Dame Patricia Routledge, DBE, born Katherine Patricia Routledge, (17 February 1929), is a British actress best known for playing Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances.
During her education at the University of Liverpool, the academic Edmund Colledge persuaded her to pursue an acting career. She followed with his advice and trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School after graduation. She later returned to Liverpool, acting at the Liverpool Playhouse.
Routledge had an extensive history in theatre, particularly appearing in musicals as a mezzo-soprano and a contralto. She was a long-time member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and also appeared in the West End and many operettas. Routledge appeared in some films in the late '60s and early '70s, and came to prominence in the role of Kitty, a self-righteous spinster delivering comic monologues, in Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV.
In 1990, she played Hetty Wainthropp in an ITV mystery drama pilot that wasn't picked up. That same year, she was cast as snobbish social climber Hyacinth Bucket ("My name is 'Bouquet', B-U-C-K-E-T") in Keeping Up Appearances. Routledge was very fond of Hyacinth, claiming she couldn't stand people like her in real life, and played her for five series. She chose to move on after the 1995 Christmas Episode, claiming she wanted to play new roles. The year after, The BBC picked up Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, which ran for four series. Hetty Wainthropp was claimed to return for a fifth series, however, this never came to fruition. Routledge was very disappointed in the BBC's decision, claiming it was run by 10-year-old children.
Routledge is still active in theatre to this day.
Works on TV Tropes she appeared in:
Film- To Sir, with Love (1967) — Clinty Clintridge
- The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom (1968) — Miss Reece
- If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) — Mrs. Featherstone
- Coronation Street, 5 episodes (1961) — Sylvia Snape
- Z Cars, episode "Search" (1962) — Madge Kenton
- Sense and Sensibility, 4 episodesshow list (1971) — Mrs. Jennings
- Doctor at Large, episode "It's All in the Mind" (1971) — Audrey Watt
- Steptoe and Son, episode "Seance in a Wet Rag and Bone Yard" (1974) — Madame Fontana
- Play for Today, episode "The Imitation Game" (1980) — ATS Officer
- The Two Ronnies, 1 episode (1983) — Madame Vivian Bultitude
- Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV, 5 episodes (1985-86) — Kitty
- Tales of the Unexpected, episode "The Verger" (1988) — Milly Dobson
- Talking Heads, episode "A Lady of Letters" (1988) — Miss Irene Ruddock
- Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, 28 episodes (1990-98) — Hetty Wainthropp
- Keeping Up Appearances, 44 episodes (1990-95) — Hyacinth Bucket
- Jackanory, 6 episodesshow list (1991-92) — Storyteller
- The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends, 2 episodesshow list (1993) — Cousin Ribby
- Talking Heads 2, episode "Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet" (1998) — Miss Fozzard
