At the height of her fame as a suburban snob in 1970s sitcom The Good Life, actress Penelope Keith claimed everyone who met her wanted to know three things: how old was she, why wasn't she married, and was she 'a prize bitch'?
When chat-show host Michael Parkinson put exactly those questions to her, Miss Keith's 1,000-watt smile didn't flicker.
She was perpetually 21, she said. She'd never had time to marry. And she was only 'a prize bitch' on Mondays.
That blend of impish humour and stout good sense shone through all the TV characters she portrayed.
Keith, whose death aged 86 from cancer was announced yesterday, seemed so unshakably decent and practical that, even when she was playing the most appalling dragons, audiences would forgive her anything.
