 Though much-awarded (a BAFTA, an Oscar nomination) for her stage and film starring role as Shirley Valentine (d. Lewis Gilbert, 1989), a put-upon Liverpool housewife who finds romance and fulfilment in Greece, Pauline Collins' main career has been in TV. There, she made her name as the ambitious parlourmaid Sarah in Upstairs, Downstairs (LWT, 1971-75), playing opposite husband John Alderton, with whom she co-starred in the spin-off series Thomas and Sarah (LWT, 1979). Born in Exmouth on 3 September 1940, her first film was Secrets of a Windmill Girl (d. Arnold Louis Miller, 1965); her few others include City of Joy (UK/France, d. Roland Joffé, 1992), Mutters Courage (UK/Ireland/Germany/Austria, d. Michael Verhoeven, 1995) and Paradise Road (US/Australia, d. Bruce Beresford, 1997), in which she gave a moving study in goodness as a nun in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp. She was awarded the OBE in 2001. Brian McFarlane, Encyclopedia of British Film
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FILM & TV CREDITS
