The Legendary Prunella Scales: From the Iconic Fawlty Towers to Great Canal Journeys

Prunella Scales, who died at 93 years old, was considered among Britain's most brilliant comic actors.

Despite a long and distinguished professional journey across theater and film, she will inevitably be remembered as the unforgettable Sybil Fawlty in the 1970s TV comedy, Fawlty Towers.

It was Sybil's mission throughout her existence to closely monitor her husband Basil described as a "stick insect" - portrayed by comedian John Cleese - amid telephone chats fueled by cigarettes with her friend, Audrey.

She was tasked to calm visitors who had been shouted at, totally ignored or, occasionally, physically confronted by Basil when during his particularly frenzied episodes.

Her nightmarish laugh, extraordinary hairstyle and ferocious temper were components of a carefully constructed character that stands as a comic masterpiece.

And while many actors would have distanced themselves from excessive identification with a single role, Scales always expressed her pleasure in having been part of the Fawlty Towers phenomenon.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

The actress born Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth was born in the Guildford area on June 22nd, 1932.

It was a family deeply in love with the theatre - her mother being, Catherine Scales, a former actor who'd abandoned her career for marriage and children.

Bright and bookish, following evacuation during the war to England's Lake District, Prunella attended Moira House educational institution in the coastal town of Eastbourne.

During 1949, she earned a scholarship to the prestigious Old Vic drama school and - two years later - obtained a role as a stage management assistant.

This was to the fury of her previous school principal in her hometown, who had wished she would seek admission to Cambridge and sent correspondence to the theater to express this opinion.

At drama school, Scales had been thought of as a junior character actor instead of a natural Juliet candidate.

"Everyone aspired to resemble Audrey Hepburn," she subsequently informed her chronicler, "however I lacked conventional beauty and attracted no admirers."

Young Prunella concealed her privileged background, conscious that directors were beginning to look for a new kind of earthy credibility in performers.

Nevertheless she began acquiring small roles in theatrical productions, and, while rehearsing for a part at Worthing's Connaught Theatre, she met Andrew Sachs, who would subsequently appear as Manuel the Spanish server, in the famous series.

There was an early television appearance in 1952, as the character Lydia Bennet in a television adaptation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, which included actor Peter Cushing - better known for his horror film performances - as Mr Darcy.

Her initial film appearances came a year later - in romantic comedy, the film Laxdale Hall, and David Lean's production Hobson's Choice, opposite the renowned Charles Laughton.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, she maintained constant employment - appearing on stage, film and television, featuring a short appearance as a bus conductor, Eileen Hughes, in the popular soap Coronation Street.

She also met colleague Timothy West.

Following what she characterized as "a gentle courtship involving crosswords and candies", they became a couple, and married in 1963.

Career Milestones and Defining Characters

Her major television opportunity came with Marriage Lines, a comedy program about recentlyweds, George and Kate Starling.

Scales performed alongside Richard Briers, then one of the biggest stars in TV humor. The show proved hugely popular and ran for five years.

Subsequently arrived Fawlty Towers, which propelled her to iconic status.

John Cleese and his then wife, Connie Booth, had submitted the first script of Fawlty Towers to the broadcasting corporation.

Performer Bridget Turner had been approached to play the Sybil role but she declined the part and Scales tried out for the character.

She subsequently recalled that Cleese was a hard taskmaster.

"John, appropriately, demanded strict script adherence, and failure to comply would understandably provoke his irritation."

Only 12 episodes were ever made.

The first series, which aired in 1975, didn't immediately attract massive viewership but, with subsequent episodes, its hilarious mix of ridiculous physical comedy and embarrassing situations grew in popularity.

Scales thought hard about portraying Sybil Fawlty, and decided that her social background had to be inferior to her husband Basil's.

Initially, the creators were unsure about the treatment.

"After witnessing the initial read-through," recalled Scales, "they embraced the concept completely."

Later in her career, she was, all too often, requested to portray stern matriarchs when she desired more glamorous roles.

However when questioned about her career pinnacle, Scales immediately identified in picking Sybil Fawlty.

"It was a tough job," she insisted, "but I'm still proud of it." She even thought it helped get audience members into performance venues.

"I believe that audience familiarity with one performance encourages attendance at others," she said.

Later Career and Personal Life

After Fawlty Towers, Scales maintained her career in television, comprising a stint as the frumpy Elizabeth Mapp in ITV's Mapp and Lucia.

Her vocal talents were frequently featured on radio, particularly the comedy program After Henry, which later transitioned to TV, and Ladies of Letters, with actress Patricia Routledge, which became an intrinsic part of the program Woman's Hour.

Scales appeared in at two major royal roles; as Queen Elizabeth in the BBC production of Alan Bennett's work, and as Queen Victoria in a solo performance that she presented four hundred times.

She obtained correspondence from one of Queen Elizabeth's security men who confessed that when Scales appeared, he rose to his feet.

"The response was automatic," she clarified. "I was thrilled."

During 1995, she started appearing as Dotty Turnbull in television commercials for the retail chain Tesco - which paid her partly in vouchers.

The advertising series, which ran for nine years, was identified as the biggest factor in establishing its dominant market position in the mid-nineties.

Scales subsequently faced moderate critique for taking part in the Tesco adverts, when she supported an initiative to stop local shops closing in her London community.

Among her most accomplished roles came in Breaking the Code, the film about World War II cryptanalysts.

She portrays the mother of Alan Turing, who embodies a society that criminalized same-sex relationships, an attitude that eventually led to his death.

Beyond performance, {Scales was