Keeping Up Appearances star Dame Patricia Routledge dies aged 96
The television and theatre actress played the highly strung Hyacinth Bucket alongside Clive Smith in the 90s sitcom.
Acclaimed actress Dame Patricia Routledge, best known for her role as Hyacinth Bucket in hit sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, has died at the age of 96.
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The British actress became a household name playing the snobbish character in the hit sitcom during the early 1990s, but also had a prolific and expansive career in the world of theatre.
In a statement released on Friday, her agent said: “We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing of Dame Patricia Routledge, who died peacefully in her sleep this morning surrounded by love.
“Even at 96 years old, Dame Patricia’s passion for her work and for connecting with live audiences never waned, just as new generations of audiences have continued to find her through her beloved television roles.
“She will be dearly missed by those closest to her and by her devoted admirers around the world.”
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Keeping Up Appearances ran from from 1990 to 1995 and attracted as many as 13 million viewers at its peak.
But extensive TV work in Britain from the 1950s saw her carve out memorable roles as Victoria Regina for Granada in 1964 and as Kitty in Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV in the mid-1980s.In the 1990s, Dame Patricia played a pensioner-turned-detective, Hetty Wainthropp, in a £3m six-part BBC TV crime series.
Born in February 1929, Dame Patricia first discovered acting when she joined the University of Liverpool's dramatic society during her English Language degree.
She went on to trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, before returning to Liverpool to begin her acting career at the Liverpool Playhouse.
After making her stage debut in 1952, Dame Patricia won an Olivier Award for her role as the Old Lady in Leonard Bernstein’s operetta Candide in 1988.
She later won a Tony Award for her part as Alice Challice in Darling Of The Day in 1968, and worked in a number of productions across six decades.
She was born in Birkenhead, Merseyside where her father was a high-class gents’ outfitter where ‘keeping up appearances’ was the name of the game.
She read English at Liverpool University where she appeared in student shows, later making her professional debut at the Liverpool Playhouse.
Dame Patricia never married and had no children. She once said: “I didn’t make a decision not to be married and not to be a mother. Life just turned out like that because my involvement in acting was so total.”
In 2017 she was honoured at Buckingham Palace as she was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire for her services to the theatre and charity.
Speaking in 2017, she said she had no favoured role from her long career on the stage, adding: “I don’t do beloved roles, I’ve just had a wonderfully interesting time with so many roles.”