Biography
Born Katherine Patricia Routledge on 17 February 1929 in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England, she initially trained for a teaching profession yet revealed an instinctive gift for the stage and pursued vocal instruction. After earning her degree at Liverpool University she postponed professional decisions by taking an unpaid post as assistant stage manager at Liverpool Playhouse. Her first appearance on its boards came in 1952 with Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream; she then entered the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol and reached the West End in 1954 with The Duenna. Subsequent London engagements encompassed the 1957 musical Zuleika and her assumption of the leading part in Little Mary Sunshine five years later. Screen work included To Sir With Love in 1967 and The Bliss Of Mrs Blossom the year after. Early television roles featured Coronation Street in 1961 and Victoria Regina in 1964; she later became a fixture on Victoria Wood As Seen On TV from 1983 to 1985 before securing lead parts in the long-running Keeping Up Appearances, beginning in 1990 as the indelible Hyacinth Bucket, and the comedy-drama Hetty Wainthropp Investigates, which started in 1996. Standalone plays comprised Alan Bennett’s A Woman Of No Importance in 1982 and A Lady Of Letters in 1988. Radio assignments embraced works by Noël Coward, Anton Chekov and Carol Hayman, while she also narrated recorded books.
Her Broadway bow arrived in Jule Styne and E.Y ‘Yip’ Harburg’s Darling Of The Day in 1968; although the production enjoyed little acclaim, she captured the Tony Award for Best Actress In A Musical. Further American ventures proved equally ill-fated, among them Alan Jay Lerner and Leonard Bernstein’s 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976 and Say Hello To Harvey in 1981, yet she joined the well-received Central Park mounting of The Pirates Of Penzance in 1980. Bernstein wrote her numbers in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, ‘Take Care Of This House’ and ‘Duet For One’, expressly for Routledge after listening to her voice. Back in Britain she appeared in a Scottish Opera staging of Bernstein and John Latouche’s Candide in 1989, earning a Laurence Olivier Award, followed by the National Theatre’s Carousel in 1992, Sheridan’s The Rivals in 1994, and, in the early 2000s, both The Solid Gold Cadillac and Beatrix, the solo portrait of Beatrix Potter. Recognitions bestowed upon her include an honorary degree from Liverpool University, the Order of the British Empire in the 1993 Queen’s Honours List, and appointment as Commander of the British Empire in 2004.
Her Broadway bow arrived in Jule Styne and E.Y ‘Yip’ Harburg’s Darling Of The Day in 1968; although the production enjoyed little acclaim, she captured the Tony Award for Best Actress In A Musical. Further American ventures proved equally ill-fated, among them Alan Jay Lerner and Leonard Bernstein’s 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in 1976 and Say Hello To Harvey in 1981, yet she joined the well-received Central Park mounting of The Pirates Of Penzance in 1980. Bernstein wrote her numbers in 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, ‘Take Care Of This House’ and ‘Duet For One’, expressly for Routledge after listening to her voice. Back in Britain she appeared in a Scottish Opera staging of Bernstein and John Latouche’s Candide in 1989, earning a Laurence Olivier Award, followed by the National Theatre’s Carousel in 1992, Sheridan’s The Rivals in 1994, and, in the early 2000s, both The Solid Gold Cadillac and Beatrix, the solo portrait of Beatrix Potter. Recognitions bestowed upon her include an honorary degree from Liverpool University, the Order of the British Empire in the 1993 Queen’s Honours List, and appointment as Commander of the British Empire in 2004.