Prunella Scales

Actress

Born: June 22, 1932 (93 years old)

Died: October 27, 2025

Place of birth: Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK

Biography

Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales CBE (née Illingworth; 22 June 1932) was an English former actor, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, wife of Basil Fawlty (John Cleese), in the BBC comedy Fawlty Towers; for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of Attribution (Screen One, BBC 1991) by Alan Bennett (for which she was nominated for a BAFTA award); and for the documentary series Great Canal Journeys (2014–2021), in which she travels on canal barges and narrowboats with her husband, fellow actor Timothy West.

Filmography (41)

• Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened (2009, ★ 8.4)
• Fawlty Towers (1975, ★ 8.3)
• Great Canal Journeys (2014, ★ 8.8)
• Hobson's Choice (1954, ★ 7.4)
• The Phone Call (2013, ★ 7.3)
• Midsomer Murders (1997, ★ 7.5)
• The Royal (2003, ★ 7.6)
• Silent Witness (1996, ★ 7.5)
• Agatha Christie's Marple (2004, ★ 7.8)
• Wolf (1994, ★ 6.1)
• The Shell Seekers (2007, ★ 6.9)
• Emma (1996, ★ 6.6)
• The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987, ★ 6.5)
• A Question of Attribution (1991, ★ 6.7)
• An Ideal Husband (1999, ★ 6.4)
• Second Best (1994, ★ 6.7)
• The Littlest Horse Thieves (1976, ★ 6.8)
• Room at the Top (1958, ★ 6.9)
• The Ghost of Greville Lodge (2000, ★ 6.4)
• An Awfully Big Adventure (1995, ★ 6.5)
• Howards End (1992, ★ 7)
• The Boys from Brazil (1978, ★ 6.7)
• Bergerac (1981, ★ 6.7)
• Dalziel & Pascoe (1996, ★ 6.3)
• Dennis the Menace and Gnasher (1996, ★ 6.2)
• Never the Twain (1981, ★ 6.6)
• Seven of One (1973, ★ 7)
• Breaking the Code (1996, ★ 5.2)
• Stiff Upper Lips (1998, ★ 5.2)
• Freddie As F.R.O.7. (1992, ★ 5.2)