Penelope Keith Penelope Keith OBE (born Penelope Anne Constance Hatfield on 2 April 1940 in Sutton) is a British actress of stage and screen. She is best-known for her appearances in the BBC television situation comedies To the Manor Born and The Good Life. The latter was known in the USA as Good Neighbors). Her characters are usually likeable, very tall (she stands 5'10") but pompous and slightly ridiculous upper-class ladies, as in the above-referenced TV series.
She has won two BAFTA TV awards: Best Comedy Performer for The Good Life in 1977 and Best Actress the following year for The Norman Conquests. She is a ubiquitous presence on UK TV and Radio advertisements including Pimm's, Lurpack butter, Tesco and most famously, The Parker Pen Company (which was named one of the 100 Greatest Adverts in a Channel 4 countdown).
She has been President of the Actors' Benevolent Fund since 1990. In 2000, it was announced that she would be the next High Sheriff of Surrey, and began serving her term in 2002 (she was only the third woman to hold the post).
She married policeman Rodney Timson in 1978, and they have two adopted sons.
Some sources indicate 1930 as year of birth.
