The comedy series “Keeping Up Appearances,” which aired from 1990 to 1995, remains one of the BBC’s most popular television series both at home and abroad. A 2016 report found that broadcast rights for the series, created by Roy Clarke (“Last of the Summer Wine”), had been sold overseas more than 900 times, surpassing interest in such marquee programs as “Sherlock” and “Top Gear.”
The reason for this gentle comedy’s enduring acclaim? According to Clarke, it’s the characters, led by Patricia Routledge’s Hyacinth Bucket — pronounced “Bouquet” — whose relentless need for acceptance among the social elite exasperates everyone around her, including husband Richard (Clive Swift), sisters Daisy (Judy Cornwell) and Rose (Shirley Stelfox and Mary Millar), and neighbor Elizabeth Warden (Josephine Tewson). “Everyone knows a Hyacinth,” said Clarke to The Telegraph (via NME).
The enduring popularity of “Keeping Up Appearances” has led to a small cottage industry devoted to the program, including a slew of specials. Some of these were hosted by Geoffrey Hughes as Onslow, Rose’s good-natured slacker husband, as well as a stage adaptation, several books, and a hugely popular prequel, “Young Hyacinth,” which aired in 2015. Many of the original cast members remain active in other programs, though others, like Routledge, have curtailed their careers. Still others have died since the final episode of “Keeping Up Appearances.” Following is a spoiler-heavy list of “Keeping Up Appearances” actors you may not know passed away.
Clive Swift played Hyacinth’s patient husband Richard
Arguably one of the most tolerant television husbands in history, Richard Bucket was Hyacinth’s husband who was an unwilling accomplice in many of her social-climbing scenes. A mild-mannered man with a love for reading, Richard enjoyed his public servant job –- mainly because it kept him away from Hyacinth -– until Season 3, when he was forced into early retirement. Richard spent much of his time on the series responding wearily to Hyacinth’s latest plan or doing his utmost to remain far afield of them.
Clive Swift rose to fame in the 1990s as Richard on “Keeping Up Appearances” after several decades as a stage, film, and television actor. Roles with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s were followed by feature films like Peter Hall’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” with Helen Mirren and Judi Dench as well as the 1981 film “Excalibur.” He also made appearances on TV shows like “Doctor Who” and “Inspector Morse.” When “Keeping Up Appearances” ran its course in 1995, Swift continued to work on television, including a return to “Doctor Who” and episodes of “Hustle” and “Midsomer Murders.” Married to novelist Margaret Drabble from 1960 to 1975, Swift died shortly before his 83rd birthday on February 1, 2019.
Geoffrey Hughes lent charm to lazy Onslow
The embodiment of “lovable slob,” Onslow –- whose last name was never given -– was Daisy’s work-adverse, manners-free husband and the source of considerable agita for Hyacinth. Onslow spent his days smoking, drinking beer, and betting on horses, which did not meet her vision of acceptable social behavior. However, he was also a good friend to Richard, a kind husband (if not terrible affectionate) to Daisy, and more than tolerant of Hyacinth’s behavior.
Geoffrey Hughes, who played Onslow throughout the entire five-season run of “Keeping Up Appearances,” began his career on stage and appearing in episodic TV, with stints on “The Saint” and “Z Cars” in the 1960s and 1970s. During this period, he also provided the voice of Paul McCartney in the Beatles’ animated film “Yellow Submarine” and appeared in the cult folk horror film “The Blood on Satan’s Claw.”
Though “Keeping Up Appearances” was his best-known TV project, he also had a long run as trash collector Eddie Yeats on “Coronation Street” and recurring roles as the larcenous Twiggy on “The Royle Family” and Uncle Keith on “Skins.” He also voiced a talking dog on the surreal “I, Lovett,” starring Norman Lovett of “Red Dwarf” (who showed up in the “Keeping Up Appearances” episode “The Charity Shop”).
Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1996, Hughes believed he was in remission, but a collapse in his home in 2010 revealed that the disease had returned. He died on July 27, 2012, at the age of 68.
Mary Millar was the second Rose
Musical theater star Mary Millar joined the cast of “Keeping Up Appearances” in its second season to play Rose, the youngest of the Walton sisters. Rose’s misadventures with various boyfriends put a serious crimp in Hyacinth’s attempts to fit in with what she understood as high society. Hyacinth actually takes pains to make sure that her neighbors never know that Rose is her sister, though she also cares for Rose in her own way. Rose can be exasperating, especially when she is agitated or depressed, but she meant well.
Millar, who replaced Shirley Stelfox as Rose, had been in many West End musical productions before her long run on “Keeping Up Appearances.” She was Julie Andrews’ understudy in the original production of “Camelot” and starred as Madame Giry in “The Phantom of the Opera” during its tenure in London. “Keeping Up Appearances” was perhaps her most memorable TV role, though she performed in several variety series and musical productions on TV. When “Keeping Up Appearances” ran its course, she returned to theater to star as Mrs. Potts in the stage version of “Beauty and the Beast.” A diagnosis of ovarian cancer in 1998 forced her to drop out of the show, and Millar died of the disease on November 10 of that year.
Shirley Stelfox stepped down as Rose after Season 1
Though Mary Millar logged the longest run as Rose on “Keeping Up Appearances,” actress Shirley Stelfox was the first to play the character in Season 1 of the series but departed soon after due to scheduling conflicts. A frequent performer on TV soaps like “Emmerdale,” for which she played the disapproving Edna Birch for 15 years, and “Coronation,” which cast her as multiple characters between 1960 and 1994. Stelfox also appeared in numerous series as a recurring character on dramas like “Making Out,” children’s series like “Three Seven Eleven,” and sitcoms like “Common As Muck.”
Stelfox also made frequent forays into motion pictures, including “Nineteen Eighty-Four” and the comedy “Personal Services,” which cast alongside Julie Walters. She was also a stage actress and appeared in numerous classical and modern productions on London’s West End. Stelfox died at the age of 74 from terminal cancer on December 7, 2015.
Charmain May’s Mrs. Nugent thwarted Hyacinth’s ambitions
As the head of the Ladies’ Council, Mrs. Nugent had the social status that Hyacinth so badly wanted but none of the social graces that such a position might require. A humorless and bossy woman with an intense dislike for romance and spending money, Mrs. Nugent did seem to have a soft spot for movies, as evidenced by her eager quick change into a revealing costume for Richard’s video camera in Season 3’s “Richard’s New Hobby.”
Charmian May played Mrs. Nugent in three episodes of “Keeping Up Appearances” between Seasons 1 and 3. A go-to for matronly types, May appeared on an array of UK TV series, including “A Dorothy L. Sayers Mystery,” “The Darling Buds of May,” and “The Bill,” among many other efforts. She was also a series regular on “You’re Only Young Twice” and “Weirdsister College,” a follow-up to “The Worst Witch.”
May’s feature film credits included the satire “Britannia Hospital, “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” and “Highlander: Endgame.” She died at the age of 85 on October 24, 2002
Robert McBain was Richard’s office mate
Prolific character actor Robert McBain made brief appearances as one of Richard’s co-workers in three Season 2 episodes of “Keeping Up Appearances.” In each instance, McBain’s character, who goes unnamed in two episodes but earned the surname “Frank” in his final turn, overheard the madness that spilled over from Richard’s home life to his work. In “Problems with Relatives” and “Onslow’s Birthday,” Hyacinth repeatedly calls him to help with her family’s eccentric behavior, while in “The Toy Store,” it’s Daddy, and specifically, his decision to run off to a toy store (and dress in an astronaut costume) that warranted a call.
McBain worked extensively in British theater while also appearing in numerous episodic series, including “Z Cars,” “Upstairs, Downstairs,” and “Fawlty Towers” (as a colleague of the deceased businessman in “The Kipper and the Corpse”), and “Maigret.” He was also featured as a recurring character on the surreal children’s series, “Little Big Time,” which featured a long-running sketch about sentient machines in an alternate world, where McBain played the Deferential Gearbox.
Feature film appearances were fewer but included “A Fish Called Wanda” and the Agatha Christie mystery “Ordeal by Innocence” with Christopher Plummer. McBain closed his long career with a 2003 episode of the medical drama “Casualty.” He died at the age of 72 on April 24, 2004.
