Legendary actor Timothy West, who was married to Fawlty Towers actress Prunella Scales, has died aged 90.
West enjoyed a prestigious career in theater and television, having starred in shows including the comedy-drama Brass, the comedy Not Going Out and the soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders.
His children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West announced the tragic news with a statement shared on social media, saying he died peacefully in his sleep “with his friends and family at the end.”
The statement read: “After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our beloved father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep last night. He was 90 years old.
‘Tim was with friends and family at the end. He leaves his wife Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. We will all miss him very much.
“We would like to thank the incredible NHS staff at St George’s Hospital, Tooting and Avery Wandsworth for their loving care during his final days.”
Emotional messages have flooded social media following the EastEnders star’s death, with broadcaster Piers Morgan, fellow actor James Dreyfus and Gyles Brandreth among those to pay tribute.
Legendary actor Timothy West (pictured), who was married to Fawlty Towers actress Prunella Scales, has died aged 90.
Their children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West revealed the tragic news in a joint statement.
West was married to actress Prunella Scales for more than 60 years.
The couple married in 1963, 12 years before she played Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, the role for which she is best known.
Timothy West pictured with Queen Camilla in May 2024
The TalkTV presenter, 59, paid tribute to the “wonderful” man, alongside a photo with Timothy from when he appeared on My Life Stories.
He wrote: ‘A wonderful actor and a lovely man. My Life Stories’ interview with him, while the love of his life, Prunella Scales, sat in the audience, was very moving.
“They were married for 61 years and his devotion to her after she developed Alzheimer’s was deeply moving.”
Dreyfus wrote in X: ‘Wonderful actor. A constant in many of our lives. We will miss him very much. My thoughts with his family. RIP Timothy West.’
Alongside a sweet photo of Timothy, Gyles Brandreth, 76, said: ‘Cheers Tim! And thank you. A wonderful man: a wonderful actor, husband, father and friend.
‘On stage, on screen, on a canal boat, at the end of a pier (he loved seaside piers!), in the garden with a glass of wine, he was simply the best. The great Timothy West has died aged 90: what a valuable and full life.’
West was married to fellow actress Prunella Scales for more than 60 years and got married. in 1963, 12 years before playing Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, the role for which she is best known.
Prunella and Timothy starred together in their own Channel 4 TV show, Great Canal Journeys, between 2014 and 2021, but were forced to quit after the actress was diagnosed with dementia.
Prunella filmed her last show in October 2019, but the couple appeared in more than 30 episodes of the show.
The program documented the voyages that Prunella and Timothy would take in narrowboats through Europe, Egypt and India, and were involved in the campaign to revive the Kennet & Avon Canal in the 1980s.
West also starred in television shows including the comedy drama Brass, the comedy Not Going Out and the soap operas Coronation Street and EastEnders.
In an interview with The Daily Mail in 2023, West revealed the pain of watching his wife walk away in the middle of their battle.
He said: ‘The part I have always found most difficult as a carer is being patient. It’s fair to say that I’ve never been particularly well-endowed in this department, although I try to keep everything under control.
‘Not only for Pru’s sake, who these days forgets everything in an instant, but for mine and those around us.
‘What I find especially frustrating is that she can perfectly understand everything I say. He just can’t hear me very well.
Timothy West photographed with his wife Prunella Scales in the play The External
Timothy West on the set of Gentleman Jack in Halifax, Yorkshire, in 2018
West photographed with his son Samuel West, 56, who is also an actor, in October 2010.
West’s son, Samuel West, 56, is also an actor and is a household name for his lead role in All Creatures Great and Small.
He was also married to actress Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961 and they had a daughter, Juliet West.
In Brass he played ruthless businessman Bradley Hardacre from 1982 to 1984 before returning for a third series in 1990, while in Not Going Out he played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams, played by Sally Bretton.
In Coronation Street he appeared in seven episodes in 2013 as Eric Babbage, while in EastEnders he played Stan Carter from 2014 to 2015.
During his career, West also played former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill three times, in From Churchill and the Generals (1979), The Last Bastion (1984) and Hiroshima (1995).
In 2019, the Bradford-born actor played Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes, a recreation of three lost episodes of the BBC comedy Dad’s Army.
His film roles included Commissioner Berthier in The Day of the Jackal (1973), King Francis in Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998), and Nazi doctor and war criminal Karl Gebhardt in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973). .
On stage, he was a frequent Shakespeare performer, playing Lear in 2016 and 2002.
He performed at the Piccadilly Theatre, with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theater and the West End, playing many classic roles including Shylock, Falstaff and Macbeth.
In 1984, West was appointed CBE for services to theater in the Queen’s Birthday Honors List.
Before acting, West had attended John Lyon School and Bristol Grammar School, and worked as an office furniture salesman and recording technician before becoming assistant stage manager at the Wimbledon Theater in 1956.