Pauline Quirke

Pauline Perpetua Sheen (; 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.

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).

Life and career Early work Quirke began her career as a child actress with an appearance in Dixon of Dock Green.

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. 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. However, 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 very happy to be a part of it."

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, 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.

Filmography

Selected stage credits Year Title Role Notes 1990–1991 Cinderella Ugly Sister Hackney Empire 1991–1992 Dick Whittington Dick Hackney Empire 2012 Birds of a Feather Sharon Theodopolopodous UK Tour 2016–2017 Cinderella Fairy Godmother Beck Theatre

Awards and nominations Year Nominated For Award Category Result 1990 Birds of a Feather British Comedy Awards Best TV Comedy Newcomer 1990 Best TV Comedy Actress 1997 The Sculptress BAFTA TV Awards Best Actress 1997 Birds of a Feather National Television Awards Most Popular Comedy Performer 1998 Most Popular Actress 1999 Most Popular Comedy Performer 2001 Office Gossip 2002 Down to Earth Most Popular Actress 2011 Emmerdale British Soap Awards Best Newcomer 2011 TV Choice Awards Best Soap Actress 2011 Inside Soap Awards Best Actress 2011 Best Newcomer 2013 Broadchurch Crime Thriller Awards Best Supporting Actress Dagger