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Dame Penelope Anne Constance Keith, DBE, DL (née Hatfield; born 2 April 1940) is an English actress, known for her roles in the British sitcoms ''The Good Life'' and ''To the Manor Born''. She succeeded Lord Olivier as president of the Actors' Benevolent Fund after his death in 1989, and was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to the arts and to charity. Keith joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963, and went on to win the 1976 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for the play ''Donkeys' Years''. She became a household name in the UK playing Margo Leadbetter in the sitcom ''The Good Life'' (1975–78), winning the 1977 BAFTA TV Award for Best Light Entertainment Performance. In 1978, she won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actress for ''The Norman Conquests''. She then starred as Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in the sitcom ''To the Manor Born'' (1979–81), a show that received audiences of more than 20 million. She went on to star in another six sitcoms, including ''Executive Stress'' (1986–88), ''No Job for a Lady'' (1990–92) and ''Next of Kin'' (1995–97). Since 2000, she has worked mainly in the theatre, with her roles including Madam Arcati in ''Blithe Spirit'' (2004) and Lady Bracknell in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' (2007). ==Early life== Keith was born in Sutton in 1940. Her father, who was a Major by the end of World War II, left her mother Connie when she was a baby, and Keith spent her early years in Clacton-on-Sea and Clapham. Her great uncle, John Gurney Nutting, was a partner in the coachbuilding firm J Gurney Nutting & Co Limited and Keith recalls sitting in the Prince of Wales's car. 〔BBC Four – (Penelope Keith and the Fast Lady ), 19 February 2009〕 Although not a Roman Catholic, at the age of six she was sent to a Catholic boarding school in Seaford.〔 It was here that a young Keith first became interested in acting,〔 and frequently went to matinees in the West End with her mother. When she was eight years old, her mother remarried and Penelope adopted her stepfather's surname of Keith. While she did not get on with her stepfather, her mother was a "rock of love" to her. She was rejected from the Central School of Speech and Drama, on the grounds that, at 5'10", she was too tall. However, she was then accepted at the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, and spent two years there while working at the Hyde Park Hotel in the evening. She began her career working in repertory theatre across the UK, including Lincoln, Manchester and Salisbury. Keith's earliest appearances were in ''The Tunnel of Love'', ''Gigi'' and ''Flowering Cherry''. In 1963, she joined the Royal Shakespeare Company both in Stratford and at the Aldwych Theatre in London.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Penelope Keith」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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