Patricia Routledge

Routledge was born on 17 February 1929 in Tranmere in Birkenhead, Cheshire.{{cite news|last=Archer|first=Peter|title=Favourite snob to collect CBE|url=http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/10/14/1097607349192.html|access-date=12 November 2013|newspaper=The Age|date=14 October 2004}} Her father was a haberdasher and gentlemen's outfitter.{{Cite web|url=https://www.chichester.co.uk/arts-and-culture/theatre-and-stage/chichesters-patriciaa-routledge-london-today-become-dame-861187|title=Chichester's Patricia Routledge in London today to become a dame|website=Chichester.co.uk|date=24 March 2017 |accessdate=17 February 2021}} She was educated at Birkenhead High School,{{cite news|last=Hughes|first=Lorna|title=Birkenhead-born actress Patricia Routledge marks return to home town with reading from classic children's book|url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/birkenhead-born-actress-patricia-routledge-marks-3431434|access-date=14 November 2013|newspaper=Liverpool Echo|date=17 February 2010}} and the University of Liverpool.{{cite web|title=Patricia Routledge|url=https://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/61830/Patricia-Routledge/biography|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131213183100/http://www.nytimes.com/movies/person/61830/Patricia-Routledge/biography|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 December 2013|department=Movies & TV Dept.|work=The New York Times|date=2013|access-date=14 November 2013}} She gained a degree with honours in English Language and Literature. She was involved in the university's dramatic society, where she worked closely with the academic Edmund Colledge, who both directed and acted in several of the society's productions. It was Colledge who persuaded her to pursue an acting career.{{cite news|last=Hussey|first=Stanley|title=Obituary: The Rev Edmund Colledge|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-the-rev-edmund-colledge-1128687.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-the-rev-edmund-colledge-1128687.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=13 November 2013|newspaper=The Independent|date=26 November 1999}} After graduating, she trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and returned to Liverpool to begin her acting career at the Liverpool Playhouse.{{cite news|last=Dubuis|first=Anna|title=Sitcom star Patricia Routledge comes to Barking to reveal her musical theatre past|url=http://www.barkinganddagenhampost.co.uk/entertainment/theatre/sitcom_star_patricia_routledge_comes_to_barking_to_reveal_her_musical_theatre_past_1_2857724|access-date=12 November 2013|newspaper=Barking and Dagenham Post|date=8 October 2013}}

Routledge has had a long career in theatre, particularly musical theatre, in the United Kingdom and the United States.{{cite news |last1=Thomas |first1=Nick |title=Actress Patricia Routledge is still 'Keeping Up Appearances' |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/statesville-record-and-landmark-actress/169672587/ |access-date=6 April 2025 |work=Statesville Record & Landmark |date=18 January 2015 |page=6C |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}} Her vocal range was labelled as a mezzo-soprano and a contralto. She has been a long-standing member of the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), appearing in such acclaimed productions as the 1984 Richard III, which starred Antony Sher in the title role.{{cite book|last=Day|first=Gillian|title=King Richard III: Shakespeare at Stratford Series|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lYqWILmDvEkC&pg=PA200|access-date=16 November 2013|year=2002|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-1-903436-12-7|page=200}}[http://www.musical-theatre.net/html/unsungheroines/patriciaroutledge.html Patricia Routledge – Unsung Heroines] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070126014952/http://www.musical-theatre.net/html/unsungheroines/patriciaroutledge.html |date=26 January 2007 }}, Musical Theatre.net Her West End credits include Little Mary Sunshine,{{cite book |last=Wright|first=Adrian|title=West End Broadway: The Golden Age of the American Musical in London |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6-TvZ0O5NHQC&pg=PA306|access-date=16 November 2013 |year=2012 |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=978-1-84383-791-6 |page=306}} Cowardy Custard,{{cite book|last=Dietz|first=Dan|title=Off Broadway Musicals, 1910–2007: Casts, Credits, Songs, Critical Reception and Performance Data of More Than 1,800 Shows|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fgOqZWHCLbUC&pg=PT3108 |access-date=16 November 2013 |year=2010 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-5731-1 |page=3108}} Virtue in Danger,{{cite book |last=Huckvale |first=David |title=James Bernard, Composer to Count Dracula: A Critical Biography |url=https://archive.org/details/jamesbernardcomp00huck |url-access=registration |access-date=16 November 2013 |year=2006 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-0-7864-2302-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/jamesbernardcomp00huck/page/123 123]}} Noises Off,{{cite news |last=Crompton |first=Sarah |title=Noises Off, Novello Theatre, review |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9186679/Noises-Off-Novello-Theatre-review.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9186679/Noises-Off-Novello-Theatre-review.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=14 November 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=4 April 2012}}{{cbignore}} The Importance of Being Earnest,{{cite news |title=Earnest Returns to West End with Routledge|url=http://www.whatsonstage.com/west-end-theatre/news/11-2000/earnest-returns-to-west-end-with-routledge_30092.html |access-date=14 November 2013 |newspaper=What's On Stage |date=15 November 2000 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114102036/http://www.whatsonstage.com/west-end-theatre/news/11-2000/earnest-returns-to-west-end-with-routledge_30092.html|archive-date=14 November 2013}} and The Solid Gold Cadillac,{{cite news |last=Billington |first=Michael|author-link=Michael Billington (critic) |title=The Solid Gold Cadillac, Garrick, London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2004/sep/28/theatre1 |access-date=14 November 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=28 September 2004}} as well as a number of less successful vehicles. She was nominated for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her work in And a Nightingale Sang in 1979. A classically trained singer,{{cite news |last=Meakin |first=Nione |title=Made for the stage|url=http://www.theargus.co.uk/magazine/interview/10769494.Made_for_the_stage/ |access-date=12 November 2013 |newspaper=The Argus |date=2 November 2013}} she has occasionally made forays into operetta including taking the title role in an acclaimed production of Jacques Offenbach's La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein at the 1978 Camden Festival; "As the Grand Duchess she invested every phrase, spoken or sung{{nbs}}... with wit and meaning, and coloured her tone to express a wide variety of emotions. Never did she resort to the hoydenish behaviour that this role – in British productions at least – seems to invite."Forbes, Elizabeth. London Opera Diary – The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein. Park Lane Opera at Collegiate Theatre, 22 March. Opera, June 1978, p624.

Routledge made her Broadway debut in Roger Milner's comedy How's the World Treating You? in 1966, returning in the short-lived 1968 musical Darling of the Day,{{cite news |last=Norman |first=Neil |title=Darling of the Day: Lost Musicals, Ondaatje Wing Theatre, The National Portrait Gallery |url=http://www.express.co.uk/entertainment/theatre/195810/Darling-Of-The-Day-Lost-Musicals-Ondaatje-Wing-Theatre-The-National-Portrait-Gallery |access-date=14 November 2013 |newspaper=Daily Express |date=27 August 2010}} for which she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, sharing the honour with Leslie Uggams of Hallelujah, Baby!{{cite news |title=Aussie, Briton Win Tonys |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-pensacola-news-aussie-briton-win-to/169666156/ |access-date=5 April 2025 |newspaper=The Pensacola News |date=22 April 1968 |page=2A |agency=Associated Press |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}} Following this, Routledge had roles in several more unsuccessful Broadway productions including a musical called Love Match, in which she played Queen Victoria; the legendary 1976 Leonard Bernstein flop 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, in which she portrayed every U.S. First Lady from Abigail Adams to Eleanor Roosevelt;{{cite news |last=Blekicki |first=Kenneth C. |title='1600' Is Weighty Address |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=jRFXAAAAIBAJ&pg=5997,2279789 |access-date=14 November 2013 |newspaper=Reading Eagle |date=14 March 1976}} and a 1981 musical, Say Hello to Harvey – based on the Mary Coyle Chase play Harvey (1944) – which closed in Toronto before reaching New York City.{{cite journal |title=Britain's Best |website = Newyorkmetro.com|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-OUCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA33 |access-date=16 November 2013 |date=21 September 1981 |publisher=New York |page=33 |issn=0028-7369}}

In 1980, Routledge played Ruth in the Joseph Papp production of The Pirates of Penzance, co-starring American actor Kevin Kline and pop vocalist Linda Ronstadt, at the Delacorte Theatre in New York City's Central Park, one of a series of Shakespeare in the Park summer events.{{cite web |title=Patricia Routledge |url=http://www.masterworksbroadway.com/artist/patricia-routledge |work=Masterworks Broadway |publisher=Sony Music Entertainment |access-date=13 November 2013}}{{cite news |last=Watt |first=Douglas |title=Gilbert Might Be Startled, But Happy |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=8TBPAAAAIBAJ&pg=5405,6919629&dq=patricia+routledge&hl=en |access-date=14 November 2013 |newspaper=Toledo Blade |date=9 January 1981}} The show was a hit and transferred to Broadway the following January, with Estelle Parsons replacing Routledge.{{cite news |last1=Sharbutt |first1=Jay |title='Penzance' still lively despite huge stage |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-express-penzance-still-lively/169670568/ |access-date=6 April 2025 |work=Evening Express |agency=Associated Press |date=9 January 1981 |location=Portland, Maine |page=6 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}} A DVD of the Central Park production, with Routledge, was released in October 2002. She also performed in Façade at New York's Carnegie Recital Hall.Biographical note in Royal Shakespeare Company programme for Henry V, Barbican Theatre, London, 1985.

Routledge won a Laurence Olivier Award in 1988 for her portrayal of the Old Lady in Leonard Bernstein's Candide in the London cast of the critically acclaimed Scottish Opera production.{{cite news|last=Westby|first=Isabel|title=The celebrated actress who loves tea, cake and debate with nuns|url=http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2012/07/06/the-celebrated-actress-who-loves-tea-cake-and-debate-with-nuns/|access-date=13 November 2013|newspaper=The Catholic Herald|date=6 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131104035429/http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features/2012/07/06/the-celebrated-actress-who-loves-tea-cake-and-debate-with-nuns/|archive-date=4 November 2013|url-status=dead}} One critic noted "She stopped the show with 'I am so easily assimilated', and her long narration worked on at least two levels – it was both hilarious and oddly moving."Rodney Milnes. At the Musical – Candide, Old Vic, 21 December. Opera, March 1989, Vol 40. No.3, p370. She also played the role of Nettie Fowler to great acclaim in the 1992 National Theatre production of Carousel.{{cite news|last=John|first=Emma|title=Patricia Routledge: 'The King James Bible has great cadences'|url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/oct/02/patricia-routledge-king-james-bible|access-date=13 November 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=2 October 2011}} In a 2006 Hampstead Theatre production of The Best of Friends, she portrayed Dame Laurentia McLachlan.{{cite news|last=Spencer|first=Charles|title=Old friends reunited for the best of times|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3650917/Old-friends-reunited-for-the-best-of-times.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3650917/Old-friends-reunited-for-the-best-of-times.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=13 November 2013|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=13 March 2006}}{{cbignore}} In 2008, she played Queen Mary in Royce Ryton's play Crown Matrimonial.{{cite news|title=INTERVIEW: Patricia Routledge in Crown Matrimonial|url=http://www.worthingherald.co.uk/what-s-on/interview-patricia-routledge-in-crown-matrimonial-1-239795|access-date=13 November 2013|newspaper=Worthing Herald|date=27 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214204844/http://www.worthingherald.co.uk/what-s-on/interview-patricia-routledge-in-crown-matrimonial-1-239795|archive-date=14 February 2015|url-status=dead}} More recent work includes the role of Dame Myra Hess in the tribute show Admission: One Shilling from 2009, the narrator in The Carnival of the Animals with the Nash Ensemble in 2010,Nash Concert Society programme, Wigmore Hall, 16 January 2010. and Lady Markby in An Ideal Husband at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 2014.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2014/dec/01/an-ideal-husband-review-patricia-routledge-fox-redgrave-bathurst|title=An Ideal Husband review – Patricia Routledge can't rescue Wilde revival|date=1 December 2014|website=The Guardian}}

Since 2009, Routledge has toured with a show entitled Facing The Music. The show features insights into her musical theatre career.{{Cite web|url=http://churchilltheatre.co.uk/Online/tickets-facing-the-music-with-patricia-routledge-bromley-2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706113222/http://churchilltheatre.co.uk/Online/tickets-facing-the-music-with-patricia-routledge-bromley-2022|archive-date=6 July 2022 |url-status=dead|title=Facing the Music with Patricia Routledge | Churchill Theatre, Bromley }}

Routledge's screen credits include To Sir, with Love (1967),{{cite book |last=Willis |first=John |title=Screen World 1968 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Kq7KDU038mUC&pg=PA150 |access-date=16 November 2013 |date=1 June 1983 |publisher=Biblo & Tannen Publishers |isbn=978-0-8196-0309-8 |page=150}} Pretty Polly (1967),{{cite book |last=Cowie |first=Peter |title=World Filmography: 1967 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Jp7ayTLX1D8C&pg=PA204 |access-date=16 November 2013 |year=1977 |publisher=Fairleigh Dickinson University Press |isbn=978-0-498-01565-6 |page=204}} 30 Is a Dangerous Age, Cynthia, The Bliss of Mrs. Blossom,{{cite news |title=The Bliss of Mrs Blossom |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=trMyAAAAIBAJ&pg=2616,9909464&dq=patricia+routledge&hl=en|access-date=14 November 2013 |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=30 March 1986}} Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River (all 1968),{{cite book |last=Mavis |first=Paul |title=The Espionage Filmography |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ehkcZFT8fMoC&pg=PT157 |access-date=16 November 2013|date=31 May 2013 |publisher=McFarland & Company |isbn=978-1-4766-0427-5 |page=157}} If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium (1969) and Girl Stroke Boy (1971).{{cite news |last1=Pleshette |first1=Suzanne |title=Carefree Guide, Sassy Tourist |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lincoln-journal-star-carefree-guide-sas/169665126/ |access-date=6 April 2025 |work=Lincoln Journal Star |date=18 May 1969 |page=3F |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}}{{cite book |last1=Upton |first1=Julian |title=Offbeat (Revised & Updated): British Cinema’s Curiosities, Obscurities and Forgotten Gems |date=2022 |publisher=SCB Distributors |isbn=978-1-909394-94-0 |page=256 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qNJkEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT256 |language=en}}

Routledge's early television appearances included a role in Steptoe and Son, in the episode "Seance in a Wet Rag and Bone Yard" (1974), as a clairvoyant called Madame Fontana.{{cite web |title=Seance in a Wet Rag and Bone Yard |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007jp6x |publisher=BBC Radio 4 |access-date=6 April 2025}} She also appeared in Coronation Street (1961),{{cite news |last=Rees |first=Jasper |title=Very kinky? I didn't really enjoy it |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3664983/Very-kinky-I-didnt-really-enjoy-it.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/drama/3664983/Very-kinky-I-didnt-really-enjoy-it.html |archive-date=12 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |access-date=14 November 2013 |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=9 May 2007}}{{cbignore}} followed by the role of Maggie in ITV's Play of the Week Hobson's Choice (opposite Michael Caine as Will Mosop) (1962),https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0926557/fullcredits/?ref_=tt_ov_st#cast and as a white witch in Doctor at Large (1971). Routledge played Mrs. Jennings in the BBC mini-series production of Sense and Sensibility (1971). However, she did not come to prominence on television until she featured in monologues written for her by Alan Bennett and later Victoria Wood in the 1980s. She first appeared in A Woman of No Importance, the second installment of Bennett's anthology, Objects of Affection in 1982.{{cite web |last1=Brooke |first1=Michael |last2=British Film Institute |first2=BFI Screenonline |title=A Woman of No Importance (1982) |url=http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/505008/index.html |website=www.screenonline.org.uk |access-date=27 November 2021 |quote=... originally one of six plays commissioned by the BBC in 1982 [...] a five-play cycle, Objects of Affection}} She then played the opinionated Kitty in Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV in 1985. She performed two further monologues in Bennett's Talking Heads in 1988 and 1998. Routledge was nominated for a British Academy Television Award for Best Actress for the monologue "A Lady of Letters".{{cn|date=April 2025}}

In 1990, Routledge accepted the lead role of Hetty Wainthropp in an ITV mystery drama, Hetty Wainthropp: Missing Persons.{{cite news |title=Move over Poirot, supergran's here! |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-echo-move-over-poirot-supergrans/169671309/ |access-date=6 April 2025 |work=Bournemouth Daily Echo |date=30 May 1990 |page=23 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}}{{cite news |last1=Lyttle |first1=John |title=The beauty of the battleaxe |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-independent-the-beauty-of-the-battle/169671130/ |access-date=6 April 2025 |work=The Independent |date=31 January 1996 |page=5 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}} ITV opted not to pursue a series after the pilot episode,{{cite news |last1=Carriere |first1=Ken |title=PBS amateur detective Wainthropp returns |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/santa-maria-times-pbs-amateur-detective/169672164/ |access-date=6 April 2025 |work=Santa Maria Times |date=16 August 2003 |page=C4 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}} but in 1996 the BBC produced the first series of Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, with Routledge again in the lead role.{{cite news |last1=Davey |first1=Tim |title=Hyacinth makes way for Hetty |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/evening-post-hyacinth-makes-way-for-hett/169671560/ |access-date=6 April 2025 |work=Bristol Evening Post |date=3 January 1996 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}} The show co-starred Dominic Monaghan as her assistant and Derek Benfield as her husband. It was first aired in January 1996, and ran until the autumn of 1998. Monaghan, who went on to enjoy a Hollywood career, has since credited Routledge as "an amazing teacher" who taught him some "very valuable lessons" in acting.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/mnjIj1u9NEg Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200603233856/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnjIj1u9NEg&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnjIj1u9NEg|title=Dominic Monaghan Shares The Advice He Got On His First Job, Hetty Wainthropp Investigates {{!}} PeopleTV|date=13 July 2018 |publisher=YouTube|accessdate=17 February 2021}}{{cbignore}}

In 1990, Routledge was cast as Hyacinth Bucket in the comedy series Keeping Up Appearances.{{cite news |last=Barnett |first=Laura |title=Patricia Routledge: 'There's a fashion to speak badly' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2011/nov/01/patricia-routledge-interview |access-date=12 November 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2 November 2011}} She portrayed a formerly working-class woman with social pretensions (insisting her surname be pronounced "bouquet") and delusions of grandeur (her oft-mentioned "candlelight suppers").{{cite news |last=O'Shea |first=Stephen |title=Gulf between dreams and reality in Doha |url=http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/asia-pacific/gulf-between-dreams-and-reality-in-doha-1.1545318 |access-date=12 November 2013 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=1 October 2013}} Routledge delighted in portraying Hyacinth, as she claimed she "couldn't stand people like her" in real life. In 1991, she won a British Comedy Award for her portrayal,{{cite web |title=Past Winners 1991 |url=http://www.britishcomedyawards.com/past-winners/1991.aspx |work=The British Comedy Awards |access-date=12 November 2013 |year=1991}} and she was later nominated for two BAFTA TV Awards in 1992 and 1993. Routledge quit the role in 1995, despite the series' ongoing popularity, as she wished to pursue other roles as an actress.{{cite news |last1=Wylie |first1=Ian |title=The ladies who do laughs |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/manchester-evening-news-the-ladies-who-d/169673019/ |access-date=6 April 2025 |work=Manchester Evening News |date=20 June 1998 |page=25 |via=Newspapers.com}} {{free access}} In a 2017 interview, Routledge said: "I always thought of the great, great Ronnie Barker. He always left something when he was on a high, and it's much better to have people say now 'Oh, why didn't you do some more?' than having them say 'Oh, is that still on?'"{{cite web |publisher=Studio 10 | date = 25 October 2017 | title = Dame Patricia Routledge | url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FEvp1Ajmtus | website = YouTube | access-date=5 January 2024}} Another reason she wished to leave the role was that she felt that the writer Roy Clarke was "recycling some old ideas that we'd already dealt with".

Routledge has also played several real-life characters for television, including Barbara Pym and in a dramatised BBC Omnibus biographical documentary of 1994 about Hildegard of Bingen.{{cite web|title=Omnibus: Hildegard|url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/508162|publisher=British Film Institute|access-date=12 November 2013|year=1994|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131112225254/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/508162|archive-date=12 November 2013|url-status=dead}}

In 2001, Routledge starred in Anybody's Nightmare, a fact-based television drama in which she played Sheila Bowler, a mother and piano teacher who served four years in prison for murdering her elderly aunt, but was later acquitted following a retrial.{{cite news|last=Cooke|first=Rachel|title=The innocent|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/oct/04/gender.uk|access-date=12 November 2013|newspaper=The Guardian|date=4 October 2001}}

In 2016, Routledge presented Beatrix Potter with Patricia Routledge on Channel 4, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Potter's birth.{{cite news |last1=Christiansen |first1=Rupert |title=Patricia Routledge: 'Beatrix Potter really took me over' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2016/01/28/patricia-routledge-beatrix-potter-really-took-me-over/ |access-date=6 April 2025 |work=The Telegraph |date=26 January 2016}}

In January 2023, Channel 5 aired a 67-minute special Keeping Up Appearances retrospective for their series "30 Years Of Laughs". Cast, crew and celebrities paid tribute to the show. The documentary featured an interview with Routledge, who was 93 at the time, sharing her memories of the show, along with supporting cast members Judy Cornwell, Jeremy Gittins and David Janson.{{cite web | url=https://www.channel5.com/show/keeping-up-appearances-30-years-of-laughs | title=My5 }}

In 1966, Routledge sang the role of Mad Margaret in Ruddigore, the title role in Iolanthe, and Melissa in Princess Ida, in a series of BBC Radio Gilbert and Sullivan recordings.Shepherd, Marc. [http://gasdisc.oakapplepress.com/narradio.htm#bbc "The G&S Operas on Radio"], Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, 10 September 2008. Retrieved 9 December 2016 She took part in a studio broadcast of Tchaikovsky's opera Vakula the Smith (narrating excerpts from the work by Gogol) in 1989.{{cite web |title=Classical/Tchaikovsky & Stravinsky Radio Highlights |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/classical/tchaikovsky/radio_highlights.shtml |work=BBC Radio 3 |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 November 2013 |year=2007}} In 2006, she was featured in an episode of the Stage and Screen series on Radio 3.{{cite web |title=Legends: Patricia Routledge |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio3/stageandscreen/pip/t5b65/ |work=BBC Radio 3 |publisher=BBC |access-date=14 November 2013 |date=27 November 2006}}

Routledge's extensive radio credits include several Alan Bennett plays and the BBC dramatisation of Carole Hayman's Ladies of Letters, in which she and Prunella Scales play retired women exchanging humorous correspondence over the course of several years.{{cite web|title=Ladies of Letters|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01s5dj1|work=BBC Radio 4 Extra|publisher=BBC|access-date=14 November 2013}} A tenth series of Ladies of Letters premiered on BBC Radio 4 in 2009.{{cite web|title=Episode 1 Ladies of Letters Crunch Credit|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00k3lqh|work=BBC Radio 4|publisher=BBC|access-date=15 November 2013|date=4 May 2009}}

Radio work prior to 1985 included Private Lives, Present Laughter, The Cherry Orchard, Romeo and Juliet, Alice in Wonderland and The Fountain Overflows.

Having a distinctive voice, Routledge has also recorded and released a variety of audiobooks including unabridged readings of Wuthering Heights and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and abridged novelisations of the Hetty Wainthropp series.{{cite news |last=Barnett |first=David |title=I can never stay tuned to audiobooks |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2008/jul/10/icanneverstaytunedtoaudi |access-date=12 November 2013 |newspaper=The Guardian |date=10 July 2008}}

In an episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme A Good Read broadcast in October 2008, Routledge's choice was The King of Sunlight: How William Lever Cleaned Up The World by Adam Macqueen.{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b00dzkwf|title=A Good Read |work=BBC Radio 4 |date=21 October 2008 |access-date=13 March 2025}}

Routledge has never married and has no children. In a 2001 interview, she said: "I didn't make a decision not to be married and not to be a mother. Life just turned out like that because my involvement in acting was so total." In the same interview, Routledge discussed two affairs she had been involved in: one with a married man while in her late 20s and the other being some years later with a man directing a play she was appearing in.{{Cite web |last=Lambert |first=Angela |date=29 January 2001 |title=I don't recommend adultery |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/4721313/I-dont-recommend-adultery.html |access-date=2022-02-26 |website=The Telegraph}}

She has lived in Chichester since 2000{{Cite web|url=https://www.spiritfm.net/news/sussex-news/3061692/legendary-actress-helps-raise-thousands-to-chichester-cathedral/|title=Legendary actress helps raise thousands for Chichester Cathedral|date=13 March 2020|website=Spirit FM}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.chichester.co.uk/heritage-and-retro/retro/actress-dame-patricia-routledge-remembers-astonishing-sight-ve-day-2853284|title=Actress Dame Patricia Routledge remembers 'astonishing' sight on VE Day|website=www.chichester.co.uk|date=14 May 2020 }} and regularly worships at Chichester Cathedral. In 2020, she helped raise £10,000 towards the restoration of the cathedral roof.

Routledge is a patron of the Beatrix Potter Society{{cite news |title=Beatrix Potter finally presents her paper |url=http://www.hud.ac.uk/news/allstories/beatrixpotterfinallypresentsherpaper.php |access-date=14 November 2013 |publisher=University of Huddersfield |date=24 April 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131114020126/http://www.hud.ac.uk/news/allstories/beatrixpotterfinallypresentsherpaper.php|archive-date=14 November 2013}} and an ambassador for the charity Royal Voluntary Service, previously known as WRVS.[http://www.royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk/about-us/our-ambassadors?_ga=1.169698785.1540277051.1483184519 "Our ambassadors"]{{dead link|date=March 2017}}. royalvoluntaryservice.org.uk. Retrieved 31 December 2016

Routledge was a close friend of former Speaker of the House of Commons, Betty Boothroyd. Her recording of "Climb Ev'ry Mountain" was played at Boothroyd's funeral in March 2023.{{Cite news |date=2023-03-29 |title=Betty Boothroyd: Funeral held for first woman Commons Speaker |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leeds-65113102 |access-date=30 March 2023}}

Routledge was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1993 Birthday Honours, Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2004 Birthday Honours,[https://web.archive.org/web/20071027225152/http://www.cft.org.uk/cft-productions_talents.asp?tid=245 "Patricia Routledge Biography"]. Chichester Festival Theatre. Retrieved 29 March 2011. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100108004722/http://www.cft.org.uk/cft-productions_talents.asp?tid=245 |date=8 January 2010 }} and Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2017 New Year Honours for services to theatre and charity.{{London Gazette|issue=61803 |supp=y|page=N8|date=31 December 2016}}

In 2008, Routledge received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from Lancaster University for her contribution to drama and theatre.{{cite news|title=University honours for TV actress|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/lancashire/7775876.stm|access-date=14 November 2013|work=BBC News|date=10 December 2008}}

On 15 March 2019, Routledge received an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Chester at Chester Cathedral for her contributions to theatre and television.{{Cite web|url=https://www1.chester.ac.uk/news/dame-patricia-routledge-and-joanna-lumley-obe-honoured-graduation-0|title=Dame Patricia Routledge and Joanna Lumley OBE Honoured at Graduation|date=19 March 2019|publisher=University of Chester|access-date=27 September 2019}}

In 2022, the Royal Academy of Music conferred Routledge with honorary membership.{{Cite web |title=Royal Academy of Music Announces 2022 Honours |url=https://www.ram.ac.uk/news/royal-academy-of-music-announces-2022-honours |access-date=2022-12-25 |website=Royal Academy of Music |language=en-GB}}

An honorary president of the Association of English Singers & Speakers (which exists to "encourage communication of English words in speech and song with clarity, understanding and imagination"), she has sponsored the annual AESS National English Song Prize from 2003 to the present.[https://www.aofess.org.uk/?page_id=11 The Association of English Singers & Speakers – 'About' page] accessed 18 December 2019.

She was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Wirral on 17 January 2025.{{cite web |url=https://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/24868830.dame-patricia-routledge-receives-wirrals-highest-honour/ |title=Dame Patricia Routledge receives Wirral’s highest honour |last=McGrath |first=Rebecca |date=20 January 2025 |website=The Wirral Globe |access-date=20 January 2025 }}

{{reflist}}

{{commons category|Patricia Routledge}}

• {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20190831213019/http://www.uk-comedy.net/CastPatriciaRoutledge.htm StackPath]}}
• [http://www.bris.ac.uk/theatrecollection/search/people_sub_plays_all?forename=Patricia&surname=ROUTLEDGE&job=Actor&pid=3463&image_view=Yesamp;x=19amp;y=17 selected performances in Theatre Archive University of Bristol]
• [http://www.cdapress.com/news/entertainment/article_d323fd26-c858-5002-a0a7-9206a95132d2.html Interview January, 2015, in the Coeur d' Alene Press] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151119062628/http://www.cdapress.com/news/entertainment/article_d323fd26-c858-5002-a0a7-9206a95132d2.html |date=19 November 2015 }}
• {{IBDB name}}
• {{IMDb name|0746151}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20170529072219/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b9f6d45b6 Patricia Routledge] at the British Film Institute
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96sFgmD3pTg Hobson's Choice – starring Michael Caine & Patricia Routledge (1962) on YouTube]

{{Navboxes

| title = Awards for Patricia Routledge

| list =

{{OlivierAward MusicalActress 1979–2000}}

{{TonyAward MusicalLeadActress 1948–1975}}

}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|Cheshire|North West England|United Kingdom|Theatre|Film|Television|Radio|Comedy}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Routledge, Patricia}}

Category:1929 births

Category:20th-century English actresses

Category:20th-century English singers

Category:20th-century English women singers

Category:21st-century English actresses

Category:21st-century English singers

Category:21st-century English women singers

Category:Actresses awarded damehoods

Category:Actresses from Birkenhead

Category:Alumni of Bristol Old Vic Theatre School

Category:Alumni of the University of Liverpool

Category:Audiobook narrators

Category:Comedians from Cheshire

Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Category:English Anglicans

Category:English film actresses

Category:English musical theatre actresses

Category:English radio actresses

Category:English Shakespearean actresses

Category:English stage actresses

Category:English television actresses

Category:English voice actresses

Category:English women comedians

Category:Laurence Olivier Award winners

Category:Living people

Category:Musicians from Birkenhead

Category:People educated at Birkenhead High School Academy

Category:Royal Shakespeare Company members

Category:Tony Award winners