Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith was an English actress active in film, radio, stage and television. She is primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms The Good Life and To the Manor Born.
๐ฌ Early Life and Education
Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield was born on 2 April 1940 in Sutton, Surrey. Her father left her mother when Keith was a baby, and she spent her early years in Clacton-on-Sea and Clapham.
At age six she was sent to a Catholic convent boarding school in Seaford, East Sussex. She was rejected by the Central School of Speech and Drama for being too tall but was accepted at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art.
๐ Stage and Awards
Keith joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963. She won the 1976 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for the play Donkeys’ Years.
In 1978, Keith won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for The Norman Conquests. She also won the 1977 BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance for The Good Life.
๐บ Television Career
Keith became a household name playing Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life (1975โ1978). She then starred as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To the Manor Born (1979โ1981), which received audiences of more than 20 million.
Keith went on to star in another six sitcoms including Executive Stress, No Job for a Lady and Next of Kin. From 2000, she worked mainly in the theatre, with roles including Madam Arcati in Blithe Spirit and Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest.
๐๏ธ Radio and Other Work
In 1977, Keith starred in a comedy radio broadcast titled …And Yet Another Partridge in a Pear Tree. She voiced the title role in ten full-cast BBC radio dramatisations of Agatha Christie’s Agatha Raisin novels.
Keith voiced adverts for Pimm’s, Lurpak, Tesco and The Parker Pen Company. She also voiced The Bear with Brown Fuzzy Hair in Teletubbies.
๐ก Personal Life and Honours
In 1978, she married Rodney Timson, a policeman. In 1988, they adopted two boys who were brothers.
Keith was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 New Year Honours. She succeeded Lord Olivier as president of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund after his death in 1989.
| Year | Honour/Award | Category | Work |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1976 | Olivier Award | Best Comedy Performance | Donkeys’ Years |
| 1977 | BAFTA TV Award | Best Light Entertainment Performance | The Good Life |
| 1978 | BAFTA TV Award | Best Actress | The Norman Conquests |
| 2014 | DBE | Services to the arts and charity | Lifetime achievement |