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Lady Pat Routledge, who passed away at the age of 96, imprinted herself on the British consciousness as the snobby Mrs. Bouquet.

Declaring it was "said Bouquet," the character ran roughshod over her long-suffering husband and confused neighbours in the popular sitcom, one of Britain's most successful comedies in the 1990s.

Acting like a aristocrat while living in a suburban area, Hyacinth's monstrous social-climbing plans were ultimately doomed to failure—while she battled to maintain her dignity.

It was Dame Routledge's most famous part in a career that included her earn stage awards on both sides of the ocean, become the star of Alan Bennett's celebrated TV monologues, and star as BBC1's crime-busting Hetty Wainthropp.

Formative Years and Career Beginnings

Katherine Patricia Routledge was delivered in Merseyside on 17 February 1929.

Her father was a clothier and she later recalled taking cover from enemy air raids in the cellar of his store throughout the war.

She studied literature at nearby Liverpool University and intended to teach. Rather, she entered the Liverpool Playhouse prior to studying at the Bristol drama school.

Her prosperous acting career brought her from the regions to the London theatre district, and eventually to New York, where Leonard Bernstein chose her to appear in his musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976.

She had previously won a Tony award for her acting in Darling of the Day.

She could transition smoothly from lighthearted plays to serious drama.

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

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

There were also various supporting movie parts, notably in the 1967 film To Sir, With Love, and the comedian's comedy outing Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.

Her stage and radio performances demonstrated her range and won her accolades, but it was television that provided Routledge with her most high profile roles.

TV Breakthrough and Memorable Roles

Early television work featured well-liked programmes like Z Cars and Steptoe and Son.

Subsequently, among Britain's esteemed playwrights, Alan Bennett, wrote a set of remarkable Talking Heads TV solos for her.

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

She later portray a isolated, mid-life department store assistant drawn into a affair with a unconventional podiatrist in Bennett's Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet.

A humorous turn as the larger-than-life Kitty on The Victoria Wood Show resulted in the creation of Hyacinth Bouquet.

Routledge recalled being sent the episodes by the writer, the screenwriter—who had also done Last of the Summer Wine and Open All Hours.

"I had opened the script for a while at 1 a.m. in the morning," she said, "I went straight through and the character leapt off the page. I recognized that woman, I'd met a few of that type."

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

In a film, she stated that fans had numbered the royal family and the pontiff.

It turned into BBC Worldwide's most exported show ever and ensured Routledge was known as distant as Botswana.

For her work on the comedy, she was chosen the UK's all-time favourite actor in 1996, but after half a decade in the role, she decided it was the moment for a new direction.

"I decided to end it to an end," she said, "which, naturally, the broadcaster wasn't pleased with very much."

She believed that Roy Clarke was beginning to repeat ideas and recalled a piece of guidance from the performer, the comic.

"He always left with audiences saying, ‘Oh, won't you do any more?’ she recalled, instead of fans remarking, ‘Is that still on?’"

Later Roles and Private Life

Playing the homely but sharp detective in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates brought her continued success on TV, but she consistently called the stage as "the real challenge."

Long after she stopped appearing regularly on screen, Routledge made stage travels both in the UK and abroad.

Whenever journalists asked the inevitable question, she requested them to write the word retirement since, she explained: "It's not in my vocabulary."

She did not wed or had children, but told interviewers of two great romances in her youth, including one with a married man.

"I experienced remorse and an acute feeling that there would be pain," she admitted. "I suppose I persuaded myself that it was all right for the time being as his union was no a living thing."

In place of family, she dedicated herself to her art, honoring it with the skill, dedication and commitment that were always admired by her colleagues.

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

Challenging the network's policy of rebooting old comedies she remarked, "Why are they doing this kind of project, they must be desperate."

She had already clashed with the broadcaster over its move to not order a documentary she had authored about the writer the children's author (she was a Patron of the Beatrix Potter Society), which finally aired on another network.

Upon reaching 90, she continued to live peacefully in the city, where she occupied herself collecting funds for the cathedral roof.

In 2017, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the British honors system but—unlike Hyacinth—honors did not affect her head.

Dame Routledge always said she credited her north of England roots and solid family for giving her practicality with her life and her money.

Even so, she confessed that, should any additional money arrive, she'd definitely spend it on "several bottles of champagne"—an appreciation of the better things in life that she shared with her best-remembered creation.

"I never was stage-struck," she declared. "I'm not stage-struck now. No one is more surprised than I am that I've, actually, devoted my life doing this."