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Lady Pat Routledge, who has died at the years of 96, etched her presence on the British consciousness as the pretentious Mrs. Bucket.

Declaring it was "said Bouquet," the character ran roughshod over her patient husband and bewildered neighbours in the popular sitcom, among Britain's most successful sitcoms in the 1990s.

Behaving like a duchess while residing in a suburban area, Bucket's over-the-top social-climbing plans were ultimately doomed to failure—while she struggled to maintain her dignity.

It was Dame Patricia's most famous role in a professional life that saw her earn stage honors on both sides of the ocean, become the star of the playwright's celebrated TV monologues, and become BBC1's investigative Mrs. Wainthropp.

Formative Life and Career Beginnings

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

Her father was a haberdasher and she later recalled taking cover from German air raids in the basement of his store during the war.

She majored in literature at local the University of Liverpool and planned to become a teacher. Instead, she entered the Liverpool Playhouse before studying at the Bristol Old Vic.

Her successful acting career brought her from the provinces to the West End, and eventually to New York, where the composer selected her to appear in his musical 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976.

She had already received a Tony award for her performance in Darling of the Day.

She could move smoothly from comedies to classics.

She progressed from Stratford-upon-Avon, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and later to the National Theatre in London.

There, her starring part in the stage musical Carousel involved her performing the inspiring You'll Never Walk Alone.

There were also various supporting film roles, notably in the 1967 film To Sir, With Love, and the Jerry Lewis comedy outing Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River.

Her stage and radio performances demonstrated her versatility and won her awards, but it was the small screen that provided Routledge with her most high profile roles.

Television Success and Iconic Roles

Early television appearances featured well-liked shows like Z Cars and Steptoe and Son.

And later, among Britain's most respected writers, Alan Bennett, wrote a set of outstanding Talking Heads TV monologues for her.

Routledge conquered her initial hesitation to perform his scripts and shone as A Woman of No Importance and A Lady of Letters.

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

A humorous performance as the larger-than-life Kitty on The Victoria Wood Show led to the development 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 opened the pages for a while at 1 a.m. in the night," she recalled, "I read straight through and Hyacinth jumped off the page. I knew that lady, I'd met a few of that type."

Keeping Up Appearances aired for five seasons and featured four Christmas specials.

In a documentary, she later claimed that fans had included the royal family and Pope Benedict XVI.

It became BBC Worldwide's most exported programme ever and meant Routledge was known as distant as Botswana.

For her work on the sitcom, she was voted Britain's all-time favourite actress in 1996, but after half a decade in the part, she felt it was the moment for a change.

"I brought it to an end," she said, "and, naturally, the BBC wasn't pleased with very much."

She thought that the writer was beginning to recycle ideas and recalled a bit of guidance from the performer, Ronnie Barker.

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

Later Work and Private Life

Playing the unassuming but astute sleuth in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates gave her ongoing success on TV, but she always called the theatre as "the test."

Years after she stopped appearing frequently on television, Routledge undertook theatre tours equally in the UK and abroad.

Whenever journalists posed the predictable inquiry, she requested them to write the word withdrawal because, she explained: "It isn't in my lexicon."

She did not wed or had children, but informed the press of a couple of significant affairs in her younger days, including one with a wedded man.

"I felt remorse and an acute sense that there had to be loss," she confessed. "I suppose I convinced myself that it was acceptable for the time being as his marriage was no a vibrant thing."

In place of family, she devoted herself to her craft, honoring it with the talent, discipline 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.

Questioning the Corporation's policy of rebooting old sitcoms she said, "For what reason are they attempting this sort of project, they must be out of ideas."

She had already clashed with the broadcaster over their decision to not commission a film she had written about the author Beatrix Potter (Routledge was a Patron of the literary group), which finally aired on another network.

Upon reaching 90, she persisted to reside peacefully in the city, where she busied herself raising money for the church structure.

In 2017, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the British honors system but—unlike Hyacinth—honors never affect her mind.

Lady Patricia always stated she credited her Northern roots and solid background for giving her practicality with her life and her finances.

Nonetheless, she confessed that, should any additional money arrive, she'd definitely use it on "a case of sparkling wine"—an love of the finer things in existence that she shared with her best-remembered creation.

"I was never stage-struck," she said. "I'm not stage-struck today. Nobody's more surprised than myself that I've, actually, devoted my career doing acting."