John Cleese has paid tribute to his Fawlty Towers co-star Prunella Scales, who has died at the age of 93. In a statement, he described her as “a really wonderful comic actress” and said: “Scene after scene she was absolutely perfect.”
Scales was best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, the irascible and long-suffering wife of Cleese’s bumbling hotel manager Basil in the BBC sitcom. The show, written by Cleese and his then-wife Connie Booth, ran for just two series between 1975 and 1979 but remains one of the UK’s most beloved comedies.
The actress’s other credits included The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Boys from Brazil and Howards End. She received a BAFTA nomination for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II in Alan Bennett’s A Question of Attribution. BAFTA said in a statement: “We’re saddened to hear that actress Prunella Scales has died, aged 93. Much-loved for portraying Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, Scales had a long-standing career.”
BBC Director of Comedy Jon Petrie also paid tribute, calling her “a national treasure whose brilliance as Sybil Fawlty lit up screens and still makes us laugh today”. Scales died at home after a long battle with dementia, just under a year after her husband of 61 years, actor Timothy West, died at 90. Together they fronted the Channel 4 series Great Canal Journeys between 2014 and 2019.
In February 2023, Cleese announced plans to reboot Fawlty Towers, developing new scripts for a series set in a Caribbean hotel alongside his daughter Camilla Cleese and Castle Rock Entertainment.
