Actor Dame Penelope Keith has died aged 86 after a battle with cancer.
The TV legend, best known for her iconic role as the socially ambitious, snobbish neighbour Margo Leadbetter in the hit 1970s BBC sitcom The Good Life, passed away “peacefully” at her Surrey home.
"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,” her family told The Standard in a statement.
“The family is grateful for the care and support she received throughout her treatments, and ask that their privacy be respected at this time."
The To The Manor Born star had lived at her 17th-century home Mousehill Manor, in Milford, Surrey, since 1978.
The Bafta winner shared it with her husband, Rodney Timpson, who is a former detective and later became her manager, and their two adopted sons.
Dame Penelope met Mr Timpson in 1976, while she was performing in a theatre in Chichester. At the time, Timpson was a twice-divorced policeman and was carrying out security checks for the play.
The pair married six months later and adopted two young brothers.
Felicity Kendall, who starred alongside Dame Penelope in The Good Life, paid tribute to a “comic genius”
She 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.”
West End theatres will dim the lights on Wednesday, July 1 in memory of Dame Penelope.
Theatres will dim the lights for two minutes at 7pm in tribute to the actress, who began her acting career in repertory theatre and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963.
Society of London Theatre and UK Theatre co-chief executive Claire Walker said: “We are proud to come together as an industry and honour the life and extraordinarily prolific career of Dame Penelope Keith, who will undoubtedly be remembered for many years to come as one of this country’s most venerated actors.
“We offer condolences to her loved ones and all who knew her.”
Of her marriage to Mr Timpson, Dame Penelope said in 2010: "We've been married 33 years, and they all said we wouldn't last. He likes looking after me and I enjoy that."
Born on April 2 1940, Dame Penelope began her acting career in the 1960s on the stage and won an Olivier award in 1976 for her performance in Donkeys’ Years by Michael Frayn
She switched to TV in the 1970s, where she became a household name.
Dame Penelope 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.
The acting legend won the Bafta for Best Comedy Performer for her role of Margo.
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 BBC comedy, To The Manor Born.
The performer played the lead role of widowed aristocrat Audrey fforbes-Hamilton from 1979 to 1981.
Her character was forced to sell her estate to pay off her late husband’s debts, only to live at the tiny on-site lodge after its new businessman owner Richard DeVere, played by Peter Bowles moved in.
For three series, the pair sniped at each other until they reached an understanding and married in the last episode.
It became one of her most famous parts, with the show being brought back for a one-off special in 2007, 26 years after its last episode.
Dame Penelope and Bowles also reunited for a Christmas special in 2012.
“I loved it because we had to do all our own stunts,” Keith told The Guardian in 2013 of the role.
“I am a country girl at heart, and I got to ride horses again, to learn about bee keeping, to drive a two-tonne Rolls-Royce with impossible gears; I scaled a five-bar gate with a picnic hamper to flee a bull.”
Dame Penelope appeared in several other sitcoms playing the lead, including Sweet Sixteen, Moving, Executive Stress, No Job for a Lady, Law and Disorder and Next of Kin.
She was also the main narrator for Morecambe and Wise in Pieces: The Sketches.
Most recently, she presented the Channel 4 series Village of the Year and took to the stage in The Chalk Garden at Chichester Festival Theatre.
Away from the television and theatre world, Keith was president of the charity, the Actors’ Benevolent Fund for 30 years, replacing Laurence Olivier in the role after the actor and director’s death in 1989.
She was also a trustee of Brooklands motor and aviation museum for several years. Keith was made a dame for services to the arts and to charity in 2014.
