Prunella Scales

Known for

Acting

Born

Jun 22, 1932

Died

Oct 27, 2025

From

Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK

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.

Images

Credits

Wolf

19946.1out of 10

Fawlty Towers

19758.3out of 10

Howards End

19927.0out of 10

The Boys from Brazil

19786.7out of 10

Midsomer Murders

19977.5out of 10

Hobson's Choice

19547.4out of 10

Agatha Christie's Marple

20047.8out of 10

Room at the Top

19586.9out of 10

Emma

19966.6out of 10

Silent Witness

19967.6out of 10

Horrid Henry: The Movie

20115.2out of 10

Casualty

19866.2out of 10

The Phone Call

20137.3out of 10

An Awfully Big Adventure

19956.5out of 10

Second Best

19946.7out of 10

Freddie As F.R.O.7.

19925.2out of 10

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

19876.6out of 10

The Hound of the Baskervilles

19784.4out of 10