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Concept
Prunella Scales
Summary
Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales (née Illingworth; born 22 June 1932) is a retired English actor, best known for playing Sybil Fawlty, the bossy 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.
Scales was born in Sutton Abinger, Surrey, the daughter of Catherine (née Scales), an actress, and John Richardson Illingworth, a cotton salesman. Scales had a younger brother, Timothy "Timmo" Illingworth (1934–2017).
In 1939, at the start of the Second World War, Scales's parents moved with their children to Bucks Mill near Bideford in Devon. In 1942 Scales was awarded a scholarship to Moira House School which had been evacuated from Eastbourne to a hotel on Lake Windermere in Lancashire; her mother and brother accompanied her. Scales carried on her schooling when Moira House returned to Eastbourne. She was awarded a scholarship for the two year course at The Old Vic School in 1949; Moira House School had wished her to apply to Oxbridge.
Scales started her career in 1951 as an assistant stage manager at the Bristol Old Vic. But she has stated "I have always wanted to be an actor". Throughout her career, she has often been cast in comic roles. Her early work included the (now believed to be lost) second UK adaptation of Pride and Prejudice (1952), Laxdale Hall (1953), Hobson's Choice (1954), Room at the Top (1959) and Waltz of the Toreadors (1962).
Her career break came with the early 1960s sitcom Marriage Lines starring opposite Richard Briers. She played her most famous role, Sybil Fawlty in the sitcom Fawlty Towers, over two series in 1975 and 1979. In addition to this, she has had roles in BBC Radio 4 sitcoms, and comedy series including After Henry, Smelling of Roses and Ladies of Letters; on television she starred in the London Weekend Television/Channel 4 series Mapp & Lucia based on the novels by E.
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