Dame Patricia Routledge dies aged 96

Dame Patricia Routledge has died aged 96.

The actress, best known for her role as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances, died surrounded by her loved ones at home on Friday morning.

In a statement, 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.”

Dame Patricia, from Birkenhead in Cheshire, northwest England, had a career that spanned stage, television and musical theatre.

She became a household name with her performances as the snobbish Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances from 1990 to 1995. The show, which captivated audiences in the 1990s, attracted as many as 13 million viewers at its peak.

Fan mail included letters from boys as young as eight who were delighted to see a bossy woman “meet her comeuppance”, as she put it.

Later in the 1990s, at the age of 66, she played a pensioner-turned-detective, Hetty Wainthropp, in a six-part BBC TV crime series.

Routledge made her stage debut in Liverpool in 1952 and appeared in the West End for the first time in 1954. She went on to establish herself as a major character actress, becoming known as “the female Stan Laurel”.

Up to the 1970s she was as well known on Broadway as in the UK. She went on to win a Tony award in 1968 for her role in Darling of the Day and, two decades later, won an Olivier for her part in the musical Candide.

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.

She won a permanent place in the nation’s affections as Hyacinth Bucket, who insisted her last name was pronounced “bouquet”. In 1996, a year after the show ended, she was named Britain’s all-time favourite actress.

Dame Patricia was awarded an OBE in 1993, a CBE in 2004, and was made a dame in the 2017 New Year Honours.

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.”

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.”

The Telegraph, London

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