Dame Patricia Routledge, the actress best known for playing Hyacinth Bucket in BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances has died at the age of 96.
Born in 1929 in Tranmere, Routledge started acting while at the University of Liverpool where she wasd an active member of the dramatic society.
On graduating she trained Bristol Old Vic Theatre School before returned to Liverpool to start her professional career at the Liverpool Playhouse.
She went on to star in numerous plays in London’s West End and Broadway, winning a Tony Award for her role in Darling of the Day and an Olivier Award for Candide.
While her main passion was for theatre acting, she found fame on the small screen, first in Keeping Up Appearances, for which she was nominated for two BAFTAs, and then for Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.
She was made a dame by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 for her services to entertainment and charity.
1. Patricia Routledge on...growing old
"Growing older isn't a final act—it can be life's most exquisite chapter if you allow yourself to bloom once more. Let the years ahead be your treasure years. You don't have to be perfect, famous, or adored. You only need to be present—fully—for the life that's yours." | Getty Images
2. Patricia Routledge on...death
"When I approach the pearly gates, I'd like to hear a champagne cork popping, an orchestra tuning up, and the sound of my mother laughing." | Getty Images
3. Patricia Routledge on...Hyacinth Bucket
"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." | AFP via Getty Images
4. Patricia Routledge on...not getting married
"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." | Getty Images