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Pauline Collins
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Pauline Collins | |
 In the Broadway production of Shirley Valentine |
|
| Born | 3 September 1940 Exmouth, Devon, England |
| Spouse(s) | John Alderton |
| Notable roles | Sarah Moffat in Upstairs, Downstairs Shirley Valentine in Shirley Valentine |
Pauline Collins OBE (born 3 September 1940) is an Academy Award-nominated English actress who is best known for playing Sarah in Upstairs, Downstairs and for playing the title role in Shirley Valentine.
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Collins was born in Exmouth, Devon of Irish Catholic extraction and studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Before turning to acting, she worked as a teacher until 1962. She made her stage debut at Windsor in A Gazelle in Park Lane in 1962 and her West End debut in Passion Flower Hotel in 1965, and many stage roles followed. Her first film was Secrets of a Windmill Girl (1965).
Collins appeared as Samantha Briggs in the 1967 Doctor Who story The Faceless Ones by Malcolm Hulke and David Ellis. She was offered the chance to continue in the series as a new companion for the Doctor as the producers liked her character so much, but she declined the offer. In 2006, she became only the third actor to have appeared in both the classic and new series of Doctor Who, appearing in the episode Tooth and Claw as Queen Victoria.
Other early TV credits include the UK's first medical soap Emergency Ward: 10 (1957), and the pilot episode and first series of The Liver Birds, both in 1969. Collins first became known for her role as the maid Sarah in the 1970s ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs, which was created by Jean Marsh. The series also starred her actor husband, John Alderton, whom she had married in 1969 and with whom she starred in a spin-off, Thomas & Sarah (1979), and the sitcom No, Honestly, as well as in a series of short story adaptations called Wodehouse Playhouse. She also appeared alongside Alderton in the successful series Forever Green (1989 - 1992) and co-narrated the animated British children's TV series Little Miss with him in 1983.
In 1988, Collins starred in the one-woman play Shirley Valentine in London, reprising the role on Broadway in 1989 and in the 1989 film version, and winning a number of awards, as described below.
Collins' film credits include City Of Joy (1992, co-starring Patrick Swayze), My Mother's Courage (1995 in Germany as Mutters Courage, released in the USA in 1997), Paradise Road (1997, with Glenn Close and Kate Blanchett), and Mrs. Caldicot's Cabbage War (2001), another appearance with Alderton. In 1999 and 2000, Collins starred as Harriet Smith in the BBC television drama The Ambassador, where she played the lead role of the British ambassador to Ireland. Other television credits include The Saint, The Wednesday Play, Armchair Theatre, Play For Today, Tales of the Unexpected, Country Matters, and The Black Tower.
In 2002, she guest starred in Man and Boy, the dramatisation of Tony Parsons' best-seller. In 2005 she appeared as Miss Flite in the BBC production of Charles Dickens' Bleak House. In December 2006, she appeared in Extinct, a programme where eight celebrities campaigned on behalf of an animal to save it from extinction. Collins campaigned to save the Bengal tiger and won the public vote.
Collins was awarded the OBE in 2001. She lives in Hampstead, England, with Alderton and their three children, Nicholas, Kate and Richard. She also has an older daughter, Louise, whom she gave up for adoption. The pair were reunited when Louise was 22 years old, and Collins wrote a book, Letter To Louise, about these experiences.
- Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress (winner)
- Tony Award 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)
- Pauline Collins at the Internet Movie Database
- Some photos of Collins
- Summary of Collins' career milestones
- Article about Collins' receipt of the OBE
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Collins, Pauline |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | English actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH | September 3, 1940 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Exmouth, Devon, England, UK |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |