London, Oct 29 (UNI) Prunella Scales, the actress best known for playing Sybil Fawlty in 1970s British comedy series “Fawlty Towers,” has died at age of 93, her family told the UK’s PA Media news agency Tuesday.
Her family said in the statement that Scales “died peacefully at home in London” Monday. She had been watching “Fawlty Towers” the day before, they added.
Widely considered one of the funniest TV shows of all time, “Fawlty Towers” starred Scales as the long-suffering wife of Basil Fawlty (played by John Cleese) – a rude hotel manager who forever appeared to be on the brink of a nervous breakdown, reports CNN.
The show, which ran in two six-part series, in 1975 and 1979, was a huge hit in Britain and went on to become a cult classic in the United States. Scales’ catchphrase was simply her husband’s name – Basil – which she screeched at every opportunity.
Born Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth on June 6, 1932, Scales took her mother’s maiden name as her stage name. She studied at the Old Vic Theatre School in London, followed by the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.
Scales, who was awarded the CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the 1992 Queen’s Birthday Honours List for her services to drama, married fellow British actor Timothy West in 1963. The couple had two sons, Joe and Samuel – the latter also an actor and director, who starred alongside his mother in the 1992 triple Oscar-winner “Howard’s End.”
Besides “Fawlty Towers”, Scales’ many screen credits included roles in the 1978 thriller “The Boys from Brazil,” which starred Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier, and 1994’s “Wolf,” alongside Jack Nicholson.
Her husband, West, died in November last year.
Her family said Tuesday: “Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home.”
