Veteran British actress Dame Penelope Keith, who rose to fame in the hit 1970s UK sitcom The Good Life, has died aged 86, her family said.Dame Penelope, who was made a dame in Britain in 2014, established herself as a household name through her decades-spanning comedic roles on television, in film, radio and theatre.Her family said she had "died peacefully" at home after battling cancer.Dame Penelope first major break was as the snobbish suburbanite Margot Leadbetter in The Good Life, which earned her a BAFTA award.She later starred in To The Manor Born, another hit BBC sitcom.In a post on social media platform X, the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTA) organisation said it was saddened to learn of Dame Penelope's death."A familiar face on stage and screen, Dame Penelope won a BAFTA for her iconic role in The Good Life in 1977 and another for her work in The Norman Conquests and Saving It For Albie in 1978, with a further three BAFTA nominations during her career," it said. The Laurence Olivier Awards also paid tribute to the actor, announcing the lights of West End theatres will be dimmed for 2 minutes on July 1 following the passing of the "beloved" performer. "Dame Penelope began her acting career in repertory theatre and joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1963," the organisation said."She went on to win the 1976 Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for the play Donkeys' Years."AFP/ABC