Dame Patricia Routledge, one of the United Kingdom’s most acclaimed actors has died aged 96.
Her agent announced that she had passed away peacefully in her sleep.
“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.” they said.
Routledge was known around the globe for her comedic portrayal of social climber Hyacinth Bucket, who always insisted her name was pronounced Bouquet, in the comedy series Keeping Up Appearances.
The show ran for five season from 1990 until 1995, but had a long shelf life and never been off TV screens since it made it’s debut.
While Routledge will always be associated with the very quotable character, her career was in theatre and television was long and incredibly diverse. She found success in comedy, drama and musicals.
She made her professional stage debut in 1952, and by 11959 was appearing in the West End in The Love Doctor. She made her Broadway debut in 1966 with How’s the World Treating You and won a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her 1968 appearance in Darling of the Day.
In 1988 she received an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for the show Candide, and she appeared in notably films including 1967’s To Sir With Love which starred Sidney Poitier, and the 1968 Jerry Lewis comedy Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.
Through the decades she constantly worked in theatre on both sides of the Atlantic. Television audiences got to know her in the 1980s when she performed several monologues written by playwright Alan Bennet, and her role as Kitty in Victoria Wood’s series Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV.
In 1990 she filmed a pilot for the mystery series Hetty Wainthropp: Missing Persons, but broadcaster ITV decided not to pursue the series. The same year she was cast as Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances with Clive Mantle as her ever-suffering husband Richard.
The series was hugely popular around the world and became the BBC’s most exported series ever, by 2016 it had been sold to over 1000 overseas broadcasters. After 44 episodes, including 4 Christmas specials the series came to an end when Routledge declined to film more episodes.
She then went on to star in four series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, the series that had initially not been picked up. The show also featured the screen debut of actor Domonic Monaghan who would go on to appear in Lord of the Rings and Lost.
The actor said she never planned to retire, and continued working. She never married, and had no children, and in a 2001 interview commented, “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.”
She was awarded an OBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993, and promoted to a CBE in 2004. In 2017 was made a Dame for her services to theatre and charity.
