ONE OF THE BEST

Sitcom Legend and Star of Fawlty Towers Dies at 93

The actor who played the iconic and long-suffering wife of Basil Fawlty died at home.

Prunella Scales, an actor who starred in one of Britain’s greatest sitcoms, Fawlty Towers, has died at the age of 93. Scales’ sons, Samuel West and Joseph West, told the Press Association news agency on Tuesday that the actor died peacefully at her home in London the day before. “Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home,” Scales’ sons said in a statement. “She was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died.” Scales was best known for playing Sybil Fawlty in the 1970s sitcom, the bossy wife of Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese.​ Cleese described Scales as “a really wonderful comic actress” in a statement on Tuesday. “She was a very sweet lady, who spent a lot of her life apologising. I used to tease her about it. I was very, very fond of her,” he added. Scales is survived by her two sons, a stepdaughter, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Scales’ husband, legendary stage actor Timothy West, died in November 2024.