Pauline Collins

Pauline Collins  (3 September 1940 – 5 November 2025)https://death-notices.co.uk/notice/a04b5d70-4bd0-48fc-aabf-5b3206dcd7e8 was an English actress of stage, television, and movies. Her first major role was in 1971 as Sarah Moffat in Upstairs, Downstairs. In 1988, Collins played the title role in the play Shirley Valentine. In 1989, she reprised the role in the movie adaptation. She won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role. In 1992, she released her autobiography, titled Letter to Louise.Collins, Letter to Louise. Retrieved 1 December 2016

Early life and career
Collins was born in Exmouth, Devon. Her mother was a school teacher. Her father was a school headmaster. She was brought up as a Roman Catholic in Wallasey near Liverpool.Pauline, Collins. (28 March 1999). "Pauline Collins – My secret for a good marriage? Give", Interviewed by Sharon Feinstein, Sunday Mirror. Retrieved 13 May 2010. "But I was very worried about taking it on because I'm not Jewish. I'm a Liverpool Irish Catholic and this role was such a responsibility because it involved a huge and emotive part of the history of the Jewish race." Her great-uncle was Irish poet Jeremiah Joseph Callanan.Pauline Collins biography . Retrieved 21 July 2015

Collins was educated at Sacred Heart High School. She studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. She worked as a teacher until 1962. She then made her stage debut at Windsor in A Gazelle in Park Lane. In 1965, she made her West End debut in Passion Flower Hotel. During the play's run, she made her first movie, Secrets of a Windmill Girl. It was released in 1966.

Collins played Samantha Briggs in the 1967 Doctor Who serial The Faceless Ones. She declined an offer of a role as a new companion for the Doctor.

Other early TV credits include the UK's first medical soap Emergency - Ward 10 (1960).  In 1969, she was in the pilot episode and first series of The Liver Birds.

Collins first became well known for her role as the maid Sarah in the 1970s ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs. The character was in the first two series. In the second series she appeared with her actor husband, John Alderton. In 1979, they starred in a spin-off, Thomas & Sarah. They also starred in the sitcom No, Honestly. This was written by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham. From 1975 to 1978, they worked together in a series of short-story adaptations called Wodehouse Playhouse. In 1983, they narrated the animated British children's TV series Little Miss.

In April 1972, she was a subject of the television programme This Is Your Life, being surprised by Eamonn Andrews.

In 1973, in her Upstairs, Downstairs role, Collins recorded a single for Decca called What Are We Going to Do with Uncle Arthur?. It was performed by her character several times during the series. The 'B' side was With Every Passing Day (a vocal version of the show's theme).

Shirley Valentine
In 1988, Collins starred in the one-woman play Shirley Valentine in London. In 1989 she reprised the role on Broadway. She was then in the 1989 movie version. The movie won a number of awards and nominations. Both the play and the feature movie used the technique known as "breaking the fourth wall". The character Shirley Valentine directly addresses the audience throughout the story. 

After Shirley Valentine
Collins starred alongside her husband in the popular ITV drama series Forever Green. This was created and written by Terence Brady and Charlotte Bingham. It was about a couple who start a new life in the country with their children. It ran from 1989 to 1992 in over 18 episodes. 

In 1990, Collins was voted sexiest woman in Britain.  

In 2006, she became only the third actor to have been in both the original and new series of Doctor Who. She appeared in the episode "Tooth and Claw" as Queen Victoria. 

In 2015, she appeared as Mrs Gamp in the BBC TV series Dickensian.

In the 2001 Birthday Honours, Collins was agiven an OBE  for services to drama.

Personal life
Collins married actor John Alderton in 1969 and lives in Hampstead, London, with her husband and their three children, Nicholas, Kate, and Richard. She also has an older daughter with actor Tony Rohr, Louise, whom she gave up for adoption. They were reunited when Louise was 22 years old.

Collins died from problems caused by Parkinson's disease in London in November 2025, at the age of 85.

TV and filmography
 Year Title Role Director Notes 1963 Emergency – Ward 10 Nurse Elliott Phil Brown TV Series (1 Episode) 1966 Secrets of a Windmill Girl Pat Lord Arnold L. Miller  The Marriage Lines Jean Robin Nash TV Series (1 Episode : "Big Business") Pardon the Expression Miss Wainwright / Val Michael Cox TV Series (3 Episodes) The Corridor People Syrie's maid David Boisseau TV Series (1 Episode : "Victim as Black") Theatre 625 Clara James Ferman TV Series (1 Episode : "Amerika") The Saint Marie-Therese Gordon Flemyng TV Series (1 Episode : "The Better Mousetrap") Blackmail Freida Straker  TV Series (1 Episode : "Please Do Not Disturb") The Three Musketeers Kitty Peter Hammond TV (1 Episode : "Branded") The Making of Jericho   TV movie 1967 Doctor Who Samantha Briggs Gerry Mill The Faceless Ones (6 Episodes) Softly, Softly Marilyn Bill Hays TV Series (1 Episode : "Somebody Important") 1968 B and B Chantal  TV Series (1 Episode : "Pilot: B and B") Armchair Theatre Betty / Mary Murtagh Guy Verney  Marc Miller TV Series (2 Episodes) 1969 The Old Campaigner Winnie Haldane TV Series (1 Episode : "French Farce") Comedy Playhouse Dawn / Marjorie TV Series (2 Episodes) The Liver Birds Dawn TV Series (5 Episodes) The Wednesday Play Angelina / Joan Percival Marc Miller (X2)  John Mackenzie TV Series (2 Episodes) Parkin's Patch Doreen Ashworth Raymond Menmuir TV Series (1 Episode : "A Pair of Good Shoes") 1970 The Mating Machine Elizabeth Howard Ross TV Series (1 Episode : "Who Sleeps on the Right?") 1972 Thirty-Minute Theatre The Girl Gilchrist Calder TV Series (1 Episode : "King's Cross Lunch Hour") Country Matters Ruby TV Mini-Series (1 Episode : "Crippled Bloom") 1971–1973 Upstairs, Downstairs Sarah Moffat Various directors TV Series (13 Episodes)  Nominated – British Academy Television Award for Best Actress 1973 Armchair 30 Carol Piers Haggard TV Series (1 Episode : "Carol's Story")  1974  No, Honestly Clara Burrell-Danby David Askey TV Series (13 Episodes) 1975 BBC Play of the Month Lady Teazle Stuart Burge TV Series (1 Episode : "The School for Scandal") 1975–1976 Wodehouse Playhouse Various characters Various directors TV Series (13 Episodes) 1979  Thomas & Sarah Sarah Moffat Various directors TV Series (13 Episodes) Play for Today Eileen Stephen Frears TV Series (1 Episode : "Long Distance Information") 1980 Tales of the Unexpected Pat Lewis Graham Evans TV Series (1 Episode : "A Girl Can't Always Have Everything") 1983 Little Misses and the Mr. Men Narrator Trevor Bond  Terry Ward TV Series 1984 Knockback Sylvia Piers Haggard (X2) TV Movie  Nominated – CableACE Awards for Best Actress in a Theatrical or Dramatic Special 1985 Tropical Moon Over Dorking Myra Robert Chetwyn TV Movie The Black Tower Maggie Hewson Ronald Wilson TV Mini-Series (5 Episodes) 1988  Tales of the Unexpected Eve Peregrine Barry Davis TV Series (1 Episode : "The Colonel's Lady") 1989–1992 Forever Green Harriet Boult David Giles  Sarah Hellings  Christopher King TV Series (18 Episodes) 1989 Shirley Valentine Shirley Valentine-Bradshaw Lewis Gilbert BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role  Evening Standard British Film Awards – Best Actress  Golden Apple Award – Female Discovery of the Year  Nominated – Academy Award for Best Actress  Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy 1992  City of Joy Joan Bethel Roland Joffé 1995 My Mother's Courage Elsa Tabori Michael Verhoeven  1996 Flowers of the Forest Aileen Matthews Michael Whyte TV Movie 1997 Paradise Road Daisy 'Margaret' Drummond Bruce Beresford 1998–1999 The Ambassador Harriet Smith Various directors TV Series (13 Episodes) 2000 Little Grey Rabbit  Jean Flynn TV Series One Life Stand Karaoke Crowd May Miles Thomas  2002  Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War Thelma Caldicot Ian Sharp Man and Boy Betty Silver Simon Curtis TV Movie 2003 Sparkling Cyanide Dr. Catherine Kendall Tristram Powell TV Movie 2005 Bleak House Miss Flite Justin Chadwick  Susanna White TV Series (10 Episodes) 2006 Doctor Who Queen Victoria Euros Lyn TV Series (1 Episode : "Tooth and Claw") What We Did on Our Holiday Lil Taylor Jeremy Webb TV Movie 2009 From Time to Time Mrs. Tweedie Julian Fellowes 2010 Agatha Christie's Marple Thyrza Grey Andy Hay TV Series (1 Episode : "The Pale Horse") Merlin Alice Alice Troughton TV Series (1 Episode : "Love in the Time of Dragons") You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger Cristal Woody Allen  2011 Albert Nobbs Margaret 'Madge' Baker Rodrigo García 2011–2012 Mount Pleasant Sue Dewi Humphreys  Ian Barnes  Dermot Boyd TV Series (14 Episodes) 2012 Quartet Cissy Robson  Dustin Hoffman 2015 Dough Joanna John Goldschmidt  The Time of Their Lives Priscilla Roger Goldby Post-Production 2015–2016 Dickensian Mrs Gamp Tony Jordan  Various  Tony Jordan TV Series (20 Episodes) 2017 The Time of Their Lives  PriscillaRoger Goldby 2017 Byrd and the Bees BeatriceFinola Hughes Pre-Production

Awards and nominations
Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress (winner)
Tony Award in 1989 for Best Actress in a Play (winner)
Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut (winner)
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play (winner)
Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actress (winner)
Academy Award for Best Actress (nominee)
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, Comedy or Musical (nominee)
BAFTA for Best Film Actress (winner)

References

Other websites

Pauline Collins images
2001 profile
Article about Collins' receipt of the OBE
Pauline Collins (Aveleyman)
Pauline Collins' appearance on This Is Your Life

Category:1940 births
Category:2025 deaths
Category:BAFTA Award winners
Category:Drama Desk Award winners
Category:English movie actors
Category:English Roman Catholics
Category:English stage actors
Category:English television actors
Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners
Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire
Category:Tony Award winning actors
Category:Actors from Devon
Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease