Actor

Prunella Scales

Birthday: June 22, 1932

Born in: 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.

Movie Credits

The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers (2025)
Age: 92
50 Years of BBC Two Comedy (2014) as Self
Age: 81
Sub Rosa (2014) as Madame
Age: 81
The Phone Call (2013) as Joan
Age: 81
Run For Your Wife (2012) as Woman in Pub
Age: 79
Horrid Henry: The Movie (2011) as Great Aunt Greta
Age: 79
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened (2009) as Self / Sybil Fawlty
Age: 76
The Shell Seekers (2007) as Dolly Keeling
Age: 75
Think (2007) as Customer
Age: 75
What the Pythons Did Next... (2007) as Self
Age: 74
Mr. Loveday's Little Outing (2006) as Lady Moping
Age: 73
Fawlty Towers Revisited (2005) as Herself
Age: 73
A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg (2002) as Grace
Age: 69
Station Jim (2001) as Queen Victoria
Age: 69
The Ghost of Greville Lodge (2000) as Sarah
Age: 68
Mad Cows (1999) as Dr. Minny Stinkler
Age: 67
An Ideal Husband (1999) as Lady Markby
Age: 66
Stiff Upper Lips (1998) as Aunt Agnes
Age: 65
An Audience with Alf Garnett (1997)
Age: 64
Emma (1996) as Miss Bates
Age: 64
Breaking the Code (1996) as Sara Turing
Age: 64
Lord of Misrule (1996) as Shirley
Age: 63
An Awfully Big Adventure (1995) as Rose
Age: 62
Second Best (1994) as Margery
Age: 62
Wolf (1994) as Maude Waggins
Age: 61
Fair Game (1994) as Marjorie
Age: 61
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher (1994) as Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (voice)
Age: 61
Freddie As F.R.O.7. (1992) as Queen (voice)
Age: 60
My Friend Walter (1992) as Aunt Ellie
Age: 59
Howards End (1992) as Aunt Juley
Age: 59
A Question of Attribution (1991) as H.M.Q.
Age: 59
The Tale of Little Pig Robinson (1990) as Fleecy Flock
Age: 58
Dirty Beasts (1990) as Narrator
Age: 57
Revolting Rhymes (1990) as Narrator
Age: 57
Beyond The Pale (1989) as Milly
Age: 57
A Chorus of Disapproval (1989) as Hannah Ap Llewellyn
Age: 57
Bosses From Hell (1989)
Age: 56
Communicators From Hell (1989)
Age: 56
Natural Causes (1988) as Celia Bryce
Age: 56
Consuming Passions (1988) as Ethel
Age: 55
When We Are Married (1987) as Annie Parker
Age: 55
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1987) as Moira O'Neill
Age: 55
What the Butler Saw (1987) as Mrs Prentice
Age: 54
Home Cooking (1986) as Judith
Age: 54
Absurd Person Singular (1985) as Marion Brewster-Wright
Age: 52
Slimming Down (1984) as Mrs. Shrigley
Age: 52
The Wicked Lady (1983) as Lady Kingsclere
Age: 50
Singles (1983) as Gail
Age: 50
The Merry Wives of Windsor (1982) as Mistress Page
Age: 50
Outside Edge (1982) as Miriam
Age: 50
Doris and Doreen (1978) as Doris Rutter
Age: 46
The Boys from Brazil (1978) as Mrs. Harrington
Age: 46
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978) as Glynis
Age: 46
The Achurch Letters (1977) as Florence Farr
Age: 44
The Littlest Horse Thieves (1976) as Mrs. Sandman
Age: 43
The Apple Cart (1975) as Queen Jemima
Age: 42
Waltz of the Toreadors (1962) as Estella Fitzjohn
Age: 29
Room at the Top (1958) as Council Office Worker (uncredited)
Age: 26
The Crowded Day (1954) as Customer
Age: 22
What Every Woman Wants (1954) as Mary
Age: 21
Hobson's Choice (1954) as Vicky Hobson
Age: 21
Laxdale Hall (1953) as Morag McLeod
Age: 20