Pauline Quirke (born 8 July 1958) is an English actress. Her most memorable role was that of Sharon in the series Birds of a Feather, alongside her lifelong friend and frequent acting partner Linda Robson.
Pauline began her career as a child actress at age eight with an appearance in Dixon of Dock Green. She has appeared in many movies and TV shows since that time. As a teenager she hosted two children's TV series, You Must Be Joking and Pauline's Quirkes. She had a small role in the movie The Elephant Man (1980).
In 1996 she starred in the BBC television adaptation of The Sculptress by Minette Walters. She recently played a major role in The Bill as Cath Wilson, wrongly convicted of murdering a child. She also starred alongside Warren Clarke in the BBC series Down To Earth from 2000-2003. She appeared in Carrie's War in 2004, and in 2006, Pauline portrayed Colleen McCabe in The Thieving Headmistress. In 2002 she starred alongside Nitin Ganatra in Being April a comedy drama for BBC One.
Pauline has frequently been seen in the audience of hit show Strictly Come Dancing and has appeared on its companion show It Takes Two more than once to talk about how much she enjoys it. She was a contestant on BBC's Celebrity Masterchef in June 2007.
She recently starred in a 2008 episode of My Family as 'Joan the Bank Robber'.
She has two children and is married to producer Steve Sheen. They currently reside in Penn, a village in south Buckinghamshire. On the Paul O'Grady talk show in 2007 she told of how she suffers from severe stage fright and nerves and she usually refuses to appear on live TV shows, when she does often appearing deeply nervous.She has opened a comedy talent school in Aylesbury not far from her homestead in Penn.
