Patricia Routledge Biography

Fast Facts

• Won a Broadcasting Press Guild Award for Best Actress for "Objects of Affection" in 1983
• Was awarded an Order of the British Empire in 1993 for Services to the Performing Arts and a Commander of the British Empire in 2004 for Services to Drama
• Won an Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical for Bernstein's "Candide" in 1988
• Graduated from the University of Liverpool with Honours in English Language and Literature and received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the school in 1999
• Quote: "I've only done what I've really wanted to burn up energy on․ If you can't wake up in the morning and look forward to what you're going to do in the evening - and twice on a Wednesday and a Saturday - then it's not worth doing․"
• Quote: "(On the longevity of her acting career): "I was never stage-struck․ I'm not stage-struck now․ Nobody's more surprised than I am that I have, in fact, spent my life doing this․""
• Best known for her role as Hyacinth Bucket in "Keeping Up Appearances" and as Hetty Wainthropp in "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates․"
• Has worked with Alan Bennett for more than 30 years, ever since she starred in two BBC plays of his in 1978