The biggest British TV icons of the ’70s – where are they now?

John Cleese has an extensive list of credits, but he’s perhaps best recognised for the Monty Python films, as well as Fawlty Towers (1975-79). 

Boasting a decade-spanning premiere, John has also starred in A Fish Called Wanda (1988), Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) and the Shrek and Harry Potter franchises. As of 2024, John has adapted Fawlty Towers for London’s West End. 

John, 86, is married to jewellery designer, Jennifer Wade. He is a proud father to two daughters – Cynthia and Camilla Cleese. 

Nearly five decades after Basil Fawlty’s last television appearance, John Cleese adapted the beloved BBC sitcom for the stage. Fawlty Towers: The Play premiered in 2024 and is currently touring the UK and Ireland.

Additionally, to mark the show’s 50th anniversary, John released the book Fawlty Towers: Fawlts And All – My Favourite Moments last October.

Patricia Routledge was a regular on our screens throughout the ’70s, appearing in episodes of Steptoe and Son (1974), David Copperfield (1974) and Nicholas Nickleby (1977). 

In the years that followed, she landed her best-known role to date, playing Hyacinth Bucket in Keeping Up Appearances, which aired between 1990 and 1995. In 2024, Patricia took part in a documentary titled Dame Patricia Routledge…Remembers Keeping Up Appearances.

Patricia sadly passed away in October 2025. The actress died peacefully in her sleep and “surrounded by love,” according to her agent. 

Dame Patricia had lived in Chichester since 2000. She never married and had no children. Opening up about her private life, Patricia once said: “I didn’t make a decision not to be married and not to be a mother. Life just turned out like that because my involvement in acting was so total.”

Prunella Scales was known and loved for portraying Sybil Fawlty – aka Basil’s long-suffering wife in Fawlty Towers. Following the show’s conclusion in 1979, the actress went on to appear in films, including The Wicked Lady (1983), The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987) and Howards End (1992).

As for her TV credits, Prunella landed roles in episodes of Midsomer Murders (2000) and Silent Witness (2001), before re-inhabiting Sybil Fawlty for a 2007 Children in Need special. 

Prunella was married to fellow actor Timothy West for 61 years, and together they welcomed two sons, including Samuel West, who currently stars as Siegfried Farnon in All Creatures Great and Small. 

Prunella was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2014 and spoke openly about adjusting to life with the condition. 

Prunella died aged 93 in October 2025, almost a year after the death of her husband, Timothy.

At the time, her family released a statement that read: “Our darling mother Prunella Scales died peacefully at home in London yesterday. She was 93. Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home. She was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died. Pru was married to Timothy West for 61 years. He died in November 2024.”

Prunella’s last days were “comfortable, contented and surrounded by love,” her family said. 

Robin Ellis is recognised for his iconic portrayal of Captain Ross Poldark in the BBC’s 1975 adaptation of Winston Graham’s Poldark series. A mainstay in British period dramas, he continued to act in The Curse of King Tut’s Tomb (1980), and A Dark-Adapted Eye (1994) while treading the boards in theatre productions. 

To the delight of viewers, Robin starred as Reverend Halse in the 2015-2019 adaptation of Poldark, which like its predecessor, aired on the BBC. 

Now 84, the TV favourite resides in Southwestern France with his wife, Meredith Wheeler. 

Revered as a comedy great, Penelope Keith made her mark in British sitcoms The Good Life (1975-78) and To the Manor Born (1979-81). 

Among her ever-impressive portfolio, throughout the early 2000s, Penelope appeared in several theatre productions, and in 2009 she was featured in a one-off documentary for BBC Four, titled Penelope Keith and the Fast Lady. 

Penelope graced our screens again in 2018 when she presented Village of the Year with Penelope Keith for Channel 4. 

Penelope passed away “peacefully” in June 2026 after a cancer diagnosis. A statement issued on behalf of her family read: “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.”

They continued: “The family is grateful for the care and support she received throughout her treatments, and asks that their privacy be respected at this time.”

Prior to her death, the actress lived in Surrey with her husband, Rodney Timson. They share two children. 

Felicity Kendal shot to fame as Barbara Good in The Good Life. While she is typically associated with television, the 79-year-old focused on her burgeoning stage career in the 1980s and 1990s, starring in many of her first husband, Tom Stoppard’s plays. 

Among her latest on-screen roles, Felicity has featured in episodes of Inside No.9 (2017), Pennyworth (2019) and Ludwig (2024). 

Speaking candidly, the 78-year-old has opened up about losing her beloved husband, Michael Rudman, with whom she shares a son – Jacob, 37. “I think it’s very important to let go and not be maudlin. That’s totally my own personal way: to get on and try to live in as positive a way as I can, even though it may be difficult,” she told Saga. 

“But when I’m faced with a decision about something now, I still ask Michael what I should do; that’s not being spooky, that’s just going into the many memories that will give me the answer to what he would say because I knew him so well.”

In recent years, Felicity has appeared in Disney+’s hit romance drama Rivals and the BBC crime drama, Ludwig. In the summer of 2026, she performed alongside Helen George and Freddie Fox in a production of Cole Porter’s classic musical High Society at the Barbican Theatre in London.

Richard O’Sullivan scored two hits with the sitcoms Man About the House (1973–1976) and Robin’s Nest (1977–1981). He’s shot to further recognition after landing the title role of Dick Turpin (1979–1982) in the historical drama series. 

Richard, now 82, stepped away from the spotlight in 1996. He suffered a stroke in 2003 and has since moved to Brinsworth House in Twickenham which is managed by the Royal Variety Charity and exclusively for ex-entertainers.