Dame Pat Routledge, who has died at the years of 96, imprinted herself on the national psyche as the snobby Mrs. Bucket.
Declaring it was "pronounced Bouquet," Hyacinth trampled over her patient husband and confused neighbours in the popular sitcom, one of Britain's best-loved sitcoms in the 1990s.
Behaving like a duchess while residing in a suburban area, Bucket's over-the-top status-seeking schemes were in the end destined to collapse—while she battled to keep her dignity.
It was Dame Patricia's most famous role in a professional life that saw her win theatrical awards on each side of the ocean, become the lead of the playwright's celebrated TV monologues, and become BBC1's investigative Hetty Wainthropp.
Early Years and Career Beginnings
Katherine Patricia Routledge was born in Birkenhead on February 17 1929.
Her father was a haberdasher and she later recalled sheltering from German air raids in the cellar of his shop throughout the Second World War.
She majored in English at nearby Liverpool University and planned to become a teacher. Rather, she joined the Liverpool Playhouse prior to studying at the Bristol Old Vic.
Her successful acting career took her from the provinces to the West End, and finally to Broadway, where the composer chose her to star in his musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976.
She had previously received a Tony honor for her performance in Darling of the Day.
She could move effortlessly from lighthearted plays to classics.
She progressed from Stratford-upon-Avon, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and then to the London's national stage in London.
At the National, her lead part in the stage musical Carousel featured her performing the inspiring You'll Never Walk Alone.
She also took various supporting film roles, notably in 1967's To Sir, With Love, and the comedian's comedy outing Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.
Her stage and radio performances proved her versatility and won her accolades, but it was the small screen that gave Routledge with her most high profile characters.
TV Breakthrough and Iconic Characters
Early small-screen appearances featured well-liked programmes like Z Cars and Steptoe and Son.
Subsequently, one of Britain's esteemed playwrights, Alan Bennett, penned a series of remarkable Talking Heads TV monologues for her.
Routledge conquered her initial hesitation to perform his scripts and shone as A Woman of No Importance and A Lady of Letters.
She went onto play a isolated, mid-life shop clerk drawn into a relationship with a unconventional podiatrist in Bennett's Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet.
A comic performance as the larger-than-life character on The Victoria Wood Show led to the creation of Mrs. Bouquet.
Routledge recalled being sent the scripts by the writer, Roy Clarke—who had also done Last of the Summer Wine and Open All Hours.
"I opened the pages for a moment at 1 a.m. in the morning," she recalled, "I read straight through and the character leapt off the page. I knew that lady, I'd met a few of that woman."
Keeping Up Appearances aired for five seasons and included four Christmas episodes.
In a documentary, she later claimed that fans had included Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and the pontiff.
It became the broadcaster's most exported programme ever and ensured Routledge was recognised as distant as Botswana.
For her work on the sitcom, she was voted Britain's all-time best-loved actor in 1996, but after half a decade in the part, she felt it was the moment for a new direction.
"I brought it to an end," she explained, "which, of course, the BBC didn’t care for very much."
She thought that Roy Clarke was beginning to recycle concepts and mentioned a piece of advice from the comedian, the comic.
"He always left with people saying, ‘Oh, won't you do any more?’ she said, rather than people saying, ‘Is that still on?’"
Later Roles and Personal Life
Playing the unassuming but sharp sleuth in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates gave her ongoing popularity on television, but she always called the stage as "the real challenge."
Years after she ceased appearing regularly on screen, Routledge made stage travels equally in the UK and abroad.
If journalists asked the inevitable question, she asked them to write the word retirement since, she explained: "It's not in my vocabulary."
She did not wed or raised children, but informed interviewers of two great affairs in her younger days, one with a married man.
"I experienced remorse and an sharp feeling that there would be pain," she confessed. "I guess I persuaded myself that it was all right for the moment as his marriage was not a vibrant relationship."
In place of family, she dedicated herself to her craft, honoring it with the talent, discipline and devotion that were always admired by her colleagues.
She was critical about the broadcaster's decision in 2016 to bring back Keeping Up Appearances, but on this occasion set in the 1950s and starring a younger incarnation of her role.
Challenging the Corporation's policy of resurrecting old sitcoms she remarked, "Why are they attempting this kind of thing, they have to be out of ideas."
She had already disagreed with the BBC over its move not to order a film she had written about the writer the children's author (she was a supporter of the literary group), which finally broadcast on another network.
Upon reaching 90, she continued to live quietly in the city, where she occupied herself raising funds for the church structure.
In 2017, she became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire but—unlike Hyacinth—titles did not affect her head.
Lady Patricia often stated she credited her Northern roots and stable family for giving her good sense with her time and her money.
Nonetheless, she confessed that, should any extra cash come her way, she'd certainly use it on "several bottles of champagne"—an love of the better pleasures in life that she had in common with her best-remembered creation.
"I was never stage-struck," she said. "I am not stage-struck now. Nobody's more surprised than I am that I've, actually, devoted my life doing this."
