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Dame Pat Routledge, who has died at the years of 96, etched her presence on the national consciousness as the snobby Hyacinth Bouquet.

Declaring it was "pronounced Bouquet," Hyacinth ran roughshod over her patient husband and confused neighbours in Keeping Up Appearances, among Britain's best-loved sitcoms in the 1990s.

Acting like a duchess while living in a suburb, Hyacinth's over-the-top status-seeking plans were ultimately destined to failure—while she battled to keep her composure.

It was Dame Routledge's best-known part in a professional life that included her win stage honors on each side of the Atlantic, become the lead of Alan Bennett's famous 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 dad was a haberdasher and she remembered sheltering from enemy bombs in the basement of his shop during the Second World War.

She studied literature at nearby Liverpool University and intended to become a teacher. Rather, she joined the local theatre prior to studying at the Bristol Old Vic.

Her successful acting journey took her from the regions to the London theatre district, and finally to New York, where Leonard Bernstein selected her to star in his stage production 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976.

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

She could transition effortlessly from comedies to classics.

She went from Stratford-upon-Avon, performing with the Royal Shakespeare Company and then to the London's national stage in the capital.

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

She also took various supporting movie parts, especially 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 work proved her range and won her awards, but it was the small screen that gave Routledge with her most high profile characters.

TV Breakthrough and Iconic Roles

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

Subsequently, among Britain's most respected writers, the dramatist, wrote a series of outstanding Talking Heads TV solos for her.

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

She went onto portray a lonely, mid-life shop clerk drawn into a affair with a kinky foot doctor 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 Bucket.

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

"I opened the pages for a moment at one o'clock in the morning," she said, "I went straight through and Hyacinth leapt off the script. I knew that woman, I'd met several of that type."

Keeping Up Appearances ran for five seasons and included several Christmas episodes.

In a documentary, she stated that fans had numbered the royal family and the pontiff.

It turned into the broadcaster's most exported programme ever and meant Routledge was recognised as distant as Africa.

For her performance on the comedy, she was voted Britain's all-time best-loved actress in 1996, but after five years in the role, she felt it was time for a new direction.

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

She thought that the writer was beginning to repeat ideas and mentioned a piece of advice from the comedian, the comic.

"He always left with people saying, ‘Oh, aren’t you doing any more?’ she recalled, instead of people remarking, ‘Is that still on?’"

Subsequent Work and Private Reflections

Playing the homely but astute detective in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates gave her ongoing success on television, but she consistently referred to the stage as "the real challenge."

Years after she ceased acting regularly on screen, Routledge undertook theatre tours equally in the UK and overseas.

Whenever interviewers posed the inevitable inquiry, she requested them to spell out the word retirement since, she clarified: "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 experienced guilt and an sharp sense that there had to be pain," she confessed. "I guess I persuaded myself that it was all right for the moment because his marriage was not a living relationship."

In place of family, she dedicated herself to her art, honoring it with the talent, discipline and devotion that were consistently respected by her peers.

She was critical about the BBC's decision in 2016 to revive Keeping Up Appearances, but this time set in the 1950s and starring a more youthful incarnation of her role.

Challenging the Corporation's policy of resurrecting classic sitcoms she said, "For what reason are they attempting this kind of thing, they must be out of ideas."

She had previously disagreed with the BBC over its decision to not commission a film she had authored about the author the children's author (Routledge was a Patron of the literary group), which finally broadcast on another network.

Upon reaching 90, she persisted to live quietly in the city, where she busied herself collecting money for the church roof.

In 2017, she was appointed a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire but—in contrast to Hyacinth—honors never go to her head.

Lady Patricia often stated she thanked her Northern upbringing and stable family for giving her good sense with her time and her finances.

Even so, she admitted that, if any additional money arrive, she'd certainly spend it on "several bottles of sparkling wine"—an appreciation of the better things in life that she had in common with her most famous creation.

"I never was theatre-obsessed," she said. "I am not stage-struck today. No one is as amazed than I am that I have, actually, spent my life doing this."