A Career Spanning Six Decades
Born Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield on April 2, 1940, Keith trained at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art and began her career in repertory theatre before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in the early 1960s. She became a household name playing the gloriously snobbish Margo in The Good Life alongside Richard Briers, Felicity Kendal, and Paul Eddington from 1975 to 1978, winning a BAFTA TV Award for the role in 1977. whatsonstage.com en.wikipedia.org news.bbc.co.uk baike.baidu.com
She followed that triumph with another iconic part as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, the widowed aristocrat forced to leave her ancestral home, in To the Manor Born, which ran from 1979 to 1981 and returned for a Christmas special in 2007. bbc.com ca.news.yahoo.com
On stage, her credits ranged from The Norman Conquests to Hay Fever, Blithe Spirit, and The Importance of Being Earnest. She won an Olivier Award in 1976 for Best Comedy Performance in Donkey’s Years and appeared regularly in the West End and at regional theatres including Theatre Royal Bath and Chichester Festival Theatre. whatsonstage.com
Honours and Legacy
Keith won two BAFTA Awards during her career and was made an OBE in 1989 before receiving a CBE in 2007. She was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the arts and charity. She also served as president of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund, succeeding Lord Olivier in the role after his death in 1989. grangeparkopera.co.uk news.bbc.co.uk
She is survived by her husband Rodney Timson, whom she married in 1978, and their two children. West End theatres are expected to dim their lights in her memory, following the tradition observed for other leading figures of British theatre. en.wikipedia.org facebook.com
