Prunella Scales
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1932-06-22 (93 years old)
Place of Birth
Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK
Prunella Scales
Biography
Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales CBE (née Illingworth; 22 June 1932) is 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.
Acting
(2025)
(2014)
Sub Rosa
as Madame
(2014)
50 Years of BBC Two Comedy
as Self
(2013)
The Phone Call
as Joan
(2012)
Run For Your Wife
as Woman in Pub
(2011)
Horrid Henry: The Movie
as Great Aunt Greta
(2009)
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
as Self / Sybil Fawlty
(2007)
What the Pythons Did Next...
as Self
(2007)
The Shell Seekers
as Dolly Keeling
(2006)
Mr. Loveday's Little Outing
as Lady Moping
(2005)
Fawlty Towers Revisited
as Herself
(2002)
A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg
as Grace
(2001)
Station Jim
as Queen Victoria
(2000)
(1999)
Mad Cows
as Dr. Minny Stinkler
(1999)
An Ideal Husband
as Lady Markby
(1998)
Stiff Upper Lips
as Aunt Agnes
(1997)
(1996)
Breaking the Code
as Sara Turing
(1996)
Emma
as Miss Bates
(1996)
Lord of Misrule
as Shirley
(1995)
An Awfully Big Adventure
as Rose
(1994)
Wolf
as Maude Waggins
(1994)
Second Best
as Margery
(1994)
Fair Game
as Marjorie
(1992)
Freddie as F.R.O.7.
as Queen (voice)
(1992)
Howards End
as Aunt Juley
(1992)
My Friend Walter
as Aunt Ellie
(1991)
A Question of Attribution
as H.M.Q.
(1990)
The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
as Fleecy Flock
(1990)
Revolting Rhymes
as Narrator
(1990)
Dirty Beasts
as Narrator
(1989)
Beyond The Pale
as Milly
(1989)
A Chorus of Disapproval
as Hannah Ap Llewellyn
(1989)
(1989)
(1988)
Consuming Passions
as Ethel
(1988)
Natural Causes
as Celia Bryce
(1987)
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
as Moira O'Neill
(1987)
What the Butler Saw
as Mrs Prentice
(1987)
When We Are Married
as Annie Parker
(1986)
Home Cooking
as Judith
(1985)
Absurd Person Singular
as Marion Brewster-Wright
(1984)
Slimming Down
as Mrs. Shrigley
(1983)
The Wicked Lady
as Lady Kingsclere
(1982)
Outside Edge
as Miriam
(1982)
The Merry Wives of Windsor
as Mistress Page
(1978)
The Hound of the Baskervilles
as Glynis
(1978)
The Boys from Brazil
as Mrs. Harrington
(1978)
Doris and Doreen
as Doris Rutter
(1977)
The Achurch Letters
as Florence Farr
(1976)
The Littlest Horse Thieves
as Mrs. Sandman
(1975)
The Apple Cart
as Queen Jemima
(1962)
Waltz of the Toreadors
as Estella Fitzjohn
(1958)
Room at the Top
as Council Office Worker (uncredited)
(1954)
The Crowded Day
as Customer
(1954)
Hobson's Choice
as Vicky Hobson
(1954)
What Every Woman Wants
as Mary
(1953)
Laxdale Hall
as Morag McLeod