In Pictures: Dame Penelope Keith an actress who commanded stage and screen

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29 Jun 2026 • 7:25 PM MYT

The Independent

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In Pictures: Dame Penelope Keith an actress who commanded stage and screen

Dame Penelope Keith, best known for sitcoms The Good Life and To The Manor Born, has died aged 86, her family said.

In a long career on stage and TV, she starred as snobbish suburbanite Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life from 1975 and the widowed aristocrat Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To The Manor Born from 1979.

In 1978, Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh meet the cast of The Good Life at the BBC TV studios in Shepherd’s Bush, from left Paul Eddington, Penelope Keith, Felicity Kendal and Richard Briers (PA) (PA Archive)

Penelope Keith was named Show Business Personality of 1976 by the Variety Club of Great Britain, with Are You Being Served star John Inman, who was named joint BBC TV Personality that year (PA) (PA Archive)

On stage in 1981 with Peter Jeffrey in a scene from Stanley Prince’s play Moving (PA) (PA Archive)

Sharing a kiss with co-star Peter Bowles from the sitcom To The Manor Born in 1981 which was revealed as one the top three most popular programmes in the history of British television at the time (PA) (PA Archive)

During filming for Captain Beaky And His Band for the BBC with Keith Michell (second left), who made the single Captain Beaky, Penelope Keith and Gordon Jackson (second right), who will star in the TV special. With them are author Jeremy Lloyd and radio DJ Noel Edmonds (right), who helped the single become a hit by playing the record on his Sunday morning show (PA) (PA Archive)

Dame Penelope had several meetings with the royal family through her roles with the Film And TV Charity and the Artists Benevolent Fund.

Dame Penelope shares a laugh with Charles, then the Prince of Wales, during a lunch reception for the Actors’ Benevolent Fund at Clarence House in 2007 (PA) (PA Wire)

Dame Penelope met the King in November 2024 during a Buckingham Palace reception to mark the centenary of the Film And TV Charity, a charity the actress was closely involved with (PA) (PA Archive)

Dame Penelope speaks to Camilla during The Oldie Luncheon, in celebration of Duchess of Cornwall 75th Birthday at National Liberal Club in July 2022 (PA) (PA Archive)

With Sarah Ferguson, the former Duchess of York, during an after party for a stage production in Cafe in the Crypt at St Martin in the Fields, central London (PA) (PA Archive)

She was also a patron and fundraiser for the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

With Jacqui Thompson, the widow of Senior Aircraftman Gary Thompson, at the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas, Staffordshire, in her role as a member of its fundraising council in 20 10 (PA) (PA Archive)

As a patron of the National Memorial Arboretum, Dame Penelope posed with 10-year-old sea cadet Beth Molyneux, whose father was killed aboard submarine HMS Astute in 2011, dig a ceremonial spade of earth on the site of a new Remembrance Centre in 2015 (PA) (PA Media)

The comedy star also appeared in sitcoms Executive Stress, No Job For A Lady and Next Of Kin, and won a Bafta for a TV adaptation of The Norman Conquests, in a role she reprised after a run on stage.

She also lent her voice to adverts, including Pimm’s, Lurpak, and most famously, the Parker Pen Company, which was named one of the 100 greatest adverts.

The actress was made a Dame Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle in March 2014 (PA) (PA Archive)

In 2007 she had become a CBE for services to acting and charity (PA) (PA Wire)

In recent years, she has returned more to the theatre, taking on roles such as Madame Arcati in Blithe Spirit and Lady Bracknell in The Importance Of Being Earnest.