Patricia Routledge could turn her hand to any form of acting — which was a blessing and a curse.
The grand British thespian was often praised for her versatility — a word she did not relish because it implied, she said, "not being very good at anything".
She appeared in Shakespeare and Dickens, sang on Broadway and played pensioner-turned-detective Hetty Wainthropp in the BBC series, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, but was perhaps best known for her roles in TV sitcoms, specifically her starring role in much loved series Keeping Up Appearances.
That show, and Routledge’s hilarious performances as the unspeakably snobbish Hyacinth Bucket — pronounced Bouquet — made her a household name.
The show, which captivated audiences in the 1990s, attracted as many as 13 million viewers at its peak.
Katherine Patricia Routledge was born on February 17, 1929.
She was educated at Birkenhead High School, the University of Liverpool, Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and the Guildhall School of Music.
As a youngster, she was undecided among the careers of actress, singer or teacher.
But she failed to win a scholarship to the Royal Manchester School of Music, so she gave up the idea of a singing career.
Although she studied English at Liverpool University and still intended to become a teacher, she said she felt "the tuggings of the stage".
She was taken on as an unpaid assistant stage manager by Liverpool Playhouse and after some months she was offered a job with the company at £5 a week, making her theatre debut in 1952 as Hippolyta in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
The young actress made her debut on a London stage in 1954.
Patricia Routledge quickly established herself as a major character actress and she became known as "the female Stan Laurel".
But up to the 1970s she was, if anything, better known on Broadway than in the UK.
She overwhelmed the New York critics with her Broadway performance in the play How’s the World Treating You? and appeared there in musicals as well.
Patricia Routledge always regarded her mentor as Alistair Sim, whom she played opposite in at least two Pinero comedies.
She said: "From him I learned that comedy is instinct and that once you try to discuss why a laugh is dying you kill it stone dead".
Extensive TV work in Britain from the 1950s resulted in her carving out memorable roles as Queen Victoria in Victoria Regina for Granada in 1964 and as Kitty in Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV in the mid-1980s.
But she won a permanent place in viewers’ affections as Hyacinth Bucket. In 1996, a year after the show ended, she was named Britain’s all-time favourite actress.
In her next BBC hit, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, Routledge, as in her acclaimed sitcom, was the dominant figure in her household. While in Keeping Up Appearances her foil was her much put-upon screen husband (played with marvellous resignation by Clive West), in Hetty Wainthropp she played a private detective with an improbably young assistant, Lord of the Rings actor Dominic Monaghan).
Having saved Monaghan’s character from a life of delinquency, she then spirited him around the countryside to solve crimes which had baffled the local constabulary.
Patricia Routledge was awarded an OBE in 1993, a CBE in 2004, and was made a dame in Britain’s 2017 New Year Honours.
Other accolades included an Olivier Award for her role as the Old Lady in Bernstein’s operetta Candide in 1988 and a Tony Award for her part as Alice Challice in Darling of the Day in 1968.
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’.’
Patricia Routledge 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".
Paying tribute, Jon Petrie, BBC Director of Comedy, said: "We are so sad to hear of the passing of Dame Patricia Routledge. 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.
"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." — Press Association
