Born in Devon, England to Irish emigrant parents, and educated at a convent school.She was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2001 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama. She won a Tony Award as Best Actress in a Play for "Shirley Valentine.".She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1989 (1988 season) for Best Actress in a New Play for Shirley Valentine.Won Broadway's 1989 Tony Award as Best Actress (Play) for "Shirley Valentine," a role she recreated in an Oscar-nominated performance in the film version of the same title, Shirley Valentine (1989).Her guest appearance in "Doctor Who" (1963) nearly led to her becoming one of the Doctor's companions. But she turned down the chance to take a spin in the TARDIS to concentrate on other roles.Pauline also has an older daughter Louise, with actor Tony Rohr . She gave her up for adoption when she was penniless and single at the age of 23. The pair were reunited 22 years later. Pauline's book, Letter To Louise, documented these events.One of 19 performers to have acted in both the 20th Century "Doctor Who" (1963) TV series and the 21 Century "Doctor Who" (2005) TV series. The other 18 are Daphne Oxenford , Anne Reid , William Thomas , Nisha Nayar , Elisabeth Sladen , John Leeson , Bella Emberg , Colin Spaull , Christopher Ryan , Gabriel Woolf , Roger Nott , Geoffrey Palmer , Clive Swift , David Warwick , Christopher Benjamin , Trevor Laird , Margaret John and Louis Mahoney .After more than 20 years, Pauline and husband John Alderton co-starred together in the 2004 play "Going Straight" at London's Richmond Theatre. It was a family affair as daughter/actress Kate Alderton completed the three-person cast.