Penelope Keith

A handsome woman with a face for radio

She used to be ubiquitous.

Good Neighbors/Life was a boring show, but she was the best thing about it. She's also had some other minor tv shows which she was always good in: "Executive Stress" and "No Job For A Lady". Several years ago, she was also in a tour of "The Importance of Being Earnest" where she played Lady Bracknell and she was excellent.

Margo!

Absolutely loved her in To The Manor Born. Talk about spot-on casting. Her laugh always made me smile.

You have to admire someone who makes a go of an acting career while having no upper lip.

When Downton Abbey first debuted, I used to wonder how she would have done in Penelope Wilton's role.

Hyacinth Bucket wished she was Margo Leadbetter!

Great Ms. Keith doubled down on same theme in "To Manor Born". Playing yet another upper class (but still insufferable) woman.

I always loved the GOOD NEIGHBORS where she landed the lead in the community play and bombed, and they were all afraid to tell her.

Also the one where she developed a complex because she realized she had no sense of humor.

To OP, most of what you would want to know about Penelope Keith is online. She's not much different than scores of other British actors/actresses of her generation; classically trained (Royal Shakespeare Company alumni), and has been a jobbing actress on small screen and theater roles.

“The Good Life” was only made bearable by her comic timing. The way she made Margo a sympathetic character speaks volumes about her talent and range.

Although no natural beauty, Keith did a lot with what she had to make herself attractive.

Margo was tall and willowly and you could see why her cute hubby would be enamored with her in the sack. Audrey fforbes-Hamilton was even better looking with her flattering makeup and hairstyle.

I loved both of them, thanks to Keith's talents.

I always get her mixed up with Stephanie Cole.

It seemed like she and Felicity Kendall were the biggest female stars based on the number of PBS tv shows that were shown in the US during the 1980s.

I did see Penelope Keith in London on stage in "Hobson's Choice" many years ago, and she was terrific in a role that could have been tailor-made for her.

Fabulous as Margo. Should be sainted by DL for her commitment to the caftan.

In OP's photo she looks like a younger version of Carey Mulligan.

R13

Why would you? The two women look nothing alike nor have acted in similar roles.

Stephanie Cole usually plays roles that are far older than she actually was at the time.

Americans probably know Stephanie Cole best as Diana "Foul Mouth" Trent from British television series Waiting For God.

Stephanie Cole was one of the great British actresses who took their turn in Alan Bennett's Talking Heads series.

In "Soldiering On", Ms. Cole played an upper class woman newly made a widow coping with coming to terms with fact her late husband sexually abused their daughter. This while her "blue eyed boy" son systematically loots the estate leaving his mother in penury. She goes from living in a grand house and volunteering for "Meals On Wheels", to living in a bedsit and getting meals from same. Good stuff!

Yes! Thank you [bold]very much[/bold], Jerry!

I love her voice. Pre-COVID I was traveling a lot for work and I listened to her reading the Agatha Raisin series, not because the books were particularly great but because her reading was so absorbing.

I loved To The Manor Born. There was a sequel movie? special? years later and it was sad. I only watched the first ten minutes or so but the script was terrible. It just proves how difficult it is to have a hit.

Again Hyacinth Bucket should have taken lessons from Margo about how to deal with social inferiors.

With Hyacinth people just slagged her off, they wouldn't dare with Margo.

Margo was a bossy boots, but she also knew who she was, that makes a huge difference. To their credit both Patricia Routledge and Penelope Keith have said in interviews they knew a few women like either Hyacinth or Margo, and they couldn't stand them.

R21

Yes, there was a 2007 Christmas special. Also in 1997 first batch of original episodes were recorded for radio, which is how series was supposed to go in first place.

No, R18, Stephanie Cole was not one of the great British actresses.

She got her reputation because she was a satisfactory 'replacement actress'. She was willing to step in replacing genuine great actresses who died during production.

Thus Cole was seen in a lot of roles intended for older actresses.

Well, OP, Penelope Keith was an unattractive woman who smelt of cheap, poorly-written, ham-fistedly unfunny TV shows.

Margo may have been a high riding bitch, but she was a damn fine looking woman.

r15 I think they look VERY much alike.

R27 are you referring to their dumpy cheeks?

Peter Bowles was very cute opposite her on "To the Manor Bourne"; I heard he did some nudity later on when he was appearing in some play. Bet he looked smashing

Sorry, "Born", not "Bourne".

[quote] "To the Manor Bourne"

The sequel to We Bought A Zoo

Angela Thorne, mother of DL Fave Rupert Penry-Jones, starts at minute 9 of episode at R8.

If you like Dame Keith and dream of traveling through the UK you will love...

Penelope Keith's Hidden Villages In this fascinating series, renowned actress Dame Penelope Keith travels through Britain's charming villages to uncover what makes these places so unique and special. Armed with her beloved vintage 'Batsford' travel books, Penelope explores the rich artistic, literary and royal histories of each region, discovers how time has changed village communities, and seeks out quirky local traditions which continue to this day.

Available from amazon prime and AcornTV

Dame is followed by the first name, not the surname.

R32 "Angela Thorne, mother of DL Fave Rupert Penry-Jones..."

Three names always inspires confidence in a person.

R25 = nasty cunt.

[post redacted because linking to dailymail.co.uk clearly indicates that the poster is either a troll or an idiot (probably both, honestly.) Our advice is that you just ignore this poster but whatever you do, don't click on any link to this putrid rag.]

Is Felicity playing Reno or Hope?

R38

Neither, Elisha Whitney... Ms. Kendal cannot sing very well apparently which does put a limit on things.

Stage debut? Hardly.

Meant stage debut in "Anything Goes", obviously not in general.

Is that her top lip or her top gum?

R39, isn't Elisha Whitney a male character? Is this a NT casting gimmick again?

She's playing the role Kelly Bishop (and then Jessica Walter) played in the last Broadway revival.

I saw Kendal on stage 35 years ago. She's no debutante.

Probably the ultimate Margo scene.

Absolutely love Penelope Keith!

R44 Jessica Walter first then Kelly Bishop

R37 - The Daily Mail has elevated trolling in the media to Nancy Pelosi trolling levels. And Nancy is the best at trolling.

It's always odd to me when celebs decided to "fix" something about themselves long after they've become successful. Examples include Cher's nose, Britney Spears' nose, Ronnie Spector's tits...

I'll have to find The Norman Conquests again. All six of the actors are brilliant

Penelope is the best

I actually liked Good Neighbors, but she was the best part of it. My PBS station used to play it around 10:00 and it was a good show to unwind to before going to bed.

For years the PBS station used to play a ton of the British sitcoms, esp. Good Neighbors, Are You Being Served, and Keeping Up Appearances (and occasionally Manor Born), but they seemed to have move completely away from that. Now they just seem to want to show about twenty different mystery series.

One of my favorite lines of hers in To The Manor Born, to Margery, was "Common it may be, knowledge it is not."

R33 - I was just going to mention that series until I saw your post.

She's enjoyable to watch in those episodes.

Pretty big tits.

"Weak and feeble am I?"

I haven't read the posts but I need to reply to OP. Yes, Penelope is great; thank you for giving her the attention she deserves.

It's available on BroadwayHD/Amazon Prime, r51. Now excuse me, I'm going Round and Round the Garden.

I love watching her going around quaint little English villages with her little Batsford Guide.

R53

One of our local PBS stations (WLIW) also dropped tons of Britcoms and other UK programming. Keeping only "Keeping Up Appearances" and "As Time Goes By". Their stated reasons were that costs of getting broadcast rights had gone up and they just couldn't swing it for all but most watched shows.

As things stand for both WNET and WLIW their constant pledge drives strongly and continuously mention costs of Britcoms and if they don't raise funds....

WLIW used to broadcast Eastenders, but think they gave it up years ago.

r61 With the advent of streaming services, there's competition for the rights to those shows, and streaming services want exclusivity.

Like "To The Manor Born" show "No Job For A Lady" dealt with what was going on in British society at the time.

TTMB addressed the unease felt in certain quarters of British society over wealthy foreigners buying up country houses/estates and other properties. People felt the nation's heritage was being devoured and destroyed by everyone from oily Arabs to shady gits from the Continent.

NJFAL OTOH was about the growing trend of women entering British politics (and or becoming managing directors and other higher end of food chain), and the struggles they faced not only breaking into previously all male territory, but keeping the home fires burning. In short the whole work/home life balance debate that still is raging on for women. Margaret Thatcher left office in 1990 which was same year NJFAL debuted, how much the good lady's life and political career influenced creators and writers of show is up for debate.

Penelope Keith was queen of British television in 1980's and 1990's, so it was natural once long running series TTMB ended she was sloted into another series, but NJFAL didn't quite hit the mark and thus wasn't around long. Happily it is one of the few Britcoms one can see entirely for free on YT.

R61

Tagging on...

Think it was Rebecca Eaton, or someone else high up food chain at PBS who responded to a query as to why they don't show more (or any) of the older British sitcoms or dramas with " we lost broadcast rights years ago and they cost too much now....". This or words to that effect.

R61

Yes, that is correct was going to mention but didn't want to go on and on...

While VCRs were just coming into their own back when many original British television series aired in USA streaming and so forth are another world entirely. Even things that were on YT, Dailymotion or other places for free early on have been taken down , and now sit behind some pay streaming service.

Thankfully stiff have a fully operating VCR and thanks to thrift stores, eBay and other sources can find NOS boxes sets of British television series for very little money. Though lately have been upping my game to include DVD sets as my player can cope with things from UK, Europe or elsewhere in world. Just have to change setting. Don't think they make such things anymore as every DVD player have seen recently can only cope with region it is sold in, and nothing else.

I was lucky enough to see her live on stage in London in all three parts of "The Norman Conquests" and later "Captain Brassbound's Conversion" and "Hobson's Choice." The latter two were revived just for her, and her TV fame meant packed houses.

It's great that she's preserved in "Norman Conquests." Also track down her TV versions of "Private Lives," "Hay Fever," and "Waters of the Moon."

Prunella Scales was quite popular too around that time from "Fawlty Towers". Did she do some other big tv series?

R67

Prunella Scales has tons of television work.

Mapp and Lucia is one American audiences might know as it was broadcast on many PBS stations.

..and a face only Picasso could love.

I love her "I know.... I know!" scene on the phone while Basil keeps getting more and more upset on "Fawlty Towers". So funny!

BBC just doesn't do shows like To The Manor Born, Good Neighbors and so forth anymore. Think 1970's through 1980's with maybe a bit of 1990's was heyday for that sort of thing from British television. Of course some of it isn't their fault with budget cuts, politics and all that....

Penelope Keith was hostess and narrator of a great show called "Funny Ladies of British Comedy".

Sadly entire program isn't on YT it seems, but if one knows what to look for bits can be found.

Show covered herself (Margo), Mollie Sugden (Mrs. Slocombe), Patrica Routelege (Hyacinth Bucket), with perhaps a few others who cannot recall atm. Taped show off local PBS station but would have to hunt for the thing.

Penelope Keith: Lady Of The Manor!

Enjoy!

Part II

R24

Whatever you say, I still think Stephanie Cole is grand.

I can recommend her as narrator of the BBC Radio 4 productions of M. C. Beaton's "Agatha Raisin" novels, produced 2003-2006 I think and now available via streaming, audiobooks, etc.

It's light but clever enough and may appeal to some Data Loungers. Keith's reading makes it.

[quote]WLIW used to broadcast Eastenders, but think they gave it up years ago.

Eastenders is still on, it's on Channel 21 in NYC on Tuesday nights from 10-11PM. Of course, it's years behind the episodes being shown in the UK.

Penelope was in this bizarre 1969 film 'A Touch of Love' with Sandy Dennis and Ian McKellan. She was uncredited as a nurse. IIRC, Sandy's character gets knocked up by Ian's character and thinks abut getting an abortion. I remember the movie being odd, the best things about the film were the London locations and Eleanor Bron as Sandy's characters friend.

I watched the doc that r73 posted. I remember seeing her in The Avengers but not really making the connection. Her comedy series after To The Manor Born (as of 2000) sound dreadful. She was trying to play different characters but they weren’t funny, at least judging by those clips.

What was the British TV show about a woman diplomat in a South American country?I thought it stared Penelope Keith. There was another well known British actress in it in a supporting part, and a chauffeur/handyman who was always worrying about his mustache.

Oh, I know!

Love Penelope Keith. I still kick myself that I was living in London when she was playing Lady Bracknell and I never got around to seeing her. My friend did and said she was wonderful.

Remember watching The Good Life on reruns during the early 00s. That Wind-Break War episode was very good, and I always remember after they all spend the latter half of the episode drunk, I felt like I had been drinking too. And funnily enough, a friend rang me at that moment and said: "God, I was just watching this British comedy with these people all acting drunk and now I feel like I've been drinking too".

Keith was in another show I remember from when I was a kid. It was a comedy, but really dark too. She and her husband were living up their retirement when one day their son and his wife are killed in a car accident and they end up having to look after the kids. What was so dark was that they very honestly spoke about how they really didn't like their son and daughter-in-law, and had no real desire to look after their grandkids. It was called Next of Kin.

R18, those Talking Heads episodes are amazing. That one with Stephanie Cole is devastating, and she plays it so well. There's that moment at the end where she says something like: "I sometimes wonder if I killed my husband, all those death-dealing breakfasts" and her face goes into a kind of smirk, then into furious anger, then back into stiff upper lip territory in the space of only a couple of seconds. She said so much in such a short time.

My favourite though is A Lady of Letters with Patricia Routledge playing a nosy busybody who writes off letters to complain about every little thing. The moment she finds out what happened over the road is brilliant and brings tears to my eyes, and it has a great ending.

Seriously, anyone who's interested, watch it, it's a great performance.

R82

Those "talking heads" monologues are brilliant. I've almost been brought to tears by end of a few.

Soldiering On starring Stephanie Cole by end had me weeping. That once wealthy widow reduced to penury by her own son living in some nasty bedsit after losing her home and everything in it (again thanks to that bastard son). Worse the son and daughter don't come to visit nor allow the "grans" to either because grandmother now lives in an undesirable area. Her friends abandon her as well, so she's just alone either watching telly or listening to tapes on a Walkman she gets from library. Talk about being busted down the ranks.

Patricia Routledge did a few Talking Heads monologues, saddest of which is "A Woman Of No Importance". She plays a slightly tetchy woman who genuinely believes she's the center of life at her job. We find out in bits that things are really the opposite, most of her co-workers can't stand the woman. She's so wrapped up in other people's affairs fails to pick-up on subtle clues at doctor's office and elsewhere that she is gravely ill. Even when lying in hospital dying of mortal illness (bowel cancer) right to the end she's still a bossy boots and busy body.

That one's fantastic too, I agree R84. I always recommend them to friends of mine who want to write, because they are excellent studies in brilliant writing. The way the characters tell us the truth while thinking we are believing the version they are telling is so clever. The one with Julie Walters (and recently Jodie Comer) as the naive actress is also really good. "Soldiering On" is very hard to watch, and so worthwhile too, if you get me. "I wouldn't want you to think this was a tragic story. I'm not a tragic woman. Not the type."

Also:

She said: 'You don't understand. How can you understand, you. You're not normal.' I said: 'I'm going to bed.' In a bit she comes shouting outside the door: 'You think you've got it over me, Graham Whittaker. You haven't. I've got it over you.' I said: 'Go to bed.' She said: 'I know the kind of magazines you read.' I said: 'Chess. You'll catch cold.' She said: 'They never are chess. Chess with no clothes on. Chess in their birthday suits, that kind of chess. Chess [italic]men[/italic].'

These slices of other peoples lives are so well drawn.

Dame Penelope to you!

She was perfect as Margot. There again everything she did was a variation on that character. She had a lengthy career on a bit of a one note.

Stephanie Cole was great in Tenko.

Tenko is one of my favourite shows. Loved it. The characters were fantastic.

ALL of The Good Life/Neighbors episodes are posted on youtube. There are LOTS of old britcoms posted on youtube. Penelope Keith was ESPECIALLY good as Audrey Fforbes Hamiltion- I didn't seem like watching an actress play a character she WAS the character.

R88

Richard Briers (Tom Good on "The Good Life/Good Neighbors) speaks about this in one of clips linked above.

He basically says that because of Ms. Keith's height, demeanor, manner, along with acting skills she is cast in certain roles because others simply won't do. Penelope Keith can't be a maid or someone in the background because of her presence, she's got to be cast as some sort of authoritative figure or something.

Penelope Keith had another short lived television series "Law and Disorder"

"A no-nonsense barrister continually but not continuously corrects the grammar and behaviour of others, whilst skating close to the edge of moral practise herself in order to win her cases."

The reason I signed up for Audible when I could barely afford it was to buy Penelope Keith in the radio adaptations of Agatha Raisin - a brilliant adaptation, taking what makes the books great and amplifying it - and later on her book narrations. Love her.

I loved Margo Leadbetter's wardrobe in The Good Life. From caftans and earrings to tweed skirts and boots it was the 1970s done right.

Penelope Keith was in a series called Sweet Sixteen which I saw maybe once when I was a kid. She played a 40 year old building company owner who had an affair with a 24 year old employee played by Christopher Villiers and accidentally got pregnant.

My mother really liked it, haha.

I only discovered it a couple of years ago, R82, but I thought "Next of Kin" was very well done. It let both Dame Penelope and William Gaunt (only really knew him from "The Champions") play both comedy and some touching-but-not-saccharine family drama.

r67 and r68, sadly, Prunella Scales has advanced Alzheimer's. Her son, Samuel West, has the role of Sigfried Farnon in the new production of All Creatures Great and Small.

Christ, she’s still alive. I just had a Google. She was old when I first saw her, in “To the Manor Born,” 40 years ago. Imagine being old for four decades.

Tenko! That was an amazing production. Those women really looked like they were in a POW camp.

The last episode, or maybe it was a reunion special, shows them after the camp was liberated. One character, cleaned up, sitting in the garden, reunited with her husband. The servant serves tea and she instinctively grabs all the bread and starts stuffing it into her mouth.

r37 Felicity Kendal's lips resemble a vagina now.

[quote] Royal Shakespeare Company alumni

Oh dear.

Typical slug OP.

She has a favorite actress but has never bothered to Google her once. And then the cow posts a thread here proudly proclaiming the fact.

Thanks so much.

I can add from personal experience that the delightful and kind Dame Keith, who is one of the great leaders in philanthropy in England, has a set of teeth that proudly displays, in traditional English fashion, the results of every cup of tea and coffee she has ever enjoyed. We were neighbors in Milford for several years in the early 2000s.

I first discovered Penelope Keith in The Norman Conquests -and I was totally convinced she was a man in drag, or possibly a transgender person. She was so tall, and her movement in those plays was so awkward and ungainly. (Yes, I now know that she is a great actress who alters her physicality to the role.)

Margot Ledbetter had some gorgeous outfits.

R98, yes that was a great moment, and the way her husband looks at her when she does it too. It wasn't the reunion, but during series 3 which was devoted to the women adjusting to life outside the camp. Also, her first night out in a proper bed, and when you see her the next morning, she's sleeping on the hard floor of the hotel room, the only way she could get to sleep. I was only sorry that Louise Jameson was already contracted elsewhere and couldn't come back as Blanche for series 3 - I have a feeling they really intended her too, and that's why they created Maggie, to basically take all of Blanche's storylines.

[quote] Dame Keith

Oh, dear.

Oh shit! Manners.

Daphne Manners is another topic entirely