‘Fawlty Towers’ actress Prunella Scales dies aged 93

By Lianne Kolirin, CNN

London (CNN) — Prunella Scales, the actress best known for playing Sybil Fawlty in 1970s British comedy series “Fawlty Towers,” has died, her family told the UK’s PA Media news agency Tuesday. She was 93.

Her family said in the statement that Scales “died peacefully at home in London” Monday. She had been watching “Fawlty Towers” the day before, they added.

Widely considered one of the funniest TV shows of all time, “Fawlty Towers” starred Scales as the long-suffering wife of Basil Fawlty (played by John Cleese) – a rude hotel manager who forever appeared to be on the brink of a nervous breakdown.

The show, which ran in two six-part series, in 1975 and 1979, was a huge hit in Britain and went on to become a cult classic in the United States. Scales’ catchphrase was simply her husband’s name – Basil – which she screeched at every opportunity.

Born Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth on June 6, 1932, Scales took her mother’s maiden name as her stage name. She studied at the Old Vic Theatre School in London, followed by the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.

Scales, who was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1992 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her services to drama, married fellow British actor Timothy West in 1963. The couple had two sons, Joe and Samuel – the latter also an actor and director, who starred alongside his mother in the 1992 triple Oscar-winner “Howard’s End.”

Besides “Fawlty Towers,” Scales’ many screen credits included roles in the 1978 thriller “The Boys from Brazil,” which starred Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier, and 1994’s “Wolf,” alongside Jack Nicholson.

In later life, Scales and her husband appeared on screen together in “Great Canal Journeys,” a documentary series for UK broadcaster Channel 4. In the first episode, which aired in 2014, the couple revealed that Scales suffered from a “slight condition,” which turned out to be dementia.

During the episode, Scales said: “Well, it can be a nuisance sometimes but it doesn’t stop me remembering how to open a lock gate or make the skipper a cup of tea.”

The pair explored the waterways, both in Britain and around the world, for 10 seasons across five years until 2019.

In an interview with the UK’s Times newspaper in December 2021, her son Samuel said: “My mother’s dementia was an open secret in some parts of the profession. Then, when it became known publicly, it became important and desirable for us to treat mild dementia with honesty and as part of the series, particularly because it didn’t seem to affect her enjoyment of what she was doing very much.”

Her husband, West, died in November last year.

Back in 2009, Scales did an interview with The Times to mark the 30th anniversary of “Fawlty Towers.” She told the interviewer: “I want to die on the eighth curtain call. I want to go on working till the day I drop.”

Her family said Tuesday: “Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home.”

They added: “She is survived by two sons and one stepdaughter, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. 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.”

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