsis ...

''. Between 2010 and 2012, Quirke played Hazel Rhodes on the ITV soap opera ''

Emmerdale ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a List of fictional towns and villages, fict ...

''. Quirke's film appearances include ''

The Elephant Man Joseph Carey Merrick (5 August 1862 – 11 April 1890) was an English man known for his severe physical deformities. He was first exhibited at a freak show under the stage name "The Elephant Man", and then went to live at the London Hospital, ...

'' (1980), ''

Little Dorrit ''Little Dorrit'' is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, originally published in Serial (literature), serial form between 1855 and 1857. The story features Amy Dorrit, youngest child of her family, born and raised in the Marshalsea pris ...

'' (1987), and '' Getting It Right'' (1989). Other television credits include '' Shine on Harvey Moon'' (1984–1985, 1995), '' Maisie Raine'' (1998–1999), ''

David Copperfield ''David Copperfield''Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work; see is a novel by English author Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from infancy to matur ...

'' (1999), '' Down to Earth'' (2000–2003), '' Cold Blood'' (2007–2008), '' Missing'' (2009–2010), '' Skins'' (2010), ''

Broadchurch ''Broadchurch'' is a British crime drama television series broadcast on ITV for three series between 2013 and 2017. It was created by Chris Chibnall, who acted as an executive producer and wrote all 24 episodes; it was produced by Kudos in a ...

'' (2013–2015), and ''

You, Me and the Apocalypse ''You, Me and the Apocalypse'' is a British-American comedy-drama miniseries. The series was green-lit on 8 January 2015. It debuted on Sky 1 on 30 September 2015 and on NBC on 28 January 2016. Sky 1 said in March 2016 there would be no sec ...

'' (2015).

Life and career

Early work

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

Dixon of Dock Green ''Dixon of Dock Green'' is 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 1955 ...

.'' 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'', by Nigel Kneale, also starring Wensley Pithey and Martin Shaw. Quirke also had a small role in the movie ''

'' in 1980. Quirke played Veronica in '' Shine on Harvey Moon'' 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 and

Lesley Joseph Lesley Diana Joseph (born 14 October 1945) is an English actress and broadcaster, whose career on stage and screen spans over fifty years. She is best known for playing Dorien Green in the television sitcom ''Birds of a Feather (TV series), Bir ...

. The series ran on the BBC from 1989 to 1998 and was resurrected on ITV between 2014 and 2017, with the 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 Linda Robson, and the pair worked together on the BBC documentary series '' Jobs for the Girls''. In 1996, she starred in the

television adaptation of ''

'' by

Minette Walters Minette Caroline Mary Walters Deputy Lieutenant, DL (born 26 September 1949) is an English 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 f ...

, receiving much critical acclaim for her performance, including a British Academy TV Award nomination for Best Actress. 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 channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

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

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

Robert Daws Robert Daws (born 4 May 1959) is an English actor, and crime fiction author. He is best known for his television roles, including Tuppy Glossop in ''Jeeves and Wooster'' (1990–1993), gruff cricketer Roger Dervish in the comedy '' Outside Ed ...

and

Pippa Haywood Philippa Jane Haywood (born 6 May 1961) is an English 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), ...

sitcom '' Office Gossip''. 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 begun in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted o ...

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

. Quirke appeared in '' Carrie's War'' in 2004 and in 2005, played a major role in ''

The Bill ''The Bill'' is a British police procedural television series, broadcast on ITV (TV network), ITV from 16 October 1984 until 31 August 2010. The programme originated from a one-off drama, "Woodentop (The Bill), Woodentop" (part of the ''Storyb ...

'' 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'' as Sharon the Bank Robber. Quirke has frequently been seen in the audience of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

'' and has appeared on its companion show '' It Takes Two'' more than once. She was a contestant on BBC's '' Celebrity MasterChef'' in June 2007, but was disqualified for creating a dish that was described by

Loyd Grossman Sir Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman (born 16 September 1950) is an American-British author, broadcaster, musician, businessman and cultural campaigner who has mainly worked in the United Kingdom. He presented the BBC programme ''MasterChef (British T ...

as "in no way resembling a meal". In 2007, Quirke set up The Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts, which opened at various locations across the UK as an extracurricular centre for young people who want to learn

performing arts The performing arts are arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which involve the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art objects. P ...

. The academy operates at over 200 locations in the United Kingdom. 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 Labrador () is a geographic and cultural region within the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. It is the primarily continental portion of the province and constitutes 71% of the province's area but is home to only 6% of its populatio ...

, 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 ''

'' for Sky1. Quirke decided not to be involved in the final episode of '' Birds of a Feather'' in December 2020, in order to concentrate on her Performing Arts Academies.

Charity work

Quirke is an honorary member of the

NSPCC The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) is a British child protection charity founded as the Liverpool Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (LSPCC) by Thomas Agnew on 19 April 1883. The NSPCC lobbies t ...

, supports the charities Children with Leukaemia,

Children in Crisis Children in Crisis was a non-profit organization aimed at improving the lives of children and women from underprivileged backgrounds in third-world countries. It was headquartered in London, England. On the 25th anniversary of Children in Crisis's ...

and Children’s Hospices UK. She is a patron of Rennie Grove Hospice.

Personal life

Quirke has two children and is married to producer Steve Sheen, who also worked on '' Birds of a Feather'' as an executive producer from 2014 until 2017. Her son Charlie appeared as Travis in '' Birds of a Feather'' from 2014 until 2017. 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 valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2022 Birthday Honours The 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 15 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to Orders and decorations of the Commonwealth realms, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those ...

for services to young people, the entertainment industry and charity. In 2025, Quirke's husband announced that she would be retiring from all professional and commercial duties due to a diagnosis of

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

which she had received in 2021.

Filmography

Selected stage credits

Awards and nominations

References

External links

Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts
*
Pauline Quirke
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Pauline Quirke at BBC Comedy GuidePauline Quirke at BBC Drama Faces
{{DEFAULTSORT:Quirke, Pauline 1959 births Living people English child actresses English film actresses English stage actresses English soap opera actresses English television actresses English women comedians Actresses from London Actors from the London Borough of Hackney Comedians from the London Borough of Hackney People from Stoke Newington People with dementia Alumni of the Anna Scher Theatre School 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses Members of the Order of the British Empire