| Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales dies aged 93 Posted by Chris from Nailsea at 14:19, 28th October 2025 |     |
From the BBC:
Fawlty Towers actress Prunella Scales has died aged 93, her family have confirmed.
Scales was best known for playing hotel manager Sybil Fawlty, the long-suffering and domineering wife of Basil - played by John Cleese - in the classic British sitcom.
The actress died "peacefully at home in London yesterday", her sons Samuel and Joseph said.
They added that she was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died. Cleese paid tribute, describing Scales as "a really wonderful comic actress". He said: "Scene after scene she was absolutely perfect."
The actress had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013.
"Our darling mother Prunella Scales died peacefully at home in London yesterday. She was 93," her sons told the PA News agency. "Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home."
Her husband, fellow actor Timothy West, died in November last year.
She is survived by two sons and one stepdaughter, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. The statement added: "We would like to thank all those who gave Pru such wonderful care at the end of her life: her last days were comfortable, contented and surrounded by love."
Cleese said in a statement: "How very sad. Pru was a really wonderful comic actress. I've recently been watching a number of clips of Fawlty Towers whilst researching a book. Scene after scene she was absolutely perfect." He added: "She was a very sweet lady, who spent a lot of her life apologising. I used to tease her about it. I was very, very fond of her."
Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth remembered her as "a funny, intelligent, interesting, gifted human being".
Jon Petrie, director of comedy at the BBC, offered: "She was a national treasure whose brilliance as Sybil Fawlty lit up screens and still makes us laugh today."
Scales also went on to receive a Bafta nomination for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in Alan Bennett's 1991 televised play, A Question of Attribution. But she will forever be most closely identified with the domineering and long-suffering comedy creation Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, best defined by one bark of "Basil".
...
Timothy West and Prunella Scales proved a hit in Great Canal Journeys on Channel 4
Later in life, she enjoyed an unlikely hit with Channel 4's Great Canal Journeys, travelling waterways in the UK and elsewhere with her husband. "We didn't start out thinking it was going to be an especially exciting performance for people to watch," admitted West in an interview with the BBC's Colin Paterson in 2023.
But for 10 series, they made canals captivating. "We were good at it," he smiled. West noted how his wife's dementia would not break their 60-year love story.
Scales was best known for playing hotel manager Sybil Fawlty, the long-suffering and domineering wife of Basil - played by John Cleese - in the classic British sitcom.
The actress died "peacefully at home in London yesterday", her sons Samuel and Joseph said.
They added that she was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died. Cleese paid tribute, describing Scales as "a really wonderful comic actress". He said: "Scene after scene she was absolutely perfect."
The actress had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013.
"Our darling mother Prunella Scales died peacefully at home in London yesterday. She was 93," her sons told the PA News agency. "Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home."
Her husband, fellow actor Timothy West, died in November last year.
She is survived by two sons and one stepdaughter, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. The statement added: "We would like to thank all those who gave Pru such wonderful care at the end of her life: her last days were comfortable, contented and surrounded by love."
Cleese said in a statement: "How very sad. Pru was a really wonderful comic actress. I've recently been watching a number of clips of Fawlty Towers whilst researching a book. Scene after scene she was absolutely perfect." He added: "She was a very sweet lady, who spent a lot of her life apologising. I used to tease her about it. I was very, very fond of her."
Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth remembered her as "a funny, intelligent, interesting, gifted human being".
Jon Petrie, director of comedy at the BBC, offered: "She was a national treasure whose brilliance as Sybil Fawlty lit up screens and still makes us laugh today."
Scales also went on to receive a Bafta nomination for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in Alan Bennett's 1991 televised play, A Question of Attribution. But she will forever be most closely identified with the domineering and long-suffering comedy creation Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, best defined by one bark of "Basil".
...
Timothy West and Prunella Scales proved a hit in Great Canal Journeys on Channel 4
Later in life, she enjoyed an unlikely hit with Channel 4's Great Canal Journeys, travelling waterways in the UK and elsewhere with her husband. "We didn't start out thinking it was going to be an especially exciting performance for people to watch," admitted West in an interview with the BBC's Colin Paterson in 2023.
But for 10 series, they made canals captivating. "We were good at it," he smiled. West noted how his wife's dementia would not break their 60-year love story.
I have quoted somewhat selectively from the BBC article: I am a great fan of the Great Canal Journeys series. I never met Prunella Scales, but I did meet Timothy West, once, in Bristol: he was a great character.
CfN.
