b. Katherine Patricia Routledge, 17 February 1929, Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. Her studies were directed towards a career in education, but Routledge displayed innate talent for performing and took singing lessons. Graduating from Liverpool University, she delayed making a career choice and worked as an unpaid assistant stage manager at Liverpool Playhouse. In 1952, she made her stage debut there in Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, then attended the Old Vic Theatre School in Bristol and in 1954 appeared in London's West End in The Duenna. Other London productions ...