Pauline Quirke has been diagnosed with dementia and will be stepping away from acting, her husband has confirmed.
The 65-year-old star was best known for her role in the hit sitcom Birds Of A Feather, playing Sharon Theodopolopodous opposite Linda Robson, who played her sister Tracey.
Steve Sheen, who has been married to Quirke since 1996, said she had been diagnosed with the condition in 2021.
In a statement, he said it was “with a heavy heart” that she was stepping back from her professional and commercial duties because of her diagnosis.
He went on: “We are deeply grateful for the support of her peers, the public and the dedicated staff and Principals at PQA [Pauline Quirke Academy of Performing Arts].
“We kindly request privacy and understanding for Pauline and our family during this difficult period. Pauline just wants to spend time with her family, children and grandchildren.”
Image: Quirke with her husband Steve Sheen
Quirke and her husband, who worked as an executive producer on Birds Of A Feather, have two children together. Their son Charlie is also an actor.
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Quirke’s family have pledged future support to Alzheimer’s Research UK and say they will be working alongside the charity to raise funds for research and awareness of dementia.
The statement also drew comparisons with the work done to raise awareness for the cause by the family of late EastEnders actress Dame Barbara Windsor, who died in 2020, after being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease six years previously.
Sheen went on: “We are very proud of what our family friend Scott Mitchell is doing with Alzheimer’s Research UK in his late wife Dame Barbara Windsor’s name. So, when we feel able, we will also align ourselves with the charity.”
One of the most recognisable stars of British comedy, Quirke began acting as a child getting her own TV show as a teenager – Pauline’s Quirkes – where she frequently worked with Linda Robson.
Image: Quirke receiving her MBE in 2022. Pic: PA
The pair were brought together again in 1989 in Birds of a Feather, where the roles of mismatched sisters brought together after their husbands are sent to jail for armed robbery turned them into household names.
A female-led comedy, Lesley Joseph played the third lead in the show, as nosey neighbour Dorien Green.
Running for nine years on the BBC, it attracted nearly 20 million viewers at its height. It was rebooted by ITV in 2014 and ran for six more years.
Quirke did not return for a Christmas special in 2020.
In a career spanning over half a decade, Quirke has starred in more than 60 TV and film productions, including Broadchurch, Carrie’s War, North and South, Casualty, Cold Blood, My Family and Emmerdale.
In 1990 Quirke won a British Comedy award for her role in Birds Of A Feather and in 1996 she was nominated for a BAFTA for her performance as a convicted murderess in The Sculptress.
In 1995 Quirke and Robson appeared on the BBC documentary Jobs For The Girls, trying out a new profession each week, frequently with comedic results.
In 2007 The Pauline Quirke Academy Of Performing Arts opened, offering classes in singing, dancing, and acting for children from four to 18. Based in Buckinghamshire, it operates across the country.
The academy said it was “deeply moved by the messages that we have received” following news of Quirke’s diagnosis, adding, “it has been wonderful to see how many lives Pauline has touched through her work”.
They said teaching at the academy would “continue as normal”.
Quirke was awarded an MBE in 2022 in recognition of her work with young people, contributions to entertainment and dedication to charitable causes.
One in two people will be directly affected by dementia – either by developing the condition themselves, caring for someone with it, or both – according to Alzheimer’s Research UK.
A second man has been charged with grievous bodily harm with intent after an incident at a London nightclub that allegedly involved US singer Chris Brown.
The Metropolitan Police said Omololu Akinlolu, 38, will appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Saturday.
Better known by his stage name HoodyBaby, the American rapper has been charged in connection with an alleged assault at the Tape nightclub in central London in February 2023.
Brown, 36, was charged on Thursday with grievous bodily harm with intent and was remanded in custody by judge in Manchester until 13 June.
He is accused of attacking music producer Abraham Diaw with a bottle during the incident in February.
During a hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on Friday, Brown watched intently as brief details of the case against him were outlined by prosecutor Hannah Nicholls.
She accused Brown of committing “an unprovoked attack with a weapon in a nightclub full of people”.
Brown spoke to confirm his name and date of birth, but did not enter a plea.
He will appear for a plea and trial preparation hearing in London on 13 June.
Brown – known for hits such as “Loyal”, “Run It” and “Under the Influence” – was arrested at a hotel in Manchester in the early hours of Thursday by detectives from the Metropolitan Police.
The Grammy Award-winning singer was due to tour the UK in June and July, with dates in Manchester, Cardiff, London, Glasgow and Birmingham.
R&B star Cassie Ventura told Sean “Diddy” Combs “I’m not a rag doll, I’m someone’s child”, after he allegedly beat her outside a lift at the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles in March 2016, a New York court has heard.
Footage of Combs appearing to drag and kick the R&B star in a corridor was initially released by CNN in May 2024. Combs subsequently apologised for his actions.
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CCTV footage shows Diddy ‘attacking’ Cassie in hotel
The footage of the incident, which Cassie says took place after she left a “freak off” sex session, has since been widely shared and has been shown to the jury in court as evidence for the prosecution.
Combs, 55, faces five criminal counts: one count of racketeering conspiracy; two counts of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion; and two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. He denies the allegations against him.
Cassie, whose full name is Casandra Ventura, alleges she was physically abused and degraded for years by the powerful hip-hop star and music executive, accusing him of violence, coercion, blackmail and rape.
The 38-year-old, who is the star witness for the prosecution, faced a fourth day on the stand, with the hip-hop mogul’s defence lawyers concluding their two-day cross-examination.
Heavily pregnant, she is expecting her third child in just a few weeks.
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Prosecutors say Combs exploited and used his network of employees to facilitate illegal activities, while defence lawyers have been attempting to show jurors she consented to their highly charged “swingers lifestyle”.
The court also heard further details of Cassie’s allegation of rape against Combs, information around her stay at a trauma and addiction centre in Arizona and further messages appearing to show her enthusiasm for freak offs.
Image: Sean Combs and Cassie in 2017. Pic: zz/XPX/STAR MAX/IPx 2017/AP
Cassie was asked about singer Chris Brown – who she denied dancing with – and tells the court Combs had form for taking her belongings, including her phone, car and watch, when he was angry with her.
An audio recording was also played to the court, appearing to show Cassie threatening a man she claimed to have a video of her at a freak off on his phone, screaming: “I will f*** you up and it won’t be my hand”.
It was not clear as to whether such a video ever existed.
Cassie was also asked about her use of drugs, and said she had struggled with opioid addiction since 2022.
She described a 45-day stay at a rehabilitation centre in Arizona in 2023, where she underwent EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing) to help resolve trauma.
The centre specialises in treating “sex and intimacy issues”, but Cassie confirmed she was treated only for trauma.
The court also heard about Cassie’s allegation of rape against Combs in August or September 2018, by which time she says they had split up.
The pair were together, on and off, for about 11 years from 2007 to 2018.
Image: A court sketch of Combs and Cassie. Pic: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
‘I have love for the past, what it was’
Describing Combs taking her for dinner at an Italian restaurant in Malibu, she says he raped her after driving her home, after “acting strangely” during the meal.
When asked if she believed his behaviour was due to his “bipolar disorder”, Cassie answered “yes”.
The jury was then shown a text message which included a heart emoji, sent by Cassie to Combs the following day.
When asked if she still had love for him, she said: “I have love for the past, what it was.”
Cassie confirmed she saw Combs the following month, when she said she had consensual sex with him, during which her now-husband, personal trainer Alex Fine, attempted to FaceTime her.
She said she didn’t tell Fine she had been raped by Combs at the time, but that he “punched a wall” when she later told him.
Combs paid close attention to Cassie’s cross-examination, leaning in to read transcripts on the monitor in front of him and passing down notes to his lawyer. Cassie did not look at him throughout the trial.
Image: Cassie’s husband, Alex Fine (left), outside court. Pic: Reuters/David ‘Dee’ Delgado
A ‘$10m’ settlement with the Intercontinental
Towards the end of her questioning by the defence, Cassie was read a message from Combs in September 2012, in which he asked “do you want to have our last FO [freak off] tonight?” – to which she responded, “I don’t want to freak off for the last time, I want it to be the first time for the rest of our lives”.
In a surprise turn, Cassie also confirmed that an expected settlement of $10m had been agreed with the Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, where she was assaulted.
Following her time in court, she released a statement saying she hoped her testimony would help others “heal from the abuse and fear”.
“For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember,” she said. “And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget.”
The next witness, special agent Yasin Binda, detailed items found during a search of Combs’s Park Hyatt hotel room in 2004, following his arrest that year.
She showed the court images of exhibits including lubricant and baby oil, drugs and a bum bag containing $9,000 (£6,800) in cash.
Image: Dawn Richard points at Combs during the trial. Pic: Reuters/Jane Rosenberg
‘Hit over the head with a skillet of eggs’
At the end of the day, Dawn Richard, a former member of girl group Danity Kane and trio Dirty Money, gave evidence, telling the court she observed Combs attacking Cassie, including a time he “hit her over the head with a skillet of eggs”.
She went on to say Combs “dragged” Cassie upstairs where she “heard glass breaking”, adding she had “never seen anything” like it before – “he was punching his girlfriend”.
Richard said she didn’t intervene or report the incident to the police as she was “scared”.
The singer sued Combs last year, accusing him of physical abuse, groping and psychological abuse during her time working with him.
Combs has been jailed since September and faces at least 15 years or possibly life in prison if convicted.
A man convicted of stabbing Salman Rushdie, leaving the author blind in one eye, has been jailed for 25 years.
Hadi Matar was found guilty of attempted murder and assault in February.
Prosecutors had been seeking the maximum sentence of 25 years for the attack in August 2022, along with an additional seven-year term for injuring a second man.
Image: Hadi Matar. Pic: AP
During the trial, Sir Salman revealed he feared he was dying when the masked attacker plunged a knife into his head and body more than a dozen times.
The attack happened as the 77-year-old was introduced on stage at the Chautauqua Institution in New York for a discussion on writer safety.
Sir Salman was stabbed in the head, neck, torso and left hand and suffered damage to his liver and intestines.
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From 2024: Salman Rushdie recalls stabbing
The Midnight’s Children author spent 17 days at a hospital in Pennsylvania and more than three weeks at a rehabilitation facility in New York City, as he recovered from his injuries. He wrote about the attack and his recovery in his 2024 memoir Knife.
Matar will next face a trial on terrorism-related charges. Prosecutors allege the 27-year-old was trying to carry out a decades-old fatwa calling for the author’s death.
In 1989, Iran’s then leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issued the fatwa in response to the publication of Sir Salman’s novel The Satanic Verses, which some Muslims consider blasphemous, causing the Indian born British-American author to go into hiding.
In 1998, Iran announced it would not enforce the decree, allowing Sir Salman to travel freely over the last quarter of a century.
Matar pleaded not guilty to providing materials to terrorists, attempting to provide material support to Hezbollah and engaging in terrorism transcending national boundaries.