Patricia Routledge, the stage and screen actor best known for starring as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances and Henrietta “Hetty” Wainthropp in the television series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, has died at the age of 96.
“We are deeply saddened to confirm the passing of Dame Patricia Routledge, who died peacefully in her sleep this morning surrounded by love,” said her agent.
“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.”
The statement added: “She will be dearly missed by those closest to her and by her devoted admirers around the world.”
Routledge was born in Birkenhead, Cheshire, in 1929 and attended the University of Liverpool and the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. She began her career in theatre and musical theatre in 1952, later making her Broadway debut in 1966 in How’s the World Treating You. Routledge would go on to win a Tony award and an Olivier for her stage work, and was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for several years, appearing in productions including Richard III, alongside Antony Sher.
The actor found further success on television in the 1980s in Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV and Alan Bennett’s Talking Heads, and the following decade in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.
However, it was as the chronically pretentious housewife Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances – which aired between 1990 and 1995 – that Routledge was perhaps best known. The class-conscious character, who insisted her surname was pronounced “Bouquet”, was an enduring comic creation, with Routledge nominated for two Baftas for her portrayal.
In a 2011 interview with the Guardian, Routledge said that she didn’t mind being closely associated with her Keeping Up Appearances character: “If everything focuses on that, it’s just too silly. But it would be churlish of me not to appreciate what it’s brought me. If a good number of people come into a theatre because they know me from the dreaded Mrs B, I couldn’t be happier.”
Tributes to the star came from the likes of Jon Petrie, the BBC’s director of comedy. “She was an actor of remarkable range, but her portrayal of Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances has to be one of the most iconic performances in British comedy,” he said.
“She took a character on the page and gave her such truth, precision and warmth that Hyacinth became part of the national conversation; instantly recognisable, endlessly quotable, and loved around the world. Whatever she did, she brought impeccable craft, and in doing so inspired generations of writers, performers and audiences. Dame Patricia made millions laugh and left a legacy that will always be remembered with gratitude and admiration.”
Her film roles included the Sidney Poitier drama To Sir, with Love in 1967 and Don’t Raise the Bridge, Lower the River in 1968 alongside Jerry Lewis. Routledge also appeared in television series including Steptoe and Son and Coronation Street, and played the German writer, mystic and philosopher Hildegard of Bingen in a 1994 BBC docudrama.
Routledge lived in Chichester in West Sussex from 2000 until her death. She was awarded a damehood in 2017 for services to theatre and charity.
