Prunella Scales
Acting1932Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK
Biography
Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales CBE (née Illingworth; 22 June 1932) was 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
Acting History
2014
2013
The Phone Call
as Joan
2012
Run For Your Wife
as Woman in Pub
2011
Horrid Henry: The Movie
as Great Aunt Greta
The Royal
TVas Red Admiral• 1 eps
2009
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
as Self / Sybil Fawlty
Agatha Christie's Marple
TVas Mrs Mackenzie• 1 eps
2007
2006
Mr. Loveday's Little Outing
as Lady Moping
2005
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
as Sybil Fawlty (archive footage) (uncredited)
Fawlty Towers Revisited
as Herself
2002
A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg
as Grace
Dickens
TVas Elizabeth Dickens
2001
Station Jim
as Queen Victoria
Silent Witness
TVas Anne Parker• 2 eps
2000
The Ghost of Greville Lodge
as Sarah
Midsomer Murders
TVas Eleanor Bunsall• 1 eps
1999
1998
Stiff Upper Lips
as Aunt Agnes
1997
1996
Emma
as Miss Bates
Lord of Misrule
as Shirley
Breaking the Code
as Sara Turing
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
TVas Mrs. Duffel
1995
An Awfully Big Adventure
as Rose
The World of Lee Evans
TVas Mother
Look at the State We're In!
TVas Storyteller
Signs and Wonders
TVas Elizabeth Palmore
1994
Wolf
as Maude Waggins
Fair Game
as Marjorie
Second Best
as Margery
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher
as Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (voice)
The Rector's Wife
TVas Marjorie Richardson
1992
1991
A Question of Attribution
as H.M.Q.
1990
1989
A Chorus of Disapproval
as Hannah Ap Llewellyn
Beyond The Pale
as Milly
1988
1987
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
as Moira O'Neill
What the Butler Saw
as Mrs Prentice
When We Are Married
as Annie Parker
1986
1985
Absurd Person Singular
as Marion Brewster-Wright
Theatre Night
TVas Mrs. Prentice
Mapp & Lucia
TVas Miss Elizabeth Mapp
1984
Slimming Down
as Mrs. Shrigley
1983
The Wicked Lady
as Lady Kingsclere
Singles
as Gail
1982
The Merry Wives of Windsor
as Mistress Page
Outside Edge
as Miriam
1981
Never the Twain
TVas Susan Peel
Bergerac
TVas Gloria Gibbins• 1 eps
1978
The Hound of the Baskervilles
as Glynis
The Boys from Brazil
as Mrs. Harrington
Doris and Doreen
as Doris Rutter
1977
1976
The Littlest Horse Thieves
as Mrs. Sandman
1975
The Apple Cart
as Queen Jemima
Fawlty Towers
TVas Sybil Fawlty• 12 eps
BBC Play of the Month
TVas Queen Jemima• 1 eps
1973
The Ring of Truth
as Babs Pickard
Seven of One
TVas Marion Joyce
1971
Thirty-Minute Theatre
TVas Marie• 1 eps
1962
Waltz of the Toreadors
as Estella Fitzjohn
1961
Faces of Jim
TVas Laura Morrell
1958
Room at the Top
as Council Office Worker (uncredited)
1954
1953
Laxdale Hall
as Morag McLeod
1952
Pride and Prejudice
TVas Lydia Bennet