Prunella Scales, the actress best known for her role as the sharp-tongued Sybil Fawlty in the fan-favorite British sitcom Fawlty Towers, has passed away.
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Scaled died “peacefully at home in London yesterday”, her sons, Samuel and Joseph, said, per the BBC. She was 93 years old and had been living with dementia since 2013.
“Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home,” her sons added. “She was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died.”
Scales is beloved by TV fans for her role as Sybil Fawlty, the assertive and long-suffering hotel manager and wife of Basil, played by John Cleese, in the classic sitcom.
Cleese also paid tribute to Scales, calling her “a really wonderful comic actress”. The Monty Python legend added, “Scene after scene she was absolutely perfect.”
According to IMDb, Scales’ career began with roles in the 1952 film Pride and Prejudice and the 1954 comedy Hobson’s Choice. These were followed by her TV breakthrough in the 1960s sitcom Marriage Lines.
Prunella Scales Later Starred Alongside Her Husband in a Travel Show
She later played Queen Elizabeth II in Alan Bennett’s stage and TV drama, A Question of Attribution, about the queen’s art adviser, Anthony Blunt, who was also a Soviet spy. Scales also portrayed another British monarch in the one-woman stage show, An Evening with Queen Victoria.
Prunella Scales received a diagnosis of vascular dementia in 2013. From 2014 to 2019, she and her husband, actor Timothy West, starred in the travel series Great Canal Journeys. The series explored waterways in Britain and beyond.
A couple of years ago I was watching a few episodes of Great Canal Journeys with Tim and Pru at their home in Wandsworth when all of a sudden Tim nudged me and said, "Watch this, Pru's amazing".
— James Hogg (@JamesAHogg2) October 28, 2025
Nail on the head!
God bless Pru xx pic.twitter.com/5BdhTXFxR4
The show was recognized for its honest portrayal of Scales’ experience with dementia.
West passed away in November 2024. Scales is survived by her two sons, stepdaughter Juliet West, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.