Penelope Keith
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| Penelope Keith | |
 Penelope Keith in Sweet Sixteen |
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| Birth name | Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield |
| Born | 2 April 1940 Sutton, Surrey, England |
| Notable roles | Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To the Manor Born |
Penelope Anne Constance Keith, CBE, DL (born Penelope Hatfield on 2 April 1940) is an English actress who is best known for her roles in The Good Life and To the Manor Born, and has also had a long career on stage.
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[edit] Early life
Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield was born in Sutton, Surrey in 1940. [1] Her father, who was a Major by the end of the war, left her mother Connie when she was a baby, and she spent her early years in Clacton-on-Sea and Clapham. At the age of six she was sent to a Catholic boarding school in Seaford, Sussex, and it was here she first became interested in acting [1], and she and mother would frequently go to matinees in the West End. When she was eight years old, her mother remarried and Penelope adopted her stepfather's surname of Keith. While she didn't get on with her stepfather, her mother was a "rock of love" to her. [2] Keith was rejected from the Central School of Speech and Drama, on the grounds that, at 5'10", she was too tall. [3] However, she was then accepted at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, and spent two years there while working at the Hyde Park Hotel in the evening. [4]
Like many aspiring actors and actresses of the time, she started her career in working in rep across the UK, including Lincoln, Manchester and Salisbury. Keith's earliest appearances were in The Tunnel of Love, Gigi and Flowering Cherry. In 1963, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company both in Stratford and at the Aldwych Theatre in London.
[edit] Early career
Keith started her television career in programmes such as The Army Game, Dixon of Dock Green, Wild, Wild Women and The Avengers. In the early 1970s, she appeared in The Morecambe & Wise Show, Ghost Story and The Pallisers. Her film appearances during this time included Every Home Should Have One, Take A Girl Like You, Rentadick and Penny Gold. In 1967, she had a minor role in Carry On Doctor, but the scene appears to have been cut from the final edit. [5]
Her best known theatre appearance, in 1974, was playing Sarah in The Norman Conquests, opposite her The Good Life co-star Richard Briers. Keith would often film The Good Life during the day and perform on stage in the West End in the evening [6]. In 1978, the year The Good Life ended, she married Rodney Timson, a former policeman. They had met while he was on duty at a theatre Keith was performing at. [6] Timson, who is eight years her junior, had been married twice before. [6] They adopted two children, who were brothers, in 1988. [1]
[edit] Television fame
Penelope Keith became a household name in 1975 when the BBC sitcom The Good Life began. In the first episode she was only heard and not seen in her role as Margo Leadbetter, but as the episodes and series went on she got a bigger role. In 1977, Keith won a BAFTA award for 'Best Comedy Performer' for her role of Margo Leadbetter. Following the success of The Good Life, each of the four main stars were given their own programme, and from 1979 to 1981 she played Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To the Manor Born. Both characters shared similar characteristics, both being generally likeable, upper-class ladies.
Following To the Manor Born, Keith has appeared in six other sitcoms as the main lead, Sweet Sixteen, Moving, Executive Stress, No Job for a Lady, Law and Disorder and Next of Kin. However, none matched the success of The Good Life or To the Manor Born. She has also had roles in The Norman Conquests and The Spider's Web. Keith won a second BAFTA award as 'Best Actress' in 1978 for The Norman Conquests.
[edit] Recent years
In recent years, Keith has regularly appeared on stage across the country, including a role in Noel Coward's Star Quality and in 2004 she played Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit at the Savoy Theatre. In 2006, she appeared at the Chichester Festival in the premiere of Richard Everett’s comedy Entertaining Angels, which she later took on tour. She has also done voice work, and has voiced many adverts including ones for Pimm's, Lurpack, Tesco and most famously, The Parker Pen Company, which was named one of the 100 Greatest Adverts in a Channel 4 programme. In 1997, she provided the voice of the narrator for Teletubbies, and also starred in the radio adaptations of To the Manor Born. In 2003, she appeared opposite June Brown in the TV drama Margery and Gladys.
Keith and her husband Rodney Timson live in Milford, Surrey, and she has a great passion for gardening. [3] In 1984, she had a rose named after her. [7] Penelope Keith has been President of the Actors' Benevolent Fund since 1990, taking over after the death of Lord Olivier. On 2 April 2002, she began a one-year term as High Sheriff of Surrey, being only the third woman to hold the post. Having been made an OBE in 1989, she was upgraded to a CBE in the 2007 New Year Honours for "charitable services". [1] Keith is also a Deputy Lord Lieutenant. [8]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d "The Good Life of Penelope Keith", BBC, 29 December 2006.
- ^ "The Good Life of Penelope Keith", The Lady, 2001.
- ^ a b "UKTV Personalities".
- ^ "A Celebration of The Good Life", Orion Books, 2000.
- ^ "Carry On Online".
- ^ a b c "I'm Bossy Like Margo But Not Posh", Daily Express, 30 December 2006.
- ^ "Classic Roses".
- ^ "Actress honoured for charity work", BBC, 30 December 2006.
