British sitcom star Penelope Keith, star of ‘The Good Life’ (a.k.a. ‘Good Neighbors’), dies at 86
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- British actor Penelope Keith, beloved for portraying sharp-tongued, upper-crust characters in sitcoms “The Good Life” (called “Good Neighbors” in the U.S.) and “To the Manor Born,” has died at her Surrey, England, home at 86.
- Keith’s career spanned stage, television and voice work, from the Royal Shakespeare Company and a BAFTA-winning turn as Margo Leadbetter to voicing a character on “Teletubbies” and narrating documentary series.
- Honored as a dame in 2014 for her contributions to the arts and charity, Keith will be saluted with dimmed West End lights and is survived by her husband and two sons.
LONDON — Penelope Keith, a comic performer who shone as flinty but lovable upper-crust characters in British sitcoms “The Good Life,” which aired on PBS in the U.S. as “Good Neighbors,” and “To the Manor Born,” has died aged 86.
Keith’s family said Monday that she had been diagnosed with cancer and died at her home in Surrey, near London.
Keith began her acting career onstage and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963. But she found her greatest fame on television.
She won a BAFTA Award in 1977 for “The Good Life,” playing Margo Leadbetter, a snobbish suburbanite appalled by her back-to-the-land neighbors Tom and Barbara Good, played by Richard Briers and Felicity Kendal.
Kendal called Keith a “comic genius.”
“She was a joy to know and work with, and she will be much missed,” Kendal said.
British actor Anthony Head, whose decades-long acting career includes roles in ‘Ted Lasso’ and ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer,’ has died. The actor’s family announced his death on Friday. He was 72.
Keith displayed a similar mix of imperiousness and deadpan wit in “To the Manor Born,” broadcast between 1979 and 1981 and brought back for a 2007 Christmas special. Keith played cash-strapped aristocratic widow Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, forced to sell her country estate to a nouveau millionaire, played by Peter Bowles, with whom she has a love-hate relationship.
Keith’s velvet tones featured on children’s show “Teletubbies” as the voice of the Bear With Brown Fuzzy Hair and in ads for everything from Pimm’s to Parker Pens. She also presented cozy documentary TV series, including “Penelope Keith’s Hidden Villages.”
Keith continued to perform in stage roles into her 80s. Theaters in London’s West End will dim their lights Wednesday evening in tribute to her.
In 2014 she was made a dame, the female equivalent of a knight, for services to the arts and to charity.
She is survived by her husband, Rodney Timson, and their two sons.
