British comedy lost two of its most famous wives in October 2025: Patricia Routledge, Hyacinth Bucket of Keeping Up Appearances, and Prunella Scales, Sybil of Fawlty Towers. Between them came Diane Keaton, D’Angelo and KISS’s Ace Frehley. These are ten of the best-known people who died in October 2025.
1. Jane Goodall (October 1, aged 91)
Jane Goodall went to Gombe in Tanzania in 1960 with no degree and discovered that chimpanzees make and use tools, a finding that changed how science defined humans. She spent her last decades travelling the world to speak about conservation. The Jane Goodall Institute said she died of natural causes in California during a speaking tour.
2. Patricia Routledge (October 3, aged 96)
Patricia Routledge was Hyacinth Bucket, who insisted it was pronounced “Bouquet”, in Keeping Up Appearances, and the detective in Hetty Wainthropp Investigates. She had a long stage career before television fame and won a Tony Award. She died in her sleep.
3. Jilly Cooper (October 5, aged 88)
Jilly Cooper wrote Riders, Rivals and the rest of the Rutshire Chronicles, bestsellers about sex and show-jumping among the English rich. A Disney+ adaptation of Rivals in 2024 brought her a new audience. Her family said she died after a fall.
4. Diane Keaton (October 11, aged 79)
Diane Keaton won the Oscar for Annie Hall, wearing the ties and waistcoats that became a fashion of their own, and was Kay in The Godfather films, the wife in Father of the Bride and the star of Something’s Gotta Give. Her family announced her death in California.
5. D’Angelo (October 14, aged 51)
D’Angelo’s Voodoo, released in 2000, and the video for “Untitled (How Does It Feel)” made him the central figure of neo-soul. He disappeared for fourteen years and returned with Black Messiah in 2014. He died of pancreatic cancer.
6. Ace Frehley (October 16, aged 74)
Ace Frehley was the original lead guitarist of KISS, playing the Spaceman in silver make-up, and his guitar smoked on stage. He died after a fall at his home studio.
7. Sam Rivers (October 18, aged 48)
Sam Rivers was the bassist of Limp Bizkit, whose albums Significant Other and Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water sold millions around 2000.
8. June Lockhart (late October, aged 100)
June Lockhart was the mother in Lassie and Maureen Robinson in Lost in Space. Her family said she died of natural causes at home in Santa Monica.
9. Prunella Scales (October 27, aged 93)
Prunella Scales was Sybil Fawlty, the wife whose “I know, I know” kept Basil in check, in all twelve episodes of Fawlty Towers. She later presented Great Canal Journeys with her husband, Timothy West, who died in 2024. She had lived with Alzheimer’s disease.
10. Thommy Price (aged 68)
The drummer played with Joan Jett and the Blackhearts for decades and earlier with Billy Idol. His wife announced his death.
Scales and Routledge died 24 days apart, and the two sitcoms that made them famous, Fawlty Towers and Keeping Up Appearances, are still repeated on British television decades after their last episodes.