Prunella Scales
Acting
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
2025The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers
201450 Years of BBC Two Comedy
Self
2014Sub Rosa
Madame
2013The Phone Call
Joan
2012Run For Your Wife
Woman in Pub
2011Horrid Henry: The Movie
Great Aunt Greta
2009Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
Self / Sybil Fawlty
2007The Shell Seekers
Dolly Keeling
2007What the Pythons Did Next...
Self
2006Mr. Loveday's Little Outing
Lady Moping
2005Fawlty Towers Revisited
Herself
2000The Ghost of Greville Lodge
Sarah
1999An Ideal Husband
Lady Markby
1999Mad Cows
Dr. Minny Stinkler
1998Stiff Upper Lips
Aunt Agnes
1997An Audience with Alf Garnett
1996Emma
Miss Bates
1996Breaking the Code
Sara Turing
1995An Awfully Big Adventure
Rose
1994Wolf
Maude Waggins
1994Second Best
Margery
1994Fair Game
Marjorie
1994The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher
Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (voice)
1992Freddie As F.R.O.7.
Queen (voice)