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Dame Patricia Routledge, who has died at the age of 96, imprinted herself on the British consciousness as the pretentious Mrs. Bouquet.

Insisting it was "pronounced Bouquet," the character trampled over her long-suffering husband and confused neighbours in the popular sitcom, among Britain's best-loved comedies in the 1990s.

Acting like a duchess while residing in a suburb, Hyacinth's over-the-top status-seeking schemes were in the end destined to failure—while she battled to keep her composure.

It was Dame Patricia's best-known role in a career that included her win theatrical honors on each side of the Atlantic, become the star of the playwright's celebrated TV monologues, and become BBC1's crime-busting Mrs. Wainthropp.

Early Life and Start in Acting

Catherine Patricia Routledge was born in Birkenhead on 17 February 1929.

Her father was a haberdasher and she remembered taking cover from German air raids in the basement of his store throughout the war.

She studied English at local Liverpool University and intended to become a teacher. Rather, she entered the Liverpool Playhouse before training at the Bristol drama school.

Her successful stage career brought her from the provinces to the West End, and eventually to New York, where Leonard Bernstein chose her to star in his musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976.

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

She could move effortlessly from lighthearted plays to classics.

She went from Shakespeare's birthplace, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and then to the National Theatre in London.

There, her starring role in the theatre production Carousel featured her singing the inspiring You'll Never Walk Alone.

She also took various minor film roles, especially in the 1967 film To Sir, With Love, and the comedian's funny film Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.

Her stage and radio work proved her versatility and earned her awards, but it was television that provided Routledge with her most high profile characters.

TV Breakthrough and Iconic Characters

Early small-screen work included well-liked programmes like Z Cars and Steptoe and Son.

And later, among Britain's esteemed playwrights, Alan Bennett, penned a series of remarkable Talking Heads TV monologues for her.

Routledge overcame her initial hesitation to act his scripts and shone as A Woman of No Importance and A Lady of Letters.

She went onto play a lonely, middle-aged shop assistant tipped into a affair with a kinky foot doctor in Bennett's Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet.

A humorous performance as the exaggerated Kitty on The Victoria Wood Show resulted in the development of Hyacinth Bucket.

Routledge recalled being given the episodes by the author, Roy Clarke—known for Last of the Summer Wine and Open All Hours.

"I opened the pages for a while at one o'clock in the morning," she recalled, "I read straight through and Hyacinth jumped off the page. I recognized that lady, I'd met several of that woman."

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

In a film, she later claimed that fans had numbered Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother and the pontiff.

It turned into the broadcaster's most-sold programme ever and meant Routledge was recognised as distant as Africa.

For her performance on the sitcom, she was chosen Britain's all-time best-loved actress in 1996, but following five years in the part, she felt it was time for a change.

"I brought it to an end," she explained, "and, of course, the BBC didn’t care for at all."

She thought that the writer was beginning to recycle ideas and recalled a piece of advice from the comedian, Ronnie Barker.

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

Later Work and Personal Life

Playing the homely but sharp sleuth in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates brought her continued success on television, but she consistently referred to the theatre as "the test."

Long after she ceased acting regularly on screen, Routledge undertook theatre tours equally in the United Kingdom and abroad.

Whenever interviewers posed the inevitable inquiry, she requested them to spell out the word retirement since, she clarified: "It isn't in my vocabulary."

She never wed or raised children, but told the press of two great romances in her younger days, one with a married man.

"I felt remorse and an acute sense that there would be loss," she admitted. "I suppose I convinced myself that it was all right for the time being because his marriage was not a vibrant relationship."

Instead, she dedicated herself to her craft, serving it with the talent, discipline and devotion that were always respected by her peers.

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

Challenging the Corporation's approach of rebooting classic comedies she said, "Why are they doing this kind of project, they must be desperate."

She had previously clashed with the broadcaster over their move to not commission a film she had authored about the writer the children's author (Routledge was a supporter of the literary group), which finally broadcast on Channel 4.

On turning 90, she persisted to live quietly in the city, where she busied herself raising money for the church roof.

In 2017, she became a Dame Commander of the British honors system but—in contrast to Hyacinth—titles never go to her mind.

Lady Patricia always said she credited her Northern roots and stable family for giving her good sense with her time and her finances.

Nonetheless, she confessed that, if any extra money come her way, she'd certainly use it on "a case of sparkling wine"—an appreciation of the better things in life that she shared with her best-remembered creation.

"I was never theatre-obsessed," she declared. "I'm not stage-struck today. No one is more surprised than I am that I've, actually, devoted my career pursuing acting."