Penelope Keith

Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield was born in Sutton, Surrey in 1940.^[1] Her father, who was a Major by the end of the World War II, left her mother Connie when she was a baby, and she spent her early years in Clacton-on-Sea and Clapham. Her great uncle, John Gurney, was a partner in the coachbuilding firm J. Gurney Nutting & Company Ltd and Keith recalls sitting in the Prince of Wales's car. ^[2]

Although not Catholic, at the age of six she was sent to a Catholic boarding school in Seaford, Sussex.^[3] It was here that a young Keith first became interested in acting,^[1] and would frequently go to matinees in the West End with her mother. When she was eight years old, her mother remarried and Penelope adopted her stepfather's surname of Keith. While she did not get on with her stepfather, her mother was a "rock of love" to her.^[3][4] Keith was rejected from the Central School of Speech and Drama, on the grounds that, at 5'10", she was too tall.^[5] 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.^[6]

She started her career 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.^[3]

Keith started her television career in programmes such as The Army Game, Dixon of Dock Green, Wild, Wild Women and The Avengers.^[3] 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 was cut from the final edit.^[3][7]

Her best known theatre appearance, in 1974, was playing Sarah in The Norman Conquests, opposite her The Good Life co-star Richard Briers. Keith and Briers would often film The Good Life during the day and perform on stage in the West End in the evening.^[3][8]

Penelope Keith became a household name in 1975 when the BBC sitcom The Good Life began.^{[citation needed]} 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, the scope of her role increased. In 1977, Keith won a BAFTA award for 'Best Comedy Performer' for her role of Margo Leadbetter. From 1979 to 1981 she played Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To the Manor Born. Both roles shared similar characteristics, being formidable but likeable ladies who do not tolerate low standards of behaviour or service.

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. She has also had roles in The Spider's Web. Keith won a second BAFTA award as 'Best Actress' in 1978 for The Norman Conquests. In 1988, she hosted one series of the ITV panel show What's My Line?, following the death of its original presenter Eamonn Andrews. She had a featured role in the 1998 ITV serial Coming Home.

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 2004, Keith starred in the first of 5 full-cast BBC radio dramatisations of M.C. Beaton's Agatha Raisin novels, playing the title role. Two years later, she appeared at the Chichester Festival in the premiere of Richard Everett’s comedy Entertaining Angels, which she later took on tour.

In 2007, she played the part of Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest on tour, which transferred to the West End in 2008, at the Vaudeville Theatre. She has voiced adverts including ones for Pimm's, Lurpak, Tesco and most famously, The Parker Pen Company, which was named one of the 100 Greatest Adverts in a Channel 4 programme.^{[citation needed]} 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.

In 2007, she starred in a one-off To the Manor Born Christmas Special^[9] and in 2009, presented Penelope Keith and the Fast Lady, a one-off documentary for BBC Four about Dorothy Levitt, the Edwardian motoring pioneer.

In 1978, the year The Good Life ended, she married Rodney Timson, a former policeman. They had met while he was on duty at Chichester Theatre where Keith was performing.^[8] Timson, who is eight years her junior, had been married twice before.^[8] They adopted two children, who were brothers, in 1988.^[1]

Keith and her husband Rodney Timson live in Milford, Surrey, and she has a great passion for gardening.^[5] In 1984, she had a rose named after her.^[3][10] Penelope Keith has been President of the Actors' Benevolent Fund since 1990, taking over after the death of Lord Olivier, and is president of the South West Surrey National Trust.^[11] On 2 April 2002, she began a one-year term as High Sheriff of Surrey,^[12] being only the third woman to hold the post. She was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1990 New Year Honours,^[13] and was promoted to a Commander (CBE) in the 2007 New Year Honours for "charitable services".^[1][14] Keith is also a Deputy Lieutenant of Surrey.^[15][16]

• Penelope Keith at IMDb

Template:Persondata