Renowned for her iconic role in Fawlty Towers, Prunella Scales has passed away at the age of 93, after a protracted struggle with dementia.

Scales won acclaim as Sybil Fawlty, the assertive wife of John Cleese’s Basil, in the beloved BBC comedy series.

Despite only airing for a brief 12 episodes over two seasons, her portrayal left an indelible mark, making her a familiar face to audiences everywhere.

Her passing follows the death of her husband, esteemed actor Timothy West, who died less than a year ago at the age of 90.

Fans cherished Prunella for her resilience, showcased in their television series, Great Canal Journeys, where she bravely faced her diagnosis in 2013, years after exhibiting symptoms.

It was in 2001 that Timothy first became aware of her condition, observing that she was ‘not completely in character’ during a play performance.

Timothy movingly told in his 2023 memoir: ‘One thought in particular almost floored me: what if it’s Alzheimer’s?’

Besides her most famous role, Prunella had parts in hundreds of television, theatre, film and radio productions.

 Prunella Scales has died aged 93. Above: With her loving husband Timothy West at their home in London. Timothy died in 2024

Prunella Scales’ role as Sybil Fawlty alongside John Cleese in Fawlty Towers (above) made her a national treasure 

She received a Bafta nomination for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in the BBC’s 1991 TV adaptation of playwright Alan Bennett’s A Question of Attribution.

On film, she starred alongside her son, Sam, in Howards End.  

And on stage, she was twice nominated for an Olivier Award for roles in Make and Break and Single Spies, the latter of which was another Bennett production. 

She also had a celebrated one woman show, An Evening with Queen Victoria, which ran for more than 20 years.  

The star was born in Surrey in 1932. Her father, a cotton salesman, brought his family up in a rented farm house that had no electricity or mains water.

She went to boarding school in Eastbourne and then won a scholarship to the Old Vic drama school.

Her first job was as an assistant stage manager at the Bristol Old Vic.

After that, acting roles came thick and fast. 

Prunella Scales appearing alongside her husband in a 1984 production of Big In Brazil at London’s Old Vic Theatre

Prunella Scales and Timothy West performing together in the When We Were Married play at the Whitehall Theatre in 1986

Scales, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty (pictured) in Fawlty Towers, ended her 67-year acting career in early 2020

Despite its popularity, Fawlty Towers only ran for 12 episodes, which ran across two series in 1975 and 1979. Above: Prunella Scales with co-stars Connie Booth, John Cleese and Andrew Sachs

Prunella in TV programme After Henry, which aired on ITV from 1988 until 1992

Prunella Scales portraying the Queen in A Question of Attribution

But it would be that stint in Fawlty Towers that would cement Prunella’s status in British comedy folklore.

The sitcom, which told the story of hapless Basil Fawlty’s attempts to run a hotel while being berated by his shrill wife, remains one of the country’s best-loved creations.

This is despite the fact that the programme ran for just two series, in 1975 and 1979.

Prunella told the Mail in 2000, the year that Fawlty Towers was named the greatest British TV programme in a poll: ‘It is wonderful how it has not dated.

‘I am very proud of Sybil and grateful to her. I still get the odd repeat cheque, which helps to pay for my work in the theatre.’  

The star met Timothy in 1961, when they were both working on television play She Died Young, which West later described as ‘terrible’.

Prunella later said that her future husband was ‘charming’. 

‘He wore a different waistcoat every day and a variety of decoratives,’ she added. 

Timothy was then still married to his first wife, actress Jacqueline Boyer, and so the pair were initially just friends.

Timothy West and Prunella Scales on their wedding day in 1963

Timothy West and Prunella Scales during a visit to Sweden

Timothy West and Prunella Scales with their sons Samuel (left) and Joseph in 1975

Prunella and husband Timothy West performing in play A Long Day’s Journey Into Night in 1991

Boyer, a manic depressive, left West unsure ‘what I would come home to’, he wrote in the Daily Mail in 2003. 

The pair had daughter Juliet together before their marriage collapsed. 

Timothy claimed his first wife was having an affair with ‘Rodger the lodger’, while he and Scales had ended up starting to see each other romantically.

Prunella’s letters to West were revealed in Teresa Ransom’s 2005 biography.

In one, written before the actor and his wife had divorced, Scales said: ‘Rehearsing this Monday, so I suppose lunch would be possible though wildly frustrating.

‘Bless you for sweet letter… Refuse to apologize for my writing. God bless you too. Love, I think, P.’ 

Timothy and his first wife agreed to a divorce in 1963, and he and Prunella married rapidly afterwards, in October that year.  

They spent their honeymoon in Buckinghamshire at what Prunella later said she discovered was a ‘dirty weekend place’.

Prunella with her husband at their home in London in December 2023 

Prunella Scales with her husband Timothy West in February 2020 

Timothy admitted that the couple did used to have fierce rows, including one which led to the actor pulling out some of his wife’s hair. 

Prunella then kept the clump in an envelope. ‘I felt a bit cross that she was making so much of it,’ Timothy said.

But he touchingly added: ‘Whoever is left when one of us dies will be absolutely devastated.’

On the flipside, their marriage remained romantically lively in their later years and survived despite the fact that both stars were often away for long periods due to work.

In 2000, Prunella spoke of her raunchy romantic life with her husband, saying: ‘We still have quite a lively sex life, thank you very much.

‘And it gets, you know, better as the years go by.’  

The couple’s first son, Sam, was born in 1966. His birth was followed by that of youngest son Joseph on New Year’s Day in 1969.

Although Sam followed his parents into the acting profession and is now a major star in his own right, his brother has stayed away from the limelight. 

Tragically, the last 20 years of Prunella’s life were shaped by the advance of her dementia. 

However, she continued working well into her final years despite her illness.

And her appearance in Great Canal Journeys alongside her husband lasted for seven years, from 2014 until 2021.  

Writing in his memoir, Pru & Me, West opened up about his wife’s condition. 

He said: ‘What I miss most of all, I think, is us no longer being able to share our hopes and fears with one another.

‘You can have a conversation or go to the theatre with anybody, but you cannot bare your soul to just anyone.

‘Still, my regrets are tempered by the fact that Pru is happy and knows she is loved.

‘We also have a large and caring family, plenty of friends and a house and garden that Pru feels safe in and adores. Most of all, we have each other.’