Copyright huffingtonpost
John Cleese has paid his respects to his former Fawlty Towers co-star Prunella Scales, following her death at the age of 93. The two actors played Basil and Sybil Fawlty in the beloved BBC sitcom, which ran for just two seasons between 1975 and 1979, but has gone on to become one of the most iconic shows in the history of British television. On Tuesday, Prunella’s family issued a statement confirming that the Bafta nominee had “died peacefully at home in London” the previous day. Following the news, John shared a statement of his own paying tribute to his one-time on-screen wife. “How very sad,” he began. “Pru was a really wonderful comic actress.” Recalling how “scene after scene she was absolutely perfect” in her performance as Sybil Fawlty, the former Monty Python star continued: “She was a very sweet lady, who spent a lot of her life apologising. I used to tease her about it. I was very, very fond of her.” As well as her work in Fawlty Towers, Prunella was known for her work in the likes of After Henry, Howards End, The Shell Seekers and a series of popular adverts for Tesco in the 1990s. Notably, she was also nominated for a Bafta for her performance as Queen Elizabeth II in Alan Bennett’s A Question Of Attribution. She was also recognised by the Oliviers for her work in the plays Make And Break and Single Spies. In 2014, she was diagnosed with vascular dementia, but continued to appear in the travel series Great Canal Journeys with her husband, fellow actor Timothy West, which they co-presented together for 10 seasons. The pair were married from 1963 until Timothy’s death last year, at the age of 90. Prunella is survived by her two sons and stepdaughter, as well as her seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
