Penelope Keith made dame among showbiz New Year Honours..

Penelope Keith as Margot Leadbetter in The Good Life (left) and pictured in 2007

Actress Penelope Keith, star of BBC sitcoms The Good Life and To The Manor Born, says she is "thrilled and humbled" to have been made a dame in the New Year Honours list.

Michael Crawford, Lynda Bellingham, Katherine Jenkins, Ruth Jones and Nicholas Parsons are among other showbiz names receiving titles.

Keith said of her damehood: "It's a recognition for not only my 54 years being an actress but also for all the charities with which I'm associated and I think they'll be thrilled."

The 73-year-old actress, famous for playing women with impeccable cut-glass accents, was honoured for services to the arts and to charity.

Keith joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in her early 20s and played minor TV roles before becoming a familiar face as snobby Margot Leadbetter in The Good Life and the upper crust Lady Audrey fforbes-Hamilton in To The Manor Born.

She said Margot and Audrey would have been "chuffed" by the honour.

Knighthoods have gone to sculptor Antony Gormley, creator of the Angel of the North; and film and theatre producer Michael Codron.

Gormley, 63, who won the Turner Prize in 1994 and was made an OBE in 1997, said he was "happy" to accept the honour.

He said: "I think it's a good thing for sculpture and a recognition of the aspect of sculpture that is about a collective vision."

Sculptor Antony Gormley said he accepted his knighthood as "a recognition" for the art form

Also made dames were actress Angela Lansbury and Gillian Lynne, whose choreography credits include Cats and The Phantom of The Opera.

Lansbury, most famous for her role as Jessica Fletcher in the television series Murder, She Wrote, told the BBC: "I'm joining a marvellous group of women I greatly admire like Judi Dench and Maggie Smith.

"It's a lovely thing to be given that nod of approval by your own country and I really cherish it."

Lansbury, 88, was born in East London and has enjoyed a long acting career in film, television and theatre. She returns to the West End in 2014 to play Madame Arcati in a new production of Noel Coward's Blithe Spirit.

She admitted that when when she received a call from the British consulate about her honour, she thought it was about her work permit to work on the London stage.

Gillian Lynne, 87, whose dance career spans seven decades, said she was "deeply humbled" by her DBE. "Passion for my art has been the motivating factor throughout my career, but for Her Majesty the Queen and the Cabinet Office to deem what I have done to be worthy of this accolade is an honour."

Actress Angela Lansbury (left) and dancer and choreographer Gillian Lynne (right) were both made dames

Her long-time collaborator Lord Lloyd Webber said: "I am thrilled that the grand lady of British musical theatre has got the recognition she deserves. Gillie was already a legend when I was at school! Without Gillie my Cats would never have seen the stage."

Composer and conductor Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, who is Master of the Queen's Music, has become a companion of honour.

Among those who received CBEs were actor Michael Crawford, who played Frank Spencer in 1970s sitcom Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em; and TV and radio personality Nicholas Parsons, both for charitable work.

Parsons, best known for presenting TV quiz Sale Of The Century and for his role as host of Radio 4's Just A Minute, said he was "flattered and delighted".