Date of Birth
17 February 1929,
Birkenhead, Cheshire, England, UK
Katherine Patricia Routledge
Nickname
Old Girl
Pat
Height
5' 5" (1.65 m)
Mini Biography
Daughter of Catherine and Isaac Routledge. Her father was a haberdasher, and during WWII, the family lived weeks at a time living in the basement of her father's shop. She attended Birkenhead High School, where she sang in the choir and ran the Sunday School. She studied English at Liverpool University, and after graduation worked without pay at the Liverpool Playhouse. She was asked to join the company, and she later studied at Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol. She then moved to London where she built an impressive stage career over the next several years, also appearing on Broadway 1966-1968. Patricia has worked in TV since the early 1950s, most recently in "Keeping Up Appearances" (1990). She also recorded an album, "Presenting Patricia Routledge," and worked in film and radio. she has never married or had children, has said that she will not retire, and lives in Kensington and Surrey when not working.
Mini Biography
The daughter of a gentleman's outfitter, Patricia, who studied at Liverpool University, the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, and London's Guildhall School of Music, made her professional debut at the Liverpool Playhouse in 1952. She's best known, of course, as Hyacinth Bucket in "Keeping Up Appearances" (1990), but her career has encompassed a huge variety of roles--from Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" (1987) (mini) monologues and "Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV" (1985), to Shakespeare, Sheridan and musicals such as "Carousel." She can also be seen as the subject of the BBC series _Funny Women (1998) (TV)_, and there are plans to translate her one-woman stage-show about Beatrix Potter to the screen. Other highlights have included a Tony Award in 1967 for her performance on Broadway in "Darling of the Day"; a triumph in the title role of Offenbach's opera "The Duchess of Gerolstein" (1978 production); an acclaimed Queen Margaret in the Royal Shakespeare Company's "Richard III" (1984); an Olivier Award for her Old Lady in Candide (1988). In 1991, She received a British Comedy Award for best Comedy Actress for "Keeping Up Appearances." In 1992, She was voted BBC Television Personality of the Year, and a year later she was awarded the OBE. During the 60th anniversary awards for the BBC, She was also voted by viewers as Britain's favorite actress.
Mini Biography
In the 1990s, Patricia found UK TV fame as Hyacinth Bucket (pronounced Bouquet) in the hit comedy series "Keeping Up Appearances" (1990), in which She played a middle-class woman who was always putting on airs and graces in order to ingratiate herself with the right people.
This was followed by the series "Hetty Wainthropp Investigates" (1996) in which She played a retired northern housewife turned private eye.
IMDb Mini Biography By:
Steve Smith
Trivia
Named as the Top Television Comedy Actress for 1991.
Named as the Personality of the Year in 1991 by the Grand Order of Water Rats (a showbiz charity)
Named as the Personality of the Year in 1993 by the Variety Club of Great Britain.
Awarded the OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to the Performing Arts.
Voted Britain's all-time favourite TV actress. [1996]
Patricia was awarded a Tony in 1968 for best Actress in a Musical Play in "Darling of the Day".
She gave a classic performance as Mrs. Malaprop in "The Rivals" on the London stage.
Graduated from the all girls Birkenhead High GPDST (Girls Public Day School Trust) in England.
She credited the late Catholic priest Father Edmund Colledge for her entry into the Performing Arts, according to the Times of London in the late Father's obituary.
Awarded honorary Doctor of Letters from her alma mater, the University of Liverpool, in 1999.
She was awarded the Laurence Olivier Theatre Award in 1989 (1988 season) for best Actress in a Musical for Candide.
Awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to Drama.
Won Broadway's 1968 Tony Award as best Actress (Musical) for "Darling of the Day in a tie with Leslie Uggams for "Hallelujah, Baby!"
Last Name is pronounced as spelled, Rout-ledge. Not Rut-ledge.
On acting: "I was fully alive and it frightened me. I was in a tremendous turmoil about it."
"There is nothing like that audience response when it's working with you - nothing."
"I don't think you can go it alone. There is a positive force for good outside oneself, call it God if you like, that has the strength to turn darkness into light."
"When I approach the pearly gates, I'd like to hear a champagne cork popping, an orchestra tuning up, and the sound of my mother laughing."
"I just want to do good work with good people in good places. And as for retirement, I can hardly spell the word. I'm driven, really. The demons won't lie down."
"people have always pitied spinsters. We have been derided, as if we had missed out on life. Well, we need not miss out on anything today!"
Where Are They Now
(December 1999) Currently starring in "The Importance of Being Ernest" in London.
(June 2004) Chichester, West Sussex, England
(April 2006) In a Play called 'best of Friends' at the Hampsted Theatre (London) about George Bernard Shaw, a Museum Curator and a Mother Abbess (Routledge).
(April 2006) Playing 'Dame Laurentia McLachan' in 'The best of Friends' at the Hampstead Theatre, London, UK
