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Prunella Scales

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Birthdate

1932-06-22

Day of Death

2025-10-27

Place of Birth

Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK

Prunella Scales

Biography

Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales CBE (nÊe 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 (64)

⭐ 0 Role: Unknown

The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers

2025
⭐ 8.0 Role: Self

50 Years of BBC Two Comedy

2014
⭐ 5.0 Role: Madame

Sub Rosa

2014
⭐ 7.3 Role: Joan

The Phone Call

2013
⭐ 4.4 Role: Woman in Pub

Run For Your Wife

2012
⭐ 5.2 Role: Great Aunt Greta

Horrid Henry: The Movie

2011
⭐ 8.4 Role: Self / Sybil Fawlty

Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened

2009
⭐ 6.9 Role: Dolly Keeling

The Shell Seekers

2007
No Image
⭐ 0 Role: Customer

Think

2007
⭐ 0 Role: Self

What the Pythons Did Next...

2007
⭐ 0 Role: Lady Moping

Mr. Loveday's Little Outing

2006
⭐ 5.0 Role: Herself

Fawlty Towers Revisited

2005
No Image
⭐ 6.5 Role: Sybil Fawlty (archive footage) (uncredited)

The Funny Blokes of British Comedy

2005
No Image
⭐ 0 Role: Grace

A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg

2002
No Image
⭐ 7.5 Role: Queen Victoria

Station Jim

2001