Dame Penelope Keith dies aged 86: Actress best known for The Good Life and To The Manor Born passes away 'peacefully' after battle with cancer

By MARK DUELL, DEPUTY CHIEF REPORTER (DIGITAL) Published: 11:13, 29 June 2026 | Updated: 11:28, 29 June 2026 Actress Dame Penelope Keith, best known for sitcoms The Good Life and To The Manor Born, has died aged 86, her family said today. She was best known for her roles as snobbish suburbanite Margo Leadbetter in The Good Life, which launched in 1975, and the widowed aristocrat Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To The Manor Born, which first aired in 1979. A statement issued this morning on behalf of her family said: 'We are deeply saddened to announce that Dame Penelope Keith died peacefully whilst living with cancer at her home in Surrey where she had lived for more than 50 years. 'The family is grateful for the care and support she received throughout her treatments, and ask that their privacy be respected at this time.' Actress Dame Penelope Keith, who lived in Surrey, is pictured in a photoshoot in April 2017 Dame Penelope Keith with her husband Rodney Timson at a theatre awards event in 2005 Dame Penelope Keith with Peter Bowles in the BBC's To The Manor Born, which aired from 1979 (From left) Felicity Kendal, Richard Briers, Penelope Keith and Paul Eddington in The Good Life Penelope Keith is made a Dame by Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on March 7, 2014 Dame Penelope Keith attends the Wimbledon Championships in London on July 10, 2021 The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.