Penelope Keith: Star of BBC sitcoms The Good Life and To The Manor Born dead at 86
Penelope Keith, who is best known for British sitcoms such as The Good Life and To The Manor Born, has died at age 86.
Actor Penelope Keith, best known for classic British sitcoms The Good Life and To The Manor Born, has died aged 86.
She played snobbish suburbanite Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life, which launched on the BBC in 1975, and the widowed aristocrat Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To The Manor Born, also on the BBC, from 1979.
“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,” a statement on behalf of her family said on Monday.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“The family is grateful for the care and support she received throughout her treatments, and ask that their privacy be respected at this time.”
Keith started her career on the stage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963 but became a household name for her work in sitcoms.
She won a BAFTA in 1977 for playing Margo, the snobbish bullying social climber, but later reveals a heart of gold.
The Good Life followed couple Tom and Barbara Good, played by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal, who try to escape the rat race in their suburban house in Surbiton.
They try to become self-sufficient, turning their gardens into an allotment and introducing farmyard animals, much to the horror of their neighbours - Margo and her husband Jerry.
Her co-star Kendal led the tributes to Keith, who released a statement remembering her as a “comic genius” who was “a joy to know and work with”.
“I am deeply saddened to hear of my friend Penelope’s death,” her tribute read.
“The shows I worked on with her were such special times in our lives and demonstrated her comic genius.
“She was a joy to know and work with, and she will be much missed.”
British broadcaster and former politician Gyles Brandreth described Keith as “such a special lady”.
“A wonderful actress, a real friend, so funny, so generous with the time she gave to good causes,” he said. “Hers was indeed a good life.”
Keith was a made a Dame Commander of the British Empire by the late Queen Elizabeth II in 2014.
