Actress Penelope Keith may be best know for playing posh characters but yesterday she officially became a titled woman – a dame commander.
Dame Penelope received the honour from the Queen for an acting career spanning more than 50 years that has featured memorable roles in classic sitcoms like To The Manor Born and The Good Life.
The award also recognised her work as president of the Actors’ Benevolent Fund and her role in helping to establish and then develop the National Memorial Arboretum.
The actress played down her achievements after the Windsor Castle investiture ceremony. She joked: “It’s marvellous recognition for keeping at it for as long as I have.”
She added: “I’m so proud of the fact it’s not only for my work. It’s for the charities with which I’m associated. They’re so pleased because it’s recognition of their work too.”
Keith developed an interest in acting while at boarding school and went on to study at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, before moving into repertory theatre.
She joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in her early 20s and went on to have minor TV roles in shows such as The Avengers and Dixon of Dock Green.
But it was in the 1970s that she became a familiar face on TV, as the snobby Margot Leadbetter in The Good Life, the suburban neighbour of a couple who had opted for a back-to-basics existence.
Keith capitalised with another upper-crust character, Lady Audrey fforbes-Hamilton, in To The Manor Born.
Veteran actor Michael Crawford was made a CBE in recognition of his efforts supporting a range of good causes and charities.
It was his role as the hapless Frank Spencer in 1970s sitcom, Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em, that made him a household name, but he has continued to appear in a string of successful musical productions.
His talent on the stage earned him an Olivier Award for Barnum and set the scene for his long-running role in The Phantom of the Opera.
He is president of the Sick Children’s Trust and is patron of the Lighthouse Foundation, an Australian organisation that supports homeless young people.