{"id":31214,"date":"2025-10-03T15:12:12","date_gmt":"2025-10-03T20:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/?p=31214"},"modified":"2025-10-03T15:12:12","modified_gmt":"2025-10-03T20:12:12","slug":"obit-watch-october-3-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/?p=31214","title":{"rendered":"Obit watch: October 3, 2025."},"content":{"rendered":"

Patricia Routledge<\/a>, noted British actress. She was 96.<\/p>\n

…from the beginning she was a stage performer, and an acclaimed one.<\/a>
\nMs. Routledge won a Tony for her 1968 Broadway appearance in the musical \u201cDarling of the Day\u201d (a tie with Leslie Uggams, for \u201cHallelujah, Baby!\u201d) and its British equivalent, the Laurence Olivier Award, as the Old Lady in a 1988 production of \u201cCandide\u201d at the Old Vic.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…<\/p>\n

Many of Ms. Routledge\u2019s biggest fans, from \u201cAppearances\u201d and from \u201cHetty Wainthropp Investigates,\u201d the detective series she starred in afterward (1996-98), may never have even known about her time with the Royal Shakespeare Company or her stage roles on the West End.<\/a>
\nShe was the temperamental character actress Dotty Otley and a harried housekeeper in the farce \u201cNoises Off\u201d (1982), the imperious Lady Bracknell in \u201cThe Importance of Being Earnest\u201d (1999), the title character in \u201cLittle Mary Sunshine\u201d (1962), Madame Ranevskaya in \u201cThe Cherry Orchard\u201d (1975), Queen Margaret in \u201cRichard III\u201d (1984), the confused Mrs. Malaprop in \u201cThe Rivals\u201d (1976), the earthy Nettie Fowler in \u201cCarousel\u201d (1992) and a religious fanatic in \u201cAnd a Nightingale Sang\u201d (1979).<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…<\/p>\n

Other American stage appearances included the 1980 Shakespeare in the Park production of \u201cThe Pirates of Penzance,\u201d with Kevin Kline, as Ruth the pirate maid; and the London comedy \u201cHow\u2019s the World Treating You?\u201d (her Broadway debut, in 1966), as a frumpy 1940s mom.None of her Broadway shows had long runs. In 1968, \u201cLove Match\u201d (her second time portraying Queen Victoria) never opened, because of a disappointing Los Angeles run.<\/a>
\nHer most notable flop was the Broadway production of Leonard Bernstein\u2019s \u201c1600 Pennsylvania Avenue,\u201d in which she played a series of American first ladies. It opened on May 4, 1976, and closed on May 8. She looked back on the experience as a composer-lyricist mismatch, telling the London newspaper The Telegraph in 2007, \u201cI think Alan Jay Lerner was frightened of Lenny.\u201d<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

…<\/p>\n

She appeared in a handful of feature films, including \u201cTo Sir, With Love\u201d (1967) and \u201cIf It\u2019s Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium\u201d (1969). Her last screen appearance was in 2001 in the British television movie \u201cAnybody\u2019s Nightmare,\u201d a true-crime drama about a teacher in her 60s wrongly imprisoned for murder.<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

IMDB<\/a>.<\/p>\n

She was best known as “Hyacinth Bucket” (pronounced by the character “Bouquet”) on “Keeping Up Appearances”, a show (and a character) beloved by many people in my family.<\/p>\n

One of those family members sent me this, which I rather like:<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be turning 95 this coming Monday. In my younger years, I was often filled with worry \u2014 worry that I wasn\u2019t quite good enough, that no one would cast me again, that I wouldn\u2019t live up to my mother\u2019s hopes. But these days begin in peace, and end in gratitude.<\/a>
\nMy life didn\u2019t quite take shape until my forties. I had worked steadily \u2014 on provincial stages, in radio plays, in West End productions \u2014 but I often felt adrift, as though I was searching for a home within myself that I hadn\u2019t quite found.<\/a>
\nAt 50, I accepted a television role that many would later associate me with \u2014 Hyacinth Bucket, of Keeping Up Appearances. I thought it would be a small part in a little series. I never imagined that it would take me into people\u2019s living rooms and hearts around the world. And truthfully, that role taught me to accept my own quirks. It healed something in me.<\/a>
\nAt 60, I began learning Italian \u2014 not for work, but so I could sing opera in its native language. I also learned how to live alone without feeling lonely. I read poetry aloud each evening, not to perfect my diction, but to quiet my soul.<\/a>
\nAt 70, I returned to the Shakespearean stage \u2014 something I once believed I had aged out of. But this time, I had nothing to prove. I stood on those boards with stillness, and audiences felt that. I was no longer performing. I was simply being.<\/a>
\nAt 80, I took up watercolor painting. I painted flowers from my garden, old hats from my youth, and faces I remembered from the London Underground. Each painting was a quiet memory made visible.<\/a>
\nNow, at 95, I write letters by hand. I\u2019m learning to bake rye bread. I still breathe deeply every morning. I still adore laughter \u2014 though I no longer try to make anyone laugh. I love the quiet more than ever.<\/a>
\nI\u2019m writing this to tell you something simple:<\/a>
\nGrowing older is not the closing act. It can be the most exquisite chapter \u2014 if you let yourself bloom again.<\/a>
\nLet these years ahead be your *treasure years*.<\/a>
\nYou don\u2019t need to be famous. You don\u2019t need to be flawless.<\/a>
\nYou only need to show up \u2014 fully \u2014 for the life that is still yours.<\/a>
\nWith love and gentleness,<\/a>
\n\u2014 Patricia Routledge<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Patricia Routledge, noted British actress. She was 96. …from the beginning she was a stage performer, and an acclaimed one. Ms. Routledge won a Tony for her 1968 Broadway appearance in the musical \u201cDarling of the Day\u201d (a tie with Leslie Uggams, for \u201cHallelujah, Baby!\u201d) and its British equivalent, the Laurence Olivier Award, as the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,49,29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-obits","category-theatre","category-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31214"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31214\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31215,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31214\/revisions\/31215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sportsfirings.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}