Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith, (née Hatfield; born 2 April 1940) is an English actress and presenter, active in film, radio, stage and television and primarily known for her roles in the British sitcoms '' The Good Life'' and '' To the Manor Born''. She succeeded Lord Olivier as president of the Actors' Benevolent Fund after his death in 1989, and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the

2014 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2014 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebrati ...

for services to the arts and to charity. Keith joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963, and went on to win the 1976 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for the play ''

Donkeys' Years ''Donkeys' Years'' is a play by English playwright Michael Frayn that premiered at the Globe Theatre, London, in 1976. The play is a West End farce, a genre that Frayn parodied five years later in his play within a play "Nothing On" from ''Noi ...

''. She became a household name in the UK playing

Margo Leadbetter ''The Good Life'' is a British sitcom, produced by BBC television. It ran from 4 April 1975 to 10 June 1978 on BBC 1 and was written by Bob Larbey and John Esmonde. Opening with the midlife crisis of Tom Good, a 40-year-old plastics designe ...

in the sitcom ''The Good Life'' (1975–78), winning the 1977 BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance. In 1978, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for '' The Norman Conquests''. She then starred as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in the sitcom ''To the Manor Born'' (1979–81), a show that received audiences of more than 20 million. She went on to star in another six sitcoms, including '' Executive Stress'' (1986–88), '' No Job for a Lady'' (1990–92) and '' Next of Kin'' (1995–97). Since 2000, she has worked mainly in the theatre, with her roles including Madam Arcati in '' Blithe Spirit'' (2004) and Lady Bracknell in '' The Importance of Being Earnest'' (2007).

Early life

Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield was born in Sutton in 1940. Her father, an army officer who was a Major by the end of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, left her mother Connie when Keith was a baby, and she spent her early years in Clacton-on-Sea,

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

and Clapham, south London. Her great uncle, John Gurney Nutting, was a partner in the

coachbuilding A coachbuilder or body-maker is someone who manufactures bodies for passenger-carrying vehicles.Construction has always been a skilled trade requiring a relatively lightweight product with sufficient strength. The manufacture of necessarily ...

firm of J Gurney Nutting & Co Limited, and Keith recalls sitting in the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rule ...

s car. BBC Four �
Penelope Keith and the Fast Lady
19 February 2009 Although not a Roman Catholic, at the age of six she was sent to a Catholic

convent A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Angl ...

boarding school, run by French nuns, in Seaford, East Sussex, with Judy Cornwell. Here she became interested in acting, and she frequently went to matinées in the West End with her mother. When she was eight years old, her mother remarried and Penelope adopted her stepfather's surname, Keith. While she did not get on with her stepfather, her mother was a "rock of love" to her. She was rejected by the Central School of Speech and Drama, on the grounds that, at 5'10" (1.78 m), she was too tall. However, she was then accepted at the

Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Webber may refer to: * Webber, Kansas, a US city *Webber Township, Jefferson County, Illinois, USA *Webber Township, Lake County, Michigan, USA *Webber International University, in Babson Park, Florida, USA *Webber (surname) Webber (/ˈwɛbər/) ...

and spent two years there while working at the Hyde Park Hotel in the evenings. Keith began her career working in repertory theatre around Britain, including Lincoln,

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

, and

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

. Keith's earliest appearances were in '' The Tunnel of Love'', '' Gigi'', and '' Flowering Cherry''. In 1963, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company and acted with them in Stratford and at the Aldwych Theatre in London.

Career

Early career

Keith began her television career in programmes such as '' The Army Game'', '' Dixon of Dock Green'', '' Wild, Wild Women'' and '' The Avengers''. In the early 1970s, she appeared in '' The Morecambe & Wise Show'', '' Ghost Story'' and '' The Pallisers''. Her film appearances during this time included '' Every Home Should Have One'', '' Take A Girl Like You'', ''

Rentadick ''Rentadick'' is a 1972 British comedy film, directed by Jim Clark and starring James Booth, Richard Briers, Julie Ege, Ronald Fraser and Donald Sinden. It is a spoof spy/detective picture, the plot of which involves attempts to protect a new ...

'' and '' Penny Gold''. In 1967, she had a minor role in '' Carry On Doctor'', but the scene was cut from the final edit. She appeared as a nurse in ''A Touch of Love'' 1969. Her best known theatre appearance, in 1974, was playing Sarah in '' The Norman Conquests'', alongside Felicity Kendal, her co-star in ''The Good Life''. Keith and Kendal would often film ''The Good Life'' during the day and perform on stage in the West End in the evening.

Television fame

Penelope Keith achieved popular fame in 1975 when the BBC

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

'' The Good Life'' began. In the first episode, she was only heard and not seen in her role as Margo Leadbetter, but as the episodes and series went on, the scope of her role increased. In 1977, Keith won a BAFTA award for "Best Comedy Performer" for her role of Margo Leadbetter. From 1979 to 1981, she played the lead role of Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in the TV series '' To the Manor Born''. Following ''To the Manor Born'', Keith has appeared in the lead role in six other sitcoms: '' Sweet Sixteen'', '' Moving'', '' Executive Stress'', '' No Job for a Lady'', '' Law and Disorder'' and '' Next of Kin''. She also had the starring role in a TV adaptation of Agatha Christie's play ''

Spider's Web A spider web, spiderweb, spider's web, or cobweb (from the archaic word '' coppe'', meaning "spider") is a structure created by a spider out of proteinaceous spider silk extruded from its spinnerets, generally meant to catch its prey. ...

''. She won a second BAFTA award as " Best Actress" in 1978 for ''The Norman Conquests''. In 1982, Keith starred in a TV production of Frederick Lonsdale's ''On Approval''. In 1988, she hosted one series of the ITV panel show '' What's My Line?'', following the death of its former presenter,

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

. She had a featured role in the 1998 ITV serial '' Coming Home''.

Work

Keith has regularly appeared on stage, taking the classics and new plays across the country. These include Shakespeare, Shaw, Sheridan, Wilde, Rattigan and Congreve. She played Lorraine in Noël Coward's ''Star Quality'', while in 2004 she played Madame Arcati in Coward's '' Blithe Spirit'' at the Savoy Theatre. In 2004, Keith starred in the first of ten full-cast BBC radio dramatisations of M.C. Beaton's ''

Agatha Raisin Agatha Raisin is a fictional detective in a series of humorous mystery novels, originally written by Marion Chesney using the pseudonym M. C. Beaton. Chesney's friend Rod W. Green took over as writer with ''Hot to Trot''. The books are publish ...

'' novels, playing the title role. Two years later, she appeared at the

Chichester Festival Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Marti ...

in the premiere of

Richard Everett Richard Everett (December 11, 1597 – July 3, 1682) emigrated from the English county of Essex. On July 15, 1636 he and a party of settlers bought land from Native American on the Connecticut River at Agawan – now Springfield, Massachusetts. E ...

's comedy ''Entertaining Angels'', which she later took on tour. In 2007, she played the part of Lady Bracknell in '' The Importance of Being Earnest'' on tour, which transferred to the West End in 2008, at the Vaudeville Theatre. She has voiced adverts including ones for Pimm's, Lurpak, Tesco and most famously,

The Parker Pen Company The Parker Pen Company is a French manufacturer of luxury writing pens, founded in 1888 by George Safford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin, United States. In 2011 the Parker factory at Newhaven, East Sussex, England, was closed, and its producti ...

, which was named one of the 100 Greatest Adverts in a

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

programme. In 2012, she starred in Keith Waterstone's ''Good Grief'', having previously appeared in the play's premier production in 1998. In 1997, she starred in the radio adaptations of '' To the Manor Born''. In 2003, she appeared opposite June Brown in the television film '' Margery and Gladys''. In 2007, she starred in a one-off ''To the Manor Born'' Christmas Special, Keith also voiced The Bear with Brown Fuzzy Hair in '' Teletubbies''. In 2009 she presented ''Penelope Keith and the Fast Lady'', a one-off documentary for BBC Four about

Dorothy Levitt Dorothy Elizabeth Levitt (born Elizabeth Levi; 5 January 1882 – 17 May 1922) was a British racing driver and journalist. She was the first British woman racing driver, holder of the world's first water speed record, the women's world la ...

, the

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victori ...

motoring pioneer. She presented the four-part BBC documentary ''The Manor Reborn'' in 2011. Since 2014, she has presented all three series of the More4/

programme ''Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages'' and in June 2016 she presented ''Penelope Keith at Her Majesty's Service'' again for Channel 4. In December 2017, she presented ''Penelope Keith's Coastal Villages'', a continuation of the ''Hidden Villages'' series. In early 2018, she presented the

series ''Village of the Year with Penelope Keith''. It was announced in February 2018 that Keith would be starring as Mrs St Maugham in the Chichester Festival Theatre production of Enid Bagnold's '' The Chalk Garden'' from 25 May to 16 June 2018.

Personal life

In 1978, the year ''The Good Life'' ended, she married Rodney Timson, a policeman. They had met while he was on duty at Chichester Theatre where Keith was performing. In 1988, ten years after their wedding, they adopted two boys, who were brothers. Keith and Timson now live in Milford, Surrey. Keith has a great passion for gardening. In 1984, she had a rose named after her. She is president of the South West Surrey chapter of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

. In 2014, she presented ''4 Extra Goes Gardening'' in which she celebrated the work of garden designer Gertrude Jekyll at her former home, Munstead Woods in Godalming. It is occasionally repeated on ''BBC Radio 4 Extra''. Keith has been President of the Actors' Benevolent Fund since 1990, taking over after the death of Lord Olivier.

Filmography

Awards and honours

On 2 April 2002, her 62nd birthday, Penelope Keith began a one-year term as High Sheriff of Surrey, the third woman to hold the post. She has also served in the past as a Deputy Lieutenant of

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant ur ...

. Penelope Keith was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1989 New Year Honours. She was awarded a Commander of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours for "charitable services". In the

, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for services to the Arts and to Charity.Staff (31 December 2013)
"New Year's Honours: Lansbury and Keith become dames"
''BBC News''; retrieved 17 March 2014.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Keith, Penelope 1940 births Living people Actresses awarded British damehoods Alumni of the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art Best Actress BAFTA Award (television) winners Best Entertainment Performance BAFTA Award (television) winners Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Deputy Lieutenants of Surrey English film actresses English radio actresses English stage actresses English television actresses High Sheriffs of Surrey Laurence Olivier Award winners People from Sutton, London Royal Shakespeare Company members 20th-century English actresses 21st-century English actresses British comedy actresses British monarchists