Pauline Collins facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Pauline Collins OBE
Collins in 2012
Born	(1940-09-03) 3 September 1940 (age 84) Exmouth, Devon, England
Alma mater	Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1963–present
Spouse(s)	John Alderton ​ (m. 1969)​
Children	4

Pauline Collins (born 3 September 1940) is a British actress. She became famous for playing Sarah Moffat in the TV show Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1973). She also starred in its spin-off Thomas & Sarah (1979).

In 1992, she wrote her life story, called Letter to Louise. Collins is also well known for her role in the play Shirley Valentine. For this, she won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress and the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She played the same role in the 1989 film. This earned her a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and an Academy Award for Best Actress nomination. She also appeared in TV dramas like Forever Green (1989–1992) and The Ambassador (1998–1999). Her other films include City of Joy (1992), Paradise Road (1997), Albert Nobbs (2011), Quartet (2012), and The Time of Their Lives (2017).

Early Life and Acting Career

Pauline Collins was born in Exmouth, Devon, England. Her mother, Mary Honora, was a schoolteacher, and her father, William Henry Collins, was a headmaster. She has Irish family roots and grew up as a Roman Catholic in Wallasey, Cheshire.

Collins went to Sacred Heart High School. She then studied at the Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Before becoming an actress, she worked as a teacher until 1962. She first acted on stage in 1962 in A Gazelle in Park Lane. Her first big London stage role was in Passion Flower Hotel in 1965. During this time, she also made her first film, Secrets of a Windmill Girl, released in 1966.

Early Television Roles

Collins appeared in the 1967 Doctor Who story The Faceless Ones. She was asked to stay on as a new companion for the Doctor, but she decided not to. Other early TV roles included the medical show Emergency Ward 10 (1960). She also appeared in the pilot and first series of The Liver Birds in 1969.

Collins became widely known for playing the maid Sarah in the 1970s ITV drama series Upstairs, Downstairs. Her husband, actor John Alderton, also appeared in the second series. Later, they starred together in a spin-off show called Thomas & Sarah (1979). They also worked on the sitcom No, Honestly and a series of short stories called Wodehouse Playhouse (1975–1978). In 1983, she and Alderton narrated the animated children's TV series Little Miss for BBC One.

Shirley Valentine and Recent Work

In 1988, Collins starred in the one-woman play Shirley Valentine in London. She then took the play to Broadway in 1989 and starred in the 1989 film version. The film won many awards and nominations. Collins was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. She also won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical. Both the play and the film had the character Shirley Valentine talk directly to the audience.

After Shirley Valentine, Collins and her husband starred in the popular ITV drama series Forever Green. In this show, their characters moved from the city to the countryside for a new life. It ran for 18 episodes from 1989 to 1992.

Later Film and TV Appearances

Collins's film roles include City of Joy (1992) and Paradise Road (1997). She also appeared in Mrs Caldicot's Cabbage War (2002), which also featured John Alderton. In 1999 and 2000, Collins played Harriet Smith in the BBC TV drama Ambassador. Other TV shows she appeared in include The Saint and Tales of the Unexpected.

In 2005, she played Miss Flite in the BBC show Bleak House, based on the book by Charles Dickens. In 2006, she made history by being one of the few actors to appear in both the original and new Doctor Who series. She played Queen Victoria in the episode "Tooth and Claw".

Later in 2006, she was part of Extinct. This show had celebrities campaign to save an animal from extinction. Collins campaigned for the Bengal tiger and won the public vote. In 2011, she joined the comedy-drama Mount Pleasant as Sue, Lisa's mother. She was in the first two series. In late 2015, she played Mrs Gamp in the BBC TV series Dickensian.

Collins was given an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) award in 2001 for her contributions to drama.

Personal Life

Pauline Collins married actor John Alderton in 1969. They live in Hampstead, London, and have three children together: Nicholas, Kate, and Richard. Collins also has an older daughter, Louise, from a previous relationship with actor Tony Rohr. Collins gave Louise up for adoption in 1964 when she was a young, single mother. They were reunited when Louise was 22 years old. Collins wrote about these events in her book, Letter To Louise.

Filmography

Awards and Nominations

Pauline Collins has received many awards for her acting, including:

• 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)
• BAFTA for Best Film Actress (winner)
• Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress
• Nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress, Comedy or Musical

See also

In Spanish: Pauline Collins para niños