Remembering Prunella Scales: The Beloved Sybil from Fawlty Towers Passes Away at 93

## Remembering Prunella Scales

Actor Prunella Scales, famed for her role as the quick-witted Sybil Fawlty in the beloved British sitcom **Fawlty Towers**, has passed away at 93. Her children revealed that she had been living with dementia for several years.

Scales’ sons, Samuel and Joseph West, shared that she died “peacefully at home in London”.

“Though dementia led to her retirement from a stellar acting career spanning nearly 70 years, she remained in her home,” they said. “She watched **Fawlty Towers** just a day before her passing.”

## A Remarkable Career

Prunella Scales began her career with roles in a 1952 television adaptation of **Pride and Prejudice** and the 1954 film **Hobson’s Choice**. Her breakout moment came as she starred opposite Richard Briers in the 1960s sitcom **Marriage Lines**, which depicted the lives of a newlywed couple.

In **Fawlty Towers**, she brilliantly portrayed the exasperated wife of Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese. The series, produced in 1975 and 1979, created a lasting legacy despite its brief run of only 12 episodes, often hailed as one of the finest comedies ever made.

John Cleese remembered Scales fondly, describing her as “a really wonderful comic actress” and “a very sweet lady”. Reflecting on her performance, he stated, “As I researched for a book, I found myself watching various clips from **Fawlty Towers**. Scene after scene revealed her absolute perfection.”

### Continuing to Shine

Prunella Scales was also known for her portrayal of Elizabeth Mapp in **Mapp & Lucia**, a 1985 television adaptation of E.F. Benson’s comic novels from the 1930s.

Her later credits included playing Queen Elizabeth II in **A Question of Attribution**, a drama focused on the monarch’s art adviser turned Soviet spy, Anthony Blunt. Scales even took on the role of Queen Victoria in a one-woman stage performance titled **An Evening with Queen Victoria**.

A gifted stage performer, Scales boasted a diverse range of theatre roles, from Shakespearean comedies to the troubled matriarch Mary Tyrone in Eugene O’Neill’s **Long Day’s Journey Into Night**.

### The Lasting Impact

Though she explored various roles, Scales is best remembered for her time in **Fawlty Towers**. In 2006, she graced the reopening of the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay—the very establishment that inspired John Cleese to create Basil Fawlty after a memorable stay in the 1970s.

Diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013, Scales partnered with her husband, actor Timothy West, for the gentle travel series **Great Canal Journeys** from 2014 to 2019. The show was praised for its authentic portrayal of her dementia journey.

Timothy West, her husband of 61 years, passed away in November 2024. Prunella Scales leaves behind her two sons, stepdaughter Juliet West, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.

Her contribution to **Fawlty Towers** and the acting world will be remembered fondly. How does Prunella Scales’ legacy impact your appreciation of classic television?