Social Entertainment / People

Prunella Scales

Acting · Born June 22, 1932 · Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK

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.

Movies with Prunella Scales

• Wolf (1994) — Maude Waggins
• Horrid Henry: The Movie (2011) — Great Aunt Greta
• Howards End (1992) — Aunt Juley
• The Boys from Brazil (1978) — Mrs. Harrington
• Emma (1996) — Miss Bates
• An Awfully Big Adventure (1995) — Rose
• Consuming Passions (1988) — Ethel
• Room at the Top (1958) — Council Office Worker (uncredited)
• Freddie As F.R.O.7. (1992) — Queen (voice)
• Hobson's Choice (1954) — Vicky Hobson
• Second Best (1994) — Margery
• The Wicked Lady (1983) — Lady Kingsclere

TV shows with Prunella Scales

• Fawlty Towers (1975) — Sybil Fawlty
• After Henry (1988) — Sarah France
• Mapp & Lucia (1985) — Miss Elizabeth Mapp
• Marriage Lines (1961) — Kate Starling
• Great Canal Journeys (2014) — Self