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Lady Pat Routledge, who has died at the age of 96, made her mark on the national psyche as the pretentious Hyacinth Bouquet.

Declaring it was "said Bouquet," Hyacinth ran roughshod over her patient husband and confused neighbours in the popular sitcom, one of Britain's best-loved comedies in the 1990s.

Acting like a aristocrat while living in a suburb, Bucket's monstrous status-seeking schemes were in the end destined to collapse—while she battled to keep her dignity.

It was Dame Patricia's most famous part in a professional life that included her win stage honors on each side of the ocean, become the star of Alan Bennett's famous TV soliloquies, and star as BBC1's investigative Mrs. Wainthropp.

Early Years and Start in Acting

Catherine Pat Routledge was born in Birkenhead on 17 February 1929.

Her father was a clothier and she later recalled taking cover from enemy bombs in the basement of his store during the war.

She studied English at nearby Liverpool University and planned to teach. Rather, she entered the local theatre prior to training at the Bristol Old Vic.

Her successful acting journey brought her from the provinces to the West End, and eventually to New York, where Leonard Bernstein chose her to star in his musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976.

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

She could transition smoothly from comedies to serious drama.

She went from Shakespeare's birthplace, performing with the RSC and later to the London's national stage in London.

At the National, her lead part in the theatre production Carousel involved her singing the inspiring You'll Never Walk Alone.

She also took several supporting movie parts, notably in 1967's To Sir, With Love, and the comedian's comedy outing Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.

Her theatre and broadcast work demonstrated her versatility and earned her awards, but it was the small screen that provided Routledge with her best-known characters.

Television Success and Iconic Roles

Initial small-screen appearances included popular programmes like Z Cars and Steptoe and Son.

And later, one of Britain's most respected playwrights, Alan Bennett, penned a series of outstanding Talking Heads TV solos for her.

Routledge overcame her initial reluctance to perform his material and excelled as A Woman of No Importance and A Lady of Letters.

She later play a isolated, mid-life shop clerk tipped into a affair with a unconventional foot doctor in Bennett's Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet.

A humorous performance as the exaggerated character on The Victoria Wood Show led to the creation of Hyacinth Bucket.

Routledge remembered being given the episodes by the author, the screenwriter—known for Last of the Summer Wine and Open All Hours.

"I had opened the pages for a moment at one o'clock in the morning," she said, "I went straight through and the character jumped off the script. I recognized that lady, I'd met several of that type."

Keeping Up Appearances aired for five seasons and featured four holiday episodes.

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

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

For her performance on the comedy, she was voted Britain's all-time favourite actress in 1996, but after five years in the part, she decided it was time for a change.

"I brought it to an close," she said, "which, naturally, the BBC didn’t care for at all."

She believed that the writer was starting to recycle concepts and recalled a bit of guidance from the performer, the comic.

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

Later Roles and Personal Life

Portraying the unassuming but sharp detective in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates gave her ongoing success on television, but she consistently referred to the theatre as "the test."

Years after she ceased acting frequently on television, Routledge undertook stage travels both in the UK and overseas.

Whenever journalists asked the predictable inquiry, she asked them to spell out the word retirement because, she explained: "It's not in my vocabulary."

She did not wed or raised children, but told interviewers of a couple of significant romances in her younger days, one with a wedded man.

"I felt remorse and an acute sense that there had to be loss," she admitted. "I suppose I convinced 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 respected by her peers.

She was critical about the broadcaster's decision in 2016 to bring back Keeping Up Appearances, but on this occasion placed in the 1950s and featuring a more youthful version of her character.

Questioning the network's approach of resurrecting classic sitcoms she remarked, "For what reason are they attempting this kind of thing, they have to be desperate."

She had previously clashed with the BBC over its decision to not order a film she had authored about the writer Beatrix Potter (she was a Patron of the Beatrix Potter Society), which finally aired on Channel 4.

Upon reaching 90, she continued to live quietly in the city, where she busied herself raising money for the church structure.

In 2017, she became a Dame of the British honors system but—in contrast to her character—honors did not go to her head.

Dame Routledge always said she thanked her north of England upbringing and stable family for providing her good sense with her life and her money.

Even so, she confessed that, should any additional money come her way, she'd definitely use it on "a case of sparkling wine"—an love of the better things in existence that she had in common with her best-remembered creation.

"I was never stage-struck," she declared. "I am not theatre-obsessed today. Nobody's as amazed than I am that I have, actually, spent my career doing this."