“Keeping Up Appearances” Star Dame Patricia Routledge Dies at 96 – Entertainment News

By Karen Beishuizen

“Bouquet Residence, lady of the house speaking”

Hyacinth Bucket is gone. The snobish social-climber is no more.

Dame Patricia Routledge died on 3 October. She was 96.

Born in the north of England near Liverpool, Dame Patricia made a name for herself on stage in the U.K. and later the U.S., winning a Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical in 1968 for “Darling of the Day,” following this up with an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for “Candide” 20 years later.

She was as adept at serious drama as she was at musicals and comedy – she appeared in Richard III and Henry V at the Royal Shakepseare Company.

But the actress became best known for her performances in TV, especially her turn as the overbearing, flowery-dressed Bucket — which her character famously insisted was pronounced “Bouquet” — in “Keeping Up Appearances,” which ran from 1990 to 1995.

“She’s an absolute monster and I enjoyed playing her enormously,” the actress said.

Despite only running for five seasons, it would have a lasting legacy, and for a time was the most successful British show internationally. The comedy amassed huge audiences in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Ireland, Belgium, and the Netherlands, and in 2016 was named as BBC Worldwide’s most exported TV show ever.

In 1991, Routledge won a British Comedy Award for her portrayal as Bucket, and she was later nominated for two BAFTA TV Awards in 1992 and 1993.
Following on from “Keeping Up Appearances,” Dame Patricia starred in the crime drama series “Hetty Wainthropp Investigates,” about a retired woman who has a knack for solving crimes. It ran from 1996 to 1998.
In 2017, Dame Patricia was given a Damehood by Queen Elizabeth II for her services to entertainment and charity.

Dame Patricia never married and had no children.

Ringside Report sends their condolences to Dame Patricia’s Family in their time of grief.

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