Prunella Scales . She is married to Timothy West since 1963. Mother of Samuel West. Commander - Order of the British Empire.
Mother of Joseph West and Samuel West.
Has a step-daughter named Juliet West.
She was awarded the Patricia Rothermere Award at the 2001 London Evening Standard Theatre Award for her contributions to British Theatre.
British classical stage actress trained at both the Old Vic Theatre School in London and the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.
Achieved her greatest success on TV as the nosy, shrewish wife "Sybil Fawlty" on the classic John Cleese comedy "Fawlty Towers" .
She was awarded the CBE in the 1992 Queens Birthday Honours List for her services to drama while her husband, Timothy West , was awarded his CBE in the 1984 Queens Birthday Honours List.
In October of 2003, she became seriously ill and was taken to the hospital for emergency heart operation (angioplasty).
She played Queen Victoria in Looking for Victoria . Her son Samuel West had previously played Prince Albert Victor Edward, Duke of Clarence, Queen Victorias grandson, in both "Edward the Seventh" and The Ripper while her husband Timothy West played the eponymous role of Queen Victorias eldest son and eventual successor in the former.
Longtime friend of "Fawlty Towers" co-star, comedian John Cleese.
Had a photographic memory.
Daughter-in-law of Lockwood West.
Fronted British TV advertising campaign for Tesco as a fussy mother alongside her long-suffering daughter played by TV comedienne and actress Jane Horrocks.
In January 2013, she revealed that she had begun to suffer from short term memory loss and was unable to remember the years in which her sons were born or the year she married her husband, Timothy West. In March 2014, West announced that his wife was suffering from mild Alzheimers disease, however, by August 2015, her condition had worsened to the point where she could no longer remember any details about their wedding or their married life together.
Has two granddaughters, born in 2014 and 2017, via son Samuel West and his partner Laura Wade.
There is a musical band named Prunella Scales.
She was awarded the Freeman of the City of London in 1990.
She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of Bradford in England in 1999.
She was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Letters from the University of East Anglia in 2000.
Her stage name "Scales" was actually her mothers maiden name.
Daughter of John (1895-1977), born in Hampshire, England, and Catherine (ne Scales) Illingworth (1901-1982), born in Yorkshire, England.
Maternal granddaughter of Walter (1851-1914) and Edith (ne Birkinshaw) Scales (1863-1925). Both were born in Yorkshire, England.
Maternal great granddaughter of John (1833-1909), born in Sheffield, Yorkshire, and Annie (ne Tilford) Birkinshaw (1836-1915), born in Ireland.
