Pauline Quirke
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" from 1989 to 1998, and again from 2014 to 2017. For this role, she won the 1990 British Comedy Award for Best Newcomer. She was nominated for the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for her role in the 1996 BBC miniseries "The Sculptress". Her other television credits include "Maisie Raine" (1998–1999), "Down to Earth" (2000–2003), "Emmerdale" (2010–2012) and "Broadchurch" (2013–2015). Career. 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. 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 a final episode in December 2020 in which Quirke did not appear. 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. 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 "" 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 Lloyd Grossman as "in no way resembling a meal". 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." 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". Her pet Labrador, Bailey, also appeared in the programme. She has been 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. 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. During an appearance on "The Paul O'Grady Show" in 2007, Quirke told of how she suffers from severe stage fright and nerves and she usually refuses to appear on live television shows. In  2007 The Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts opened its doors at various locations across the UK. Quirke set this up as an extracurricular centre for young people who want to learn performing arts. There are currently more than 200 academies across the UK.