Lady Pat Routledge: The Life of Television's Wonderfully Snobby 'Mrs. Bucket'

Dame Pat Routledge, who passed away at the years of 96, imprinted herself on the national consciousness as the snobby Hyacinth Bouquet.

Declaring it was "pronounced Bouquet," the character trampled over her patient husband and bewildered neighbours in Keeping Up Appearances, one of Britain's best-loved sitcoms in the 1990s.

Acting like a aristocrat while living in a suburb, Bucket's over-the-top social-climbing plans were ultimately doomed to collapse—while she battled to keep her dignity.

It was Lady Routledge's best-known part in a career that included her earn stage honors on each side of the ocean, emerge as the lead of the playwright's celebrated TV soliloquies, and star as BBC1's investigative Mrs. Wainthropp.

Formative Life and Career Beginnings

Katherine Pat Routledge was born in Birkenhead on 17 February 1929.

Her father was a clothier and she later recalled sheltering from enemy air raids in the cellar of his store throughout the Second World War.

She majored in English at nearby Liverpool University and planned to become a teacher. Rather, she joined the Liverpool Playhouse prior to training at the Bristol drama school.

Her successful stage journey took her from the regions to the London theatre district, and finally to New York, where the composer chose her to star in his stage production 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976.

She had previously received a Tony award for her acting in Darling of the Day.

She could transition smoothly from lighthearted plays to classics.

She progressed from Stratford-upon-Avon, appearing with the RSC and then to the National Theatre in London.

At the National, her starring role in the theatre production Carousel featured her performing the rousing You'll Never Walk Alone.

There were also various supporting film roles, especially in the 1967 film To Sir, With Love, and the Jerry Lewis funny film Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.

Her stage and radio performances proved her versatility and won her awards, but it was the small screen that gave Routledge with her best-known characters.

TV Success and Memorable Characters

Initial television appearances included popular programmes like Z Cars and Steptoe and Son.

Subsequently, among Britain's esteemed playwrights, Alan Bennett, wrote a series of outstanding Talking Heads TV solos for her.

Routledge conquered her initial reluctance to perform his scripts and excelled as A Woman of No Importance and A Lady of Letters.

She later portray a lonely, middle-aged shop clerk drawn into a affair with a unconventional foot doctor in Bennett's Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet.

A humorous performance as the exaggerated character on The Victoria Wood Show led to the creation of Hyacinth Bouquet.

Routledge recalled being sent the scripts by the author, the screenwriter—who had also done Last of the Summer Wine and Open All Hours.

"I opened the script for a moment at one o'clock in the night," she recalled, "I went straight through and the character jumped off the page. I recognized that lady, I'd met several of that type."

Keeping Up Appearances aired for five series and included four Christmas episodes.

In a film, she stated that admirers had included the royal family and Pope Benedict XVI.

It became BBC Worldwide's most exported show of all time and meant Routledge was known as far away as Africa.

For her performance on the comedy, she was chosen Britain's all-time best-loved actress in 1996, but following half a decade in the role, she felt it was the moment for a change.

"I decided to end it to an close," she explained, "which, of course, the broadcaster didn’t care for very much."

She believed that the writer was beginning to repeat ideas and mentioned a bit of advice from the performer, Ronnie Barker.

"He always left with people asking, ‘Oh, won't you do any more?’ she said, rather than fans remarking, ‘Is that still on?’"

Later Roles and Private Life

Playing the homely but sharp sleuth in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates gave her ongoing success on television, but she always called the stage as "the real challenge."

Years after she stopped acting frequently on screen, Routledge made stage travels equally in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Whenever interviewers posed the predictable question, she asked them to write the word withdrawal since, she clarified: "It isn't in my vocabulary."

She never wed or raised kids, but told interviewers of two great romances in her youth, including one with a wedded man.

"I experienced guilt and an sharp feeling that there would be loss," she admitted. "I guess I persuaded myself that it was all right for the time being as his marriage was not a living thing."

In place of family, she dedicated herself to her art, serving it with the skill, discipline and commitment that were always respected by her peers.

She was critical about the broadcaster's choice in 2016 to revive Keeping Up Appearances, but on this occasion placed in the 1950s and starring a younger version of her role.

Questioning the network's policy of rebooting classic comedies she said, "For what reason are they doing this kind of project, they have to be out of ideas."

She had already clashed with the broadcaster over its decision not to commission a documentary she had written about the author the children's author (Routledge was a supporter of the Beatrix Potter Society), which eventually aired on another network.

Upon reaching 90, she persisted to reside peacefully in the city, where she occupied herself collecting money for the cathedral structure.

In 2017, she became a Dame of the British honors system but—in contrast to her character—honors did not go to her head.

Dame Routledge often said she thanked her north of England roots and stable family for providing her good sense with her life and her money.

Even so, she admitted that, should any additional cash come her way, she'd definitely use it on "a case of champagne"—an love of the better things in existence that she shared with her best-remembered creation.

"I was never stage-struck," she declared. "I am not stage-struck now. Nobody's more surprised than myself that I've, in fact, devoted my life pursuing acting."