Acting
Prunella Scales
EN cinema · 64 credits
Born
22 June 1932
Died
27 October 2025 (aged 93)
Birthplace
Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK
Also known as Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales · Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth · پرونلا اسکیلز
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
Filmography
Sub Rosa
as Madame
The Phone Call
as Joan
Run For Your Wife
as Woman in Pub
Horrid Henry: The Movie
as Great Aunt Greta
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
as Self / Sybil Fawlty
The Shell Seekers
as Dolly Keeling
Think
2007
Think
as Customer
Mr. Loveday's Little Outing
as Lady Moping
Fawlty Towers Revisited
as Herself
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
2005
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
as Sybil Fawlty (archive footage) (uncredited)
Station Jim
as Queen Victoria
An Ideal Husband
as Lady Markby
Mad Cows
as Dr. Minny Stinkler
Stiff Upper Lips
as Aunt Agnes
Emma
as Miss Bates
Breaking the Code
as Sara Turing
Wolf
as Maude Waggins
Second Best
as Margery
Fair Game
as Marjorie
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher
as Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (voice)
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
as Queen (voice)
Howards End
as Aunt Juley
My Friend Walter
as Aunt Ellie
Dirty Beasts
as Narrator
Revolting Rhymes
as Narrator
The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
as Fleecy Flock
A Chorus of Disapproval
as Hannah Ap Llewellyn
Beyond The Pale
as Milly
Consuming Passions
as Ethel
Natural Causes
as Celia Bryce
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
as Moira O'Neill
What the Butler Saw
as Mrs Prentice
When We Are Married
as Annie Parker
Home Cooking
as Judith
Absurd Person Singular
as Marion Brewster-Wright
Slimming Down
as Mrs. Shrigley
The Wicked Lady
as Lady Kingsclere
Outside Edge
as Miriam
The Merry Wives of Windsor
as Mistress Page
Doris and Doreen
as Doris Rutter
The Boys from Brazil
as Mrs. Harrington
The Achurch Letters
as Florence Farr
The Littlest Horse Thieves
as Mrs. Sandman
The Apple Cart
1975
The Apple Cart
as Queen Jemima
The Ring of Truth
1973
The Ring of Truth
as Babs Pickard
Waltz of the Toreadors
as Estella Fitzjohn
Room at the Top
as Council Office Worker (uncredited)
Hobson's Choice
as Vicky Hobson
The Crowded Day
as Customer
Laxdale Hall
1953
Laxdale Hall
as Morag McLeod