Dame Penelope Keith obituary: The Good Life's funny and formidable star - Published Dame Penelope Keith was one of Britain's best-loved comedy actresses thanks to her inimitable portrayal of Margo Leadbetter in 1970s sitcom The Good Life, among other roles. As Margo, the formidable social-climbing snob with a cut-glass voice but a soft interior, Keith ensured her place in the nation's hearts. And her transition to her next comedy hit To the Manor Born, playing true-blue aristocrat Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, felt seamless.

Keith starred in several other sitcoms before later fronting shows about her passion for the British countryside. Over a career that began in the late 1950s, Keith also remained devoted to her theatre roots, performing up and down the UK. For her contribution to entertainment and charity, Keith was rewarded with TV Baftas, an Olivier, an OBE, a CBE and ultimately a damehood in 2014 - not forgetting the rose named in her honour.

In an interview with the Daily Mail,, external she summed up her love of making people smile. "Humour is power and a force for good because if you can laugh, particularly at yourself, you are some way to being able to make sense of things," she said. While Keith's voice contributed to her success, it also gave a false impression of her background.

Keith (nee Hatfield) was from relatively humble stock. Born in Sutton, Surrey, in 1940, she grew up in Clapham, south London, in the thick of World War Two. Her mother Connie worked as a hotel child entertainment organiser and was often away, so the young Penelope spent a lot of time with her grandparents.

Her father had left when she was very young and Connie later remarried, but although she took his surname, Keith wouldn't talk about him. Aged six, she went to a boarding school run by nuns, where the performing arts and elocution lessons were encouraged. It became the happiest of times for the would-be actress.

"I apparently came home from school one day and sat in the bath and said to my mother that when I grow older I was going to be either a nun or an actress," she told chat show host Michael Parkinson in 1977. "She was a bit taken aback and said, 'Darling, nuns can't wear pretty clothes'. So I said, 'Well, I'll be an actress then.'" But out in the "real" world, the 5'10" stature that had landed her lead roles at school became an issue.

Top drama school Rada rejected her for being too tall, and although she found a place at the Webber-Douglas acting school, tutors made clear her perceived limitations. "I was very tall and very plain; I think this is where the comedy came from because I wasn't going to get very far on my looks. So I thought I'd better be the 'gag girl'," she told Parkinson.

Jobs in repertory theatre and with the Royal Shakespeare Company followed, with her height again leading to mainly supporting roles. But in retrospect, Keith said, it was a great way to learn. "It meant I had a good bash at all the character parts from 19 to 90, so one broadened one's range," she recalled in the 2000 TV tribute Lady of the Manor., external Roles in radio plays and popular TV shows such as The Avengers came her way before she was "spotted" in Thames TV's Hadley.