John Cleese has paid tribute to his Fawlty Towers co-star Prunella Scales, who has died aged 93.
In a brief assertion issued to press, he described his on-screen spouse within the BBC sitcom as “a extremely great comedian actress,” and added: “Scene after scene she was completely excellent.”
In Fawlty Towers, Scales performed the irascible and long-suffering Sybil Fawlty, who was usually angered by the bumbling incompetence of husband and resort supervisor Basil, performed by Cleese. The 2 would usually butt heads as Basil tried to maintain his newest mishap from her consideration.
Cleese wrote the sequence with co-star and then-wife Connie Sales space, who performed chambermaid Polly. The present ran for simply two seasons between 1975 and 1979, however remains to be remembered as one of many UK’s best ever sitcoms.
In February 2023, Monty Python star Cleese introduced a plan to reboot Fawlty Towers, growing new scripts for a sequence set in a Caribbean resort alongside his daughter Camilla Cleese and Rob Reiner‘s Fortress Rock Leisure.
Scales handed away yesterday at dwelling after a protracted battle with dementia. This got here slightly below a 12 months after her husband of 61 years, actor Timothy West, died aged 90. Collectively, they fronted the mild Channel 4 sequence Nice Canal Journeys between 2014 and 2019.
Tributes have come flooring in for Scales, who additionally acted the likes of The Hound of the Baskervilles, The Boys from Brazil and Howards Finish, and obtained a BAFTA nomination for her function taking part in Queen Elizabeth II in A Query of Attribution.
BAFTA, the British TV and movie academy, stated in an announcement: “We’re saddened to listen to that actress Prunella Scales has died, aged 93. A lot-loved for portraying Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, Scales had a long-standing profession and was nominated for a BAFTA in 1992 for enjoying Queen Elizabeth II in Alan Bennett’s A Query Of Attribution.”
BBC Director of Comedy Jon Petrie stated: “All of us at BBC Comedy are so sorry to listen to of Prunella Scales’ passing. She was a nationwide treasure whose brilliance as Sybil Fawlty lit up screens and nonetheless makes us giggle immediately. We ship our love and condolences to her household and mates.”
