How Felicity Kendal is still living The Good Life at 80 thanks to daily workouts, Botox and refusing to retire - as she celebrates milestone birthday

She became a household name in the Seventies playing Barbara Good in The Good Life, which has remained one of Britain's most beloved sitcoms.

And five decades on Felicity Kendal shows no signs of slowing down, recently signing up for a touring production of Noël Coward’s supernatural comedy, Blithe Spirit. 

On Friday, Felicity celebrated her milestone 80th birthday and has credited her workout and beauty regime with her youthful vigour. 

Proving to be nothing like her famed character Barbara - who wanted to escape the rat race and take things back to basics - Felicity thrives when she's busy.

She prefers being ‘outside, walking through the open air, or at the gym, which I try to do regularly,' she explained earlier this year. 

'It’s nothing to do with looks. It’s just if I don’t stay active, I’ll fossilise. You have to keep moving at my age or you run out of energy.’

How Felicity Kendal is still living The Good Life with daily workouts, Botox and refusing to retire as she celebrates her milestone 80th birthday (pictured in May) 

Felicity's most iconic role is undoubtedly that of Barbara Good in the television series The Good Life, which has remained one of Britain's most beloved sitcoms

Hitting back at the assumption that the elderly should settle for a quiet life, Felicity told The Telegraph this year:  'Well, I know they’re wrong, so it doesn’t matter. 

'People can approach ageing however they like. I prefer to be active. I’m not at all relaxed. I want more time, absolutely – written down and in a contract!' 

In fact, Felicity - who is the only surviving star from The Good Life - has vowed never to retire, insisting her passion for acting keeps her young. 

Speaking to The Lady Magazine in 2021, Felicity took umbrage when asked if she planned to slow down, responding: 'Not at all! There’s a kind of relaxation in doing the work you like doing simply for the work itself. You're judged only on how you do it.' 

She added: 'When you're younger the competition is much greater. That's quite stressful. When you get to my age there aren't so many people left, so there's less pressure.

'You've passed from ingenue to leading lady and beyond. If you can be working at 17 and still working at 70-something, you've made it through.'

On how she stays mobile enough to continue working, Felicity added: 'I work out three times a week, a mixture of stretching, yoga and weights. I've also mastered press-ups. I'm so pleased. Now, if I could only stand on my head.'

Earlier this year she starred in High Society, and revealed she kept a pair of dumbbells in her dressing room so she could fit in a few sets during rehearsals. 

'If I don't get to the gym, I crack,' she said, noting that she'd upped her workout regime to five times a week.

Ove the years, Felicity has turned heads with her noticeably smooth visage, having shared her affiliation for filler and other anti-aging techniques.

Yet she has made no secret of her love of Botox, admitting: 'I do it every six months, then you don't get the terrible little frown line.' 

In 2023, Felicity hit back at critics of her look, insisting she cares more about looking 'presentable' than appearing younger than her years (pictured in 2021) 

Yet her incredibly wrinkle-free look caught fans' attention during an appearance on The Graham Norton Show, sparking concerns she had taken things too far.

In 2023, Felicity hit back at critics of her look, insisting she cares more about looking 'presentable' than appearing younger than her years.

The Rosemary & Thyme star told The Times: 'Do I care about what I look like at 76? Not really. I like to look presentable, as my mother used to say, but that’s good manners not vanity.

'Humans have been preening themselves for thousands of years: tattoos, corsets, the dandies with their powdered wigs.'

Felicity added that she feels modern times are 'quite tame' when it comes to women's looks, noting that in the Seventies they were 'not afraid' of dressing up.

She told Good Housekeeping magazine: 'There comes a point where you have to match bits of you with the other bits.

'Then there was a time when you'd think, I'm over 60, I can't possibly wear a short skirt again because of my crinkly knees.

'Then you come out the other end and say, "f*** it, I've got good legs, I'm going to put on tights and a short skirt."'