Penelope Keith, star of The Good Life and To the Manor Born, has died aged 86 | Television

Penelope Keith, best known for singing in The Good Life and To the Manor Born, has died aged 86.

A spokesman for her family said: “We are deeply saddened to announce that Dame Penelope Keith has passed away peacefully from cancer at her home in Surrey where she lived for over 50 years.

“The family appreciates the care and support they received throughout their treatment, and ask that their privacy be respected at this time.”

Keith was born Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield on 2 April 1940 in Sutton, Surrey. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963, appearing in many productions in London and Stratford including The Wars of the Roses. He had a number of roles in television programs over the years, including Dixon’s appearance on Dock Green and The Army Game, in which he appeared alongside Dick Emery.

The role that brought him national recognition came in 1975, when he appeared on a BBC sitcom Good Lifewhich focused on a family who tried to escape the rat race by fitting themselves into a Surbiton house. Her role as neighborhood critic Margo Leadbetter won her a Bafta in 1977, proving to be one of the most popular comedies of the 70s. In 1978, Keith won a second Bafta, for The Norman Conquests, a television version of Alan Ayckbourn’s play, which he had previously appeared on stage.

In 1979, Keith starred in the BBC drama To the Manor Born. After turning down many sitcom scripts in the years following The Good Life, she was asked to star at a dinner party and thought it would be “a great movie”. His portrayal of Audrey fforbes-Hamilton – a bereaved nobleman was forced to sell his property, only to live in the lodgings of a new businessman after he moved in – became one of his most famous episodes, the show even had a special restoration once in 2007, 26 years after his previous TV show. It was also a job Keith really enjoyed.

Keith said: “I had a lot of fun because we were doing it ourselves he told The Guardian in 2013. “I’m a country girl, and I had to ride horses again, learn about beekeeping, drive a two-ton Rolls-Royce with impossible gears; I climbed a five-bar gate and a picnic fence to escape the cows.”

Before the RSC, Keith became a regional director and worked in theater throughout his career, playing Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest on tour in 1991 and in 2008 West End production. He won an Olivier award in 1976 for his play Donkeys’ Year with Michael Frayn and directed productions, including How the Other Half Loves in 1994.

His non-working career included 30 years as president of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund, succeeding Laurence Olivier in the role after his death. It hit the headlines in 2024, after England’s charity regulator he had to apologize to Keith and the other trustees because of irregularities in the management of their removal by other trustees – which Keith and his partner said were illegal. He was also a trustee of the Brooklands motor and aviation museum for several years. In 2014, she became a dame of arts and charity.