Later in the 1990s, at the age of 66, she played a pensioner-turned-detective, Hetty Wainthropp, in a six-part BBC TV crime series.
Routledge made her stage debut in Liverpool in 1952 and appeared in the West End for the first time in 1954. She went on to establish herself as a major character actress, becoming known as “the female Stan Laurel”.
Up to the 1970s she was as well known on Broadway as in the UK. She went on to win a Tony award in 1968 for her role in Darling of the Day and, two decades later, won an Olivier for her part in the musical Candide.
Patricia Routledge in a scene from Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.Credit: Publicity
But extensive TV work in Britain from the 1950s saw her carve out memorable roles as Victoria Regina for Granada in 1964 and as Kitty in Victoria Wood: As Seen on TV in the mid-1980s.
She won a permanent place in the nation’s affections as Hyacinth Bucket, who insisted her last name was pronounced “bouquet”. In 1996, a year after the show ended, she was named Britain’s all-time favourite actress.
Dame Patricia was awarded an OBE in 1993, a CBE in 2004, and was made a dame in the 2017 New Year Honours.
Speaking in 2017, she said she had no favoured role from her long career on the stage, adding: “I don’t do beloved roles, I’ve just had a wonderfully interesting time with so many roles.”
Dame Patricia never married and had no children.
She once 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.”
