Dame Patricia Routledge has died

My mother loved Hyacinth and never realised how many of her characteristics she shared!

Obviously with Sheridan’s thoughts on the subject at the front of her mind..

Taking a step back, this discussion about actors/actresses is a very Hyacinth Bucket one, isn’t it, I can quite imagine her introducing it as a topic of conversation.

Grandmabatty

It's perfectly acceptable nowadays to say actor when referring to a female. Either actor or actress are used..

It may be, but to me, the preference for ‘actor’ implies that there’s something inferior about the female word for the role. It seems to me to be anti-feminist to insist on it.

Aveline - that is lovely.
Shopping girl - " with the hand painted periwinkles."

Thank you for sharing Aveline.

J52

Sarnia

J52

How sad, she certainly was a fantastic actor, so believable in everything she did. I hope there’s a tribute programme to her on TV. RIP Dame Patricia.

She was an ACTRESS!!!

How rude, do you often express yourself in this offensive shouting manner?

The Guardian. Today

“Patricia Routledge, the stage and screen actor best known for starring as Hyacinth Bucket in the BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances and Henrietta “Hetty” Wainthropp in the television series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, has died at the age of 96.”

It is quite acceptable to describe female acting professionals in this way.

You know, in all the time you’ve been on gransnet J52 I have never known you to be rude or unpleasant about anything or to anybody. So it says more about them than it does about you (sigh)….

She will be safely missed by those who remember her. 💐

Thankyou Aveline - that was so lovely ….

That is lovely Aveline, it’s good to read that she always lived her life to the fullest.

Lomo123

Simply wonderful as Hyacinth. I always wanted to go to her candlelit suppers!!.

...with the Royal Doulton..!!

It’s so sad when these wonderfully talented folk die.

Are there any young ones around today who are likely to have as many decades of acting under their belt when they die?

Such a sad loss, she was so versatile. I was fortunate to see her on the stage at Chichester what a talent.

She was also a well know figure in Chichester so well loved by the locals. Tonight, Chichester Festival Theatre will dim the lights in memory of one of their own.

Simply wonderful as Hyacinth. I always wanted to go to her candlelit suppers!!.

Rest in peace, Patricia Routledge 🙏🏻

In memory of her, I encourage everyone to read these words of hers from February last year.

Whether young or old, you're bound to get something out of it.

*

"I’ll be turning 95 this coming Monday. In my younger years, I was often filled with worry — worry that I wasn’t quite good enough, that no one would cast me again, that I wouldn’t live up to my mother’s hopes. But these days begin in peace, and end in gratitude.

My life didn’t quite take shape until my forties. I had worked steadily — on provincial stages, in radio plays, in West End productions — but I often felt adrift, as though I was searching for a home within myself that I hadn’t quite found.

At 50, I accepted a television role that many would later associate me with — Hyacinth Bucket, of Keeping Up Appearances. I thought it would be a small part in a little series. I never imagined that it would take me into people’s living rooms and hearts around the world. And truthfully, that role taught me to accept my own quirks. It healed something in me.

At 60, I began learning Italian — not for work, but so I could sing opera in its native language. I also learned how to live alone without feeling lonely. I read poetry aloud each evening, not to perfect my diction, but to quiet my soul.

At 70, I returned to the Shakespearean stage — something I once believed I had aged out of. But this time, I had nothing to prove. I stood on those boards with stillness, and audiences felt that. I was no longer performing. I was simply being.

At 80, I took up watercolour painting. I painted flowers from my garden, old hats from my youth, and faces I remembered from the London Underground. Each painting was a quiet memory made visible.

Now, at 95, I write letters by hand. I’m learning to bake rye bread. I still breathe deeply every morning. I still adore laughter — though I no longer try to make anyone laugh. I love the quiet more than ever.

I’m writing this to tell you something simple:

Growing older is not the closing act. It can be the most exquisite chapter — if you let yourself bloom again.

Let these years ahead be your TREASURE YEARS.

You don’t need to be famous. You don’t need to be flawless.

You only need to show up — fully — for the life that is still yours.

With love and gentleness,

Patricia Routledge

*

Once more, rest in peace. 🤍

Oh Mrs Bouquet - you really did give us some laughs - r.i.p.

RIP Dame Patricia, Hyacinth. Such a character. Although I'm sad to hear news of her death, I'm smiling as I remember her expressions and mannerisms. Thank you for all you gave us.

Kitty, "I speak as I find. I said, 'What's that smell?''"
Brilliant. Such a terrific comedy actress.

She had a long and successful career. I was pleased to read that she died in her sleep- what a blessing for her and her family.

May she rest in peace.

Going back quite a while she played a Madame Acarti type figure holding a séance in the Steptoe's house. Hilarious.

indispensableme

I liked her reading the Alan Bennett monologues. A sad loss but she certainly had a long, successful life, RIP.

Me too. I watched it a few months ago and it was very poignant. She played a spinster lady on a hospital ward, with a cancer diagnosis that was never implicitly spelt out to her. Watching it made me emotional.
“Oh, how we laughed” she’d say, in a jolly way at first with the surgeon, then the nurses before - finally weakened as time went by - said in regret and sorrow for times past, never to be revisited.

She played a teacher in ‘To Sir With Love’ many years ago.

"The actor vs. actress debate emerged in step with the Women’s Liberation Movement of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. The continued distinction between males and females who act started being viewed as not only unnecessary but also demeaning toward women performing the same job as men. Cate Blanchett has said, “I have always referred to myself as an actor. I am of the generation where the word actress was used almost always in a pejorative sense. So I claim the other space.” Similarly, Whoopi Goldberg told The Guardian: “An actress can only play a woman. I'm an actor—I can play anything.”

Many professions have adjusted job titles to be more inclusive. Consider the switch from “stewardess” to “flight attendant,” or “secretary” to “administrative assistant.” Yet as society’s understanding of gender evolves, some labels have been harder to shake."
I have taken this from a Stage magazine. Many on this thread have been rather rude about my attempt to downplay the use of both terms. This is not the place for such rudeness but a gentle thread about a wonderful actor/actress whatever you call her.

As the years passed and she appeared in many different roles, it it was clear what an incredibly good actress Patricia Routledge was. I liked Hetty Wainthropp in particular. In one episode she sang The Old Rugged Cross' - a beautiful voice, too.

Spot on Sarnia. The word ACTRESS has to be shouted to get the point across. It is disrespectful to call someone of Patricia's calibre an actor. And nobody, not one person said anything other than what a wonderful actress and woman she was.