Pauline Quirke began her career with roles on various television series, before fronting her own comedy sketch show, Pauline's Quirkes, in 1976.
24 Facts About Pauline Quirke
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Pauline Quirke later starred as Vicky Smith on the BBC drama series Angels, and achieved fame with her portrayal of Sharon Theodopolopodous on the long-running sitcom Birds of a Feather, for which she won a British Comedy Award and was nominated on three occasions for a National Television Award.
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Between 2010 and 2012, Quirke played Hazel Rhodes on the ITV soap opera Emmerdale.
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Pauline Quirke began her career as a child actress with an appearance in Dixon of Dock Green.
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Pauline Quirke had a small role in the movie The Elephant Man in 1980.
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Pauline Quirke played Veronica in Shine on Harvey Moon in 1982.
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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 Pauline Quirke did not appear.
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From 1994 to 1999, Pauline 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.
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When Birds of a Feather ended, Pauline Quirke began playing DI Maisie Raine in Maisie Raine, a drama series for BBC One, which ran in 1998 and 1999.
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From 2000 to 2003, Pauline Quirke starred opposite Warren Clarke in the BBC series Down to Earth.
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Pauline Quirke made a return to comedy in 2000 when she starred with Neil Stuke, Robert Daws and Pippa Haywood in BBC sitcom Office Gossip.
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However, Pauline Quirke was nominated for Most Popular Comedy Performer at the National Television Awards for her role.
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Pauline 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.
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In 2006, Pauline Quirke played Colleen McCabe in The Thieving Headmistress and in 2008, she appeared in an episode of My Family as Sharon the Bank Robber.
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Pauline 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.
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Pauline Quirke 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".
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In May 2010, it was announced that Pauline Quirke would be joining the rural soap opera Emmerdale as Hazel Rhodes, the mother of established character, Jackson Walsh.
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From 2013 to 2015, Pauline 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.
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Pauline Quirke was a guest panellist on Loose Women on two occasions.
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Pauline 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.
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Pauline Quirke is an honorary member of the NSPCC, supports the charities Children with Leukaemia, Children in Crisis and Children's Hospices UK.
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Pauline Quirke has two children and is married to producer Steve Sheen, who worked on Birds of a Feather as an executive producer from 2014 until 2017.
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Pauline Quirke was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to young people, the entertainment industry and charity.
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In 2025, Pauline 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.