Patricia Routledge, known for playing Hyacinth Bucket on the 1990s British television show Keeping Up Appearances, has died at age 96.
JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
Now, a remembrance for a British actress best known for onscreen snobbery.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
Dame Patricia Routledge died last week. In the 1990s, she starred in the BBC TV show “Keeping Up Appearances.”
SUMMERS: It’s a sitcom about a middle-class woman named Hyacinth who is hellbent on trying to convince people she’s upper-crust. She’s always embellishing parts of her life, including the pronunciation of her last name.
KELLY: Which was spelled B-U-C-K-E-T. So, OK, she’s Hyacinth Bucket. But of course, that was far too pedestrian for Hyacinth. As she made clear throughout the show’s entire run, B-U-C-K-E-T is pronounced bouquet. In Routledge’s hands, a woman who could have been insufferable was instead beloved and responsible for many laughs around the world.
SUMMERS: Routledge got her start in theater at the Liverpool Playhouse. She performed in London’s West End and later on Broadway, winning an Olivier Award and a Tony. She was also a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and audiences got to see her on the big screen in “To Sir, With Love,” starring Sidney Poitier.
KELLY: In the latter part of her career, as she rose to global TV prominence, Routledge alternated between stage and screen. In 2017, Queen Elizabeth II made her a dame commander in honor of her services to theater and charity.
SUMMERS: Patricia Routledge died at her home in Chichester, England, on Friday at the age of 96.
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