Pauline Quirke

Who Is Pauline Quirke?

Pauline Quirke is a well-known English actress. She is famous for her roles in many television shows and series.

She has had a long and successful career in acting, and is loved by many for her funny and talented performances.

Claim to Fame

Pauline Quirke is perhaps best known for her role as Sharon Theodopolopodous on the sitcom Birds of a Feather, which made her a household name.

Early Life and Background

Pauline Quirke was born on July 8, 1959.

Career and Claim to Fame

Pauline Quirke started her career with many different television roles. She even had her own comedy show called Pauline's Quirkes in 1976.

She is also known for her roles in the drama series Angels and the sitcom Birds of a Feather. You can find more information about her on her official website.

Birthday, Age and Zodiac

Pauline Quirke was born on July 8, 1959, which makes her 67 years old. Her zodiac sign is Cancer.

People with the Cancer zodiac sign are known for being strong and caring. They are also very loyal to their friends and family.

Fun Facts and Legacy

As we celebrate Pauline Quirke's life and career, we remember her as a talented English actress who has made us laugh and cry with her many roles.

From her early days in television to her starring roles in shows like Birds of a Feather, Pauline Quirke has left a lasting legacy in the world of acting.

We are still enjoying her work today, and we wish her all the best as she continues to be a part of our lives through her acting.

Pauline Quirke - Quick Facts

Profile Overview of Pauline Quirke

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 drama series Angels (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 and was nominated on three occasions for a National Television Award. In 1997, she was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actress for her role in the BBC miniseries The Sculptress. Between 2010 and 2012, Quirke played Hazel Rhodes on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.

This profile of Pauline Quirke covers Early work, Later work, Philanthropy and Charity Work and Personal Life.

Quirke's film appearances include The Elephant Man (1980), Little Dorrit (1987), and Getting It Right (1989). Other television credits include Shine on Harvey Moon (1984–1985, 1995), Maisie Raine (1998–1999), David Copperfield (1999), Down to Earth (2000–2003), Cold Blood (2007–2008), Missing (2009–2010), Skins (2010), Broadchurch (2013–2015), and You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015).

Early work of Pauline Quirke

Quirke began her career as a child actress with an appearance in Dixon of Dock Green. 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, 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 The Elephant Man 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 BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather with Linda Robson and Lesley Joseph. 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 of Pauline Quirke

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 BBC television adaptation of The Sculptress by Minette Walters, 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, which ran in 1998 and 1999.

From 2000 to 2003, Quirke starred opposite Warren Clarke in the BBC series Down to Earth. She made a return to comedy in 2000 when she starred with Neil Stuke, Robert Daws and Pippa Haywood in BBC 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. But Quirke was nominated for Most Popular Comedy Performer at the National Television Awards for her role. In 2002, she starred alongside Nitin Ganatra in Being April, a comedy drama for BBC One. Quirke appeared in Carrie's War in 2004 and in 2005, played a major role in The Bill 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 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 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 academy operates at over 200 locations in the United Kingdom.

In 2009 and 2010, she played the lead role in the BBC 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 Emmerdale 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 happy to be a part of it." On 16 May 2011, it was announced that Quirke had decided to quit Emmerdale. Her character left on 25 January 2012.

From 2013 to 2015, Quirke had a recurring role as Susan Wright in ITV drama series Broadchurch, 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, 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.

Philanthropy and Charity Work

Quirke is an honorary member of the NSPCC, supports the charities Children with Leukaemia, Children in Crisis and Children’s Hospices UK. She is a patron of Rennie Grove Hospice.

Personal Life

Quirke has two children with her husband Steve Sheen, a producer who also worked on Birds of a Feather as an executive producer from 2014 until 2017. Their son, Charlie, appeared as Travis in Birds of a Feather from 2014 until 2017.

Quirke was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours 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, which she had received in 2021.

Source: adapted from Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pauline_Quirke), text available under CC BY-SA 4.0.