The Good Life star Dame Penelope Keith dies aged 86
Her family say she died peacefully at home ‘whilst living with cancer’
Actress Dame Penelope Keith, best known for sitcoms The Good Life and To The Manor Born, has died aged 86, her family said.
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She was best known for her roles a snobbish suburbanite Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life, which launched in 1975, and the widowed aristocrat Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, which first aired in 1979.
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In a statement, her family said: "We are deeply saddened to announce that Dame Penelope Keith died peacefully whilst living with cancer at her home in Surrey where she had lived for more than 50 years.
“The family is grateful for the care and support she received throughout her treatments, and ask that their privacy be respected at this time."
Dame Penelope, best known for her roles in The Good Life and To the Manor Born, died at her home in Milford where she had lived with her husband, Rodney Timson, for 50 years. The couple have two adopted sons.
Born in April 2 1940, Dame Penelope began her acting career in the 1960s on the stage before switching to TV in the 1970s, where she became a household name.
She shot to fame in 1975 when she landed the role of Margo Leadbettter on The Good Life, which focused on a couple trying to escape the rat race by becoming self-sufficient in their Surbiton home. She won the Bafta for Best Comedy Performer for her role of Margo.
The Good Life followed couple Tom and Barbara Good, played by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal, who try to escape the rat race in their suburban house in Surbiton.
They try to become self-sufficient, turning their gardens into an allotment and introducing farmyard animals, much to the horror of their neighbours – Margo and her husband Jerry.
In the first episode, she was heard but not seen but her presence increased as the show went on.
Paying tribute Felicity Kendal said: " Kendal said: “I am deeply saddened to hear of my friend Penelope’s death. The shows I worked on with her were such special times in our lives and demonstrated her comic genius.
“My heart goes out to her beloved Rodney at this time, theirs was a great love story and partnership. She was a joy to know and work with, and she will be much missed.”
In 1978, she picked up a second Bafta, for The Norman Conquests, the televised version of a trilogy of Alan Ayckbourn plays, which she had previously appeared in on stage.
After The Good Life, she switched to another hit comedy, To The Manor Born where she played the lead role of widowed aristocrat Audrey fforbes-Hamilton from 1979 to 1981.
Her character was forced to sell her estate, only to live at the on-site lodge after its new businessman owner moved in.
Dame Penelope later appeared in several other sitcoms playing the lead, including Sweet Sixteen, Moving, Executive Stress, No Job for a Lady, Law and Disorder, Next of Kin