Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales dies, aged 93

Prunella Scales, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty in British sitcom Fawlty Towers, has died, aged 93.

Sybil was the bossy hotel manager and long-suffering wife of hotel owner Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese, in the much loved '70s TV series.

Her sons Samuel and Joseph, whom she shared with actor Timothy West, who died last November, issued a statement announcing the news on Tuesday.

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They said the actress died "peacefully at home in London yesterday" 12 years after her vascular dementia diagnosis.

"Our darling mother Prunella Scales died peacefully at home in London yesterday. She was 93," they told PA News agency.

"Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home."

The actress is survived by her two sons, stepdaughter, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

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They said she had been watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died.

The actress of stage and screen earned a BAFTA nomination for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of Attribution but in real life the actress had a long association with the British royal family.

Scales attended charity events with Prince Philip, Princess Diana, King Charles and Queen Camilla.

The actress was also awarded a CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1992 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to drama.

Scales and West had spent some time in Australia, with West directing shows at Melbourne's Forum Theatre.

The couple even attended the Carousel opening night party, posing with star of the 2004 production, David Campbell.

In 2004, West was touring Australia at the time with the Carl Rosa Opera Company, directing and starring in the production of HMS Pinafore.

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.

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."

- Reported with CNN.

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