'The Good Life' actress Penelope Keith has died

[Mel O'Drama]

To The Manor Born was essential viewing in our home when I was young (given its ratings, this probably held true for most British households) so Penelope was a significant part of my formative TV world. I was also impressed with The Good Life when I got round to watching it in full perhaps a decade and a half ago. Coincidentally, both series ended up on a very short shortlist of British sitcom suggestions for @Crimson very recently.

TV adaptions of various plays gave a nice taste of her stage work. 1984's Hay Fever springs to mind. And The Norman Conquests is absolutely essential viewing, with its devilishly clever concept and execution probably appealing even to those who don't usually care for quaint and stagey plays (decades down the line, the "same scene from a different perspective" premise has become more commonplace in slick, modern TV series and films).

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Penelope Keith, star of The Good Life and To the Manor Born, dies aged 86

A familiar face on TV and the stage, Keith was made a dame in 2014 for her services to the arts and charities

www.theguardian.com

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Some lovely images of her life and work here:

Penelope Keith – a life in pictures

The actor, best known for her posh comic roles as Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life and Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To the Manor Born, has died at the age of 86. We celebrate a British great

www.theguardian.com

 

[Angela Channing]

When Dallas moved to Sundays in the early 1990s, it was on next to To The Manor Born so I used to watch them both back to back. I never watched The Good Life so this became the first time I had seen Penelope Keith's work. Such a brilliantly natural comic actor, although her performances extended beyond comedy. She will be sadly missed.

 

[Barbara Fan]

Im sorry to hear that news, For me Jerry and Margo were the stars of the Good life and i enjoyed her in to the Manor Born with Peter Bowles and Angela Thorne

Liked her performance in Morecambe and Wise Xmas special - Dignity at all times lol as she had to climb down a set of steps that went to no where

RIP Penelope Keith

 

[Daniel Avery]

This is very sad news. In addition to Audrey and Margo, I made sure to sample anything I saw her attached to. She's one of those actresses who never went half-way in her performances. I also loved the travelogue-type shows she hosted exploring the English coast, farm villages, etc.

 

[Mel O'Drama]

In addition to Audrey and Margo, I made sure to sample anything I saw her attached to. She's one of those actresses who never went half-way in her performances.

Yes. I know we chatted a little over her later sitcom Executive Stress which was hugely watchable. But then I can't think of anything in which she appeared that hasn't been.

I also loved the travelogue-type shows she hosted exploring the English coast, farm villages, etc.

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Even this year she's been hosting another series about more British scenery (with a kind of, sort of connection to one of her best known characters, and that classic series got a name check from her in the trailer for the new one):

 

[Mel O'Drama]

This just popped up in my feed. The Thames TV channel uploaded it today as a little tribute. Behold Penelope with a Lancashire accent:

 

[Mel O'Drama]

The Guardian has taken an affectionate look at How Penelope Keith supercharged 70s style as Margo Leadbetter which is well worth a look for anyone fond of Penelope, The Good Life or Seventies fashions.

‘All those lovely floaty clothes!’ How Penelope Keith supercharged 70s style as Margo Leadbetter

With her kaftans and her headbands and even the odd paper hat, snobbish Margo stole every scene in the sitcom The Good Life. This was what colour TV was made for

www.theguardian.com

[P]eople couldn’t wait to see what Margo would wear next.

All those hours in [Harrods] I spent, trying on those lovely floaty clothes ….

[It] was Barbara who was regarded in many quarters as “the sexy one”, with Kendal winning the inaugural Rear of the Year award in 1981. Margo’s rear, meanwhile, was shrouded in mystery. Which is perhaps why she won out as a style icon in the end.

It’s hard to imagine Beverly in Abigail's Party (1977) without Margo’s sartorial influence – this is very much a look that requires you to waft into a room bearing a tray of cheese and pineapple bites. Although Margo would probably regard these as common.

If Margo was a sort of psychedelic Margaret Thatcher, Audrey [fforbes-Hamilton] is dressed-down Maggie: all camel wrap coats, tweed waistcoats and “country weekend” suits.

Margo doesn’t have a sense of humour and so she is desperate to prove that she is “game for a laugh”.

 

[Daniel Avery]

Margo refused to wear a paper party hat made from "an evening tabloid", which seemed ridiculous at the time but I know plenty of hardline, politically-obsessed people who would similarly pitch a fit if their party hat was made from "the opposition propaganda," so to speak, so Margo was indeed ahead of her time.

 

[Julia's Gun]

It’s hard to imagine Beverly in Abigail's Party (1977) without Margo’s sartorial influence – this is very much a look that requires you to waft into a room bearing a tray of cheese and pineapple bites. Although Margo would probably regard these as common.

Yes, Margo's canapés would have been a lot more upmarket, like vol au vents with smoked salmon pâté (pre-ordered from Fortnam's or M&S).