Dame Penelope cemented her legacy as one of Britain’s most beloved comedic actors through iconic television roles.
Actress Dame Penelope Keith has died at the age of 86. Her family confirmed she passed away peacefully while living with cancer at her home in Surrey, where she had lived for more than 50 years The actress was originally born in Sutton, South London.
“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,” her family said in a statement. “The family is grateful for the care and support she received throughout her treatments, and ask that their privacy be respected at this time.”
Dame Penelope cemented her legacy as one of Britain’s most beloved comedic actors through iconic television roles. She starred as the upwardly mobile and formidable Margo Leadbetter in 1975–1978’s The Good Life, and as the proud aristocrat Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in 1979–1981’s To the Manor Born.
Her highly acclaimed, award-winning career also included acclaimed stage performances, such as an Olivier Award for her role in Donkeys’ Years. She served for many years as President of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund and was made a Dame in 2014 for her services to the arts and charity.
Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield was born in Sutton, Surrey in 1940. Her father, an army officer who was a Major by the end of the Second World War, left her mother, Connie, when Keith was a baby, and she spent her early years in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex and Clapham, south London.
The 70s’ sitcom icon had lived at her 17th-century home Mousehill Manor, in Milford, Surrey, since 1978. She shared it with her husband, Rodney Timpson, who is a former detective and later became her manager, and their two adopted sons. Keith met Timpson in 1976, while she was performing in a theatre in Chichester. At the time, Timpson was a twice-divorced policeman and was carrying out security checks for the play.
The pair married six months later and adopted two young brothers. Of her marriage to Tompson, she said in 2010: “We’ve been married 33 years, and they all said we wouldn’t last. He likes looking after me and I enjoy that.”
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