Prunella Scales

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Known Credits

92

Gender

Female

Birthday

1932-06-22 (93 years old)

Place of Birth

Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK

Prunella Scales

Biography

Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales CBE (née Illingworth; 22 June 1932) is 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.

Known For

  • Midsomer Murders

    Midsomer Murders

  • Casualty

    Casualty

  • Loose Women

    Loose Women

  • Silent Witness

    Silent Witness

  • Agatha Christie's Marple

    Agatha Christie's Marple

  • BBC Play of the Month

    BBC Play of the Month

  • Bergerac

    Bergerac

  • Playhouse

    Playhouse

  • An Audience with...

    An Audience with...

  • Thirty-Minute Theatre

    Thirty-Minute Theatre

  • Dalziel & Pascoe

    Dalziel & Pascoe

  • Fawlty Towers

    Fawlty Towers

  • The Ghost of Greville Lodge

    The Ghost of Greville Lodge

  • Wolf

    Wolf

  • Emma

    Emma

  • The Hound of the Baskervilles

    The Hound of the Baskervilles

  • Target

    Target

  • Breaking the Code

    Breaking the Code

  • Never the Twain

    Never the Twain

  • The Wicked Lady

    The Wicked Lady

  • Waltz of the Toreadors

    Waltz of the Toreadors

  • Howards End

    Howards End

  • Outside Edge

    Outside Edge

  • An Awfully Big Adventure

    An Awfully Big Adventure

  • The Merry Wives of Windsor

    The Merry Wives of Windsor

  • Dennis the Menace and Gnasher

    Dennis the Menace and Gnasher

  • What Every Woman Wants

    What Every Woman Wants

  • Freddie as F.R.O.7.

    Freddie as F.R.O.7.

  • Mad Cows

    Mad Cows

  • Beyond The Pale

    Beyond The Pale

  • After Henry

    After Henry

  • Absurd Person Singular

    Absurd Person Singular

  • The Crowded Day

    The Crowded Day

  • Sub Rosa

    Sub Rosa

  • Second Best

    Second Best

  • Room at the Top

    Room at the Top

  • Hobson's Choice

    Hobson's Choice

  • Great Canal Journeys

    Great Canal Journeys

  • Horrid Henry: The Movie

    Horrid Henry: The Movie

  • A Chorus of Disapproval

    A Chorus of Disapproval

  • Consuming Passions

    Consuming Passions

  • An Ideal Husband

    An Ideal Husband

  • The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

    The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne

  • Laxdale Hall

    Laxdale Hall

  • The Boys from Brazil

    The Boys from Brazil

  • Keeping Mum

    Keeping Mum

  • Theatre Night

    Theatre Night

  • What the Butler Saw

    What the Butler Saw

  • What the Pythons Did Next...

    What the Pythons Did Next...

  • Unnatural Causes

    Unnatural Causes

  • Look at the State We're In!

    Look at the State We're In!

  • A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg

    A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg

  • The Littlest Horse Thieves

    The Littlest Horse Thieves

  • The Achurch Letters

    The Achurch Letters

  • Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened

    Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened

  • Mapp & Lucia

    Mapp & Lucia

  • Fair Game

    Fair Game

  • When We Are Married

    When We Are Married

  • Singles

    Singles

  • Mr. Loveday's Little Outing

    Mr. Loveday's Little Outing

  • 50 Years of BBC Two Comedy

    50 Years of BBC Two Comedy

  • Signs and Wonders

    Signs and Wonders

  • The Apple Cart

    The Apple Cart

  • Lord of Misrule

    Lord of Misrule

  • Slimming Down

    Slimming Down

  • The Royal

    The Royal

  • Seven of One

    Seven of One

  • The Phone Call

    The Phone Call

  • Thompson

    Thompson

  • The Rector's Wife

    The Rector's Wife

  • Marriage Lines

    Marriage Lines

  • Dickens

    Dickens

  • Run For Your Wife

    Run For Your Wife

  • A Question of Attribution

    A Question of Attribution

  • Bosses From Hell

    Bosses From Hell

  • Station Jim

    Station Jim

  • The World of Lee Evans

    The World of Lee Evans

  • Lucky Feller

    Lucky Feller

  • Pride and Prejudice

    Pride and Prejudice

  • The Tale of Little Pig Robinson

    The Tale of Little Pig Robinson

  • An Audience with Alf Garnett

    An Audience with Alf Garnett

  • Dirty Beasts

    Dirty Beasts

  • My Friend Walter

    My Friend Walter

  • The Shell Seekers

    The Shell Seekers

  • Stiff Upper Lips

    Stiff Upper Lips

  • Natural Causes

    Natural Causes

  • The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers

    The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers

  • Home Cooking

    Home Cooking

  • Revolting Rhymes

    Revolting Rhymes

  • Communicators From Hell

    Communicators From Hell

  • Doris and Doreen

    Doris and Doreen

  • Fawlty Towers Revisited

    Fawlty Towers Revisited