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Prunella Scales

Biography

Prunella Scales

Overview

  • Born
    June 22, 1932 · Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK
  • Died
    October 27, 2025 · London, England, UK (vascular dementia)
  • Birth name
    Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth
  • Nickname
    • Pru
  • Height
    5′ 3″ (1.60 m)

Mini bio

  • Prunella Scales was born on June 22, 1932 in Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK. She was an actress, known for Howards End (1992), Fawlty Towers (1975) and Wolf (1994). She was married to Timothy West. She died on October 27, 2025 in London, England, UK.

Family

  • Spouse
      Timothy West(October 26, 1963 - November 12, 2024) (his death, 2 children)
  • Children
      Samuel West
      Joseph West

Trivia

  • Achieved her greatest success on TV as the nosy, shrewish wife "Sybil Fawlty" on the classic John Cleese comedy Fawlty Towers (1975).
  • In January 2013, she revealed that she had begun to suffer from short term memory loss and was unable to remember the years in which her sons were born or the year she married her husband, Timothy West. In March 2014, West announced that his wife was suffering from mild Alzheimer's disease, however, by August 2015, her condition had worsened to the point where she could no longer remember any details about their wedding or their married life together.
  • She 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 while her husband, Timothy West, was awarded his CBE in the 1984 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
  • Had a photographic memory.
  • British classical stage actress trained at both the Old Vic Theatre School in London and the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.

Quotes

  • The joy of being an actor is to deliver good writing to people.
  • "The agony of doing Shakespeare is that you can't ask him what he meant.

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