Pauline Collins is a British actress who first came to prominence portraying Sarah Moffat in Upstairs, Downstairs (1971–1973) and its spin-off, Thomas & Sarah (1979). In 1992, she published her autobiography, titled Letter to Louise.
Meet William Henry Collins, Mary Honora Callanan
Collins was born in Exmouth, Devon, the daughter of Mary Honora (Callanan), a schoolteacher, and William Henry Collins, a school headmaster. She is of Irish extraction and was brought up as a Roman Catholic in Wallasey, Cheshire. Her great-uncle was Irish poet Jeremiah Joseph, Callanan
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.
The film won a number of awards and nominations; Collins was nominated for the Oscar as Best Actress and won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical.
Both the play and the feature film used the technique known as “breaking the fourth wall,”