Prunella Scales

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.
Place of Birth:
Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK
Known for:
Acting
Birthday:
Jun 22, 1932
Died on:
Oct 27, 2025

Casting Carrer

6.1
Wolf
8.2
Fawlty Towers
7.0
Howards End
6.7
The Boys from Brazil
7.5
Midsomer Murders
7.3
Hobson's Choice
6.8
Room at the Top
6.5
Emma
5.2
Horrid Henry: The Movie
7.7
Agatha Christie's Marple
6.1
Casualty
7.5
Silent Witness
6.5
An Awfully Big Adventure
7.3
The Phone Call
4.2
The Hound of the Baskervilles
5.2
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
6.7
Second Best
3.2
Loose Women
4.7
The Wicked Lady
6.4
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
6.2
Dalziel & Pascoe
5.3
A Chorus of Disapproval
5.1
Breaking the Code
6.7
Bergerac
6.2
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
3.3
Mad Cows
4.4
Run For Your Wife
4.8
Waltz of the Toreadors
5.1
Stiff Upper Lips
3.4
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1
What the Butler Saw
6.8
The Littlest Horse Thieves
5.4
The Crowded Day
5
BBC Play of the Month
6.6
Never the Twain
6.6
A Question of Attribution
7.6
The Royal
6
Mapp & Lucia
3.7
Fair Game
6.9
The Shell Seekers
1
Thompson
6.5
An Ideal Husband
5
Sub Rosa
7
Seven of One
6
The Ghost of Greville Lodge
8.8
Great Canal Journeys
5.3
An Audience with...
7.2
Lucky Feller
5.7
After Henry
8
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
6.3
What Every Woman Wants
6.3
Target
5.5
Marriage Lines
5.5
Unnatural Causes
6
Laxdale Hall
6
The World of Lee Evans
8
Consuming Passions
8
50 Years of BBC Two Comedy
8
The Merry Wives of Windsor
8
Absurd Person Singular
5
Fawlty Towers Revisited
6
Doris and Doreen
6
Outside Edge
6
Singles
7
Station Jim
7
Playhouse
8
The Rector's Wife
N/R
Mr. Loveday's Little Outing
N/R
A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg
N/R
Dirty Beasts
N/R
Revolting Rhymes
N/R
An Audience with Alf Garnett
N/R
Beyond The Pale
N/R
The Apple Cart
N/R
What the Pythons Did Next...
N/R
Lord of Misrule
N/R
Natural Causes
N/R
My Friend Walter
N/R
The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
N/R
Home Cooking
N/R
When We Are Married
N/R
Slimming Down
N/R
The Achurch Letters
N/R
Bosses From Hell
N/R
Communicators From Hell
N/R
The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers
N/R
Keeping Mum
N/R
Look at the State We're In!
N/R
Signs and Wonders
N/R
Pride and Prejudice
N/R
Theatre Night
N/R
Dickens