Heartbroken Fawlty Towers legend Prunella Scales now faces her dementia battle alone after the death of her beloved husband Timothy West at the age of 90.
The actress, 92, who has had vascular dementia for more than two decades, was cared for in part by her other half at their home in Wandsworth, which they had lived in for almost all of their 61-year marriage.
Timothy, whose death was announced by his children today, said last year that his wife wanted to stay in the family home ‘until the end’.
‘If I go first, the services that we don’t use at the moment will probably look after her, but on my own, I don’t think I’d want to stay,’ he said.
Despite her illness, which was formally diagnosed in 2013 after symptoms first emerged in 2001, Prunella worked with a personal trainer twice a week and still enjoyed tending to her roses in the garden.
The couple also had a regular paid carer, personal assistant and gardener.
Timothy, who starred in shows Brass, Edward the Seventh, EastEnders and Great Canal Journeys with his wife, passed away last night.
His children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West announced the tragic news with a shared statement on social media, saying he died peacefully in his sleep ‘with his friends and family at the end’.
Timothy married Prunella in 1963, before she played John Cleese‘s on-screen wife Sybil Fawlty in the iconic British comedy series. The actress was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2014.
Fawlty Towers legend Prunella Scales now faces her dementia battle alone in the home she shared with her beloved husband Timothy West for nearly 60 years, after his death at the age of 90. Above: The couple at their home last year
Timothy West and Prunella Scales with their sons Joseph and Samuel in 1975
Timothy West and Prunella Scales seen together at their wedding in 1963
Legendary actor Timothy West who was married to Fawlty Towers actor Prunella Scales (pictured together in February 2024) has died aged 90
As showbusiness royalty, Timothy and Prunella were in the position to afford a lot of domestic help.
Besides their assistant Tania and Prunella’s carer, the couple also had use of a driver to take them to shows in the West End.
And both Timothy and a regular visitor called Luke would play chess with Prunella to help her cognitive function.
Timothy reiterated last year that he and his wife would ‘never consider’ going into a care home.
‘Pru won’t be worrying about that because we won’t have mentioned it,’ he told the Telegraph.
‘We will always stay here. Maybe [one day] people will say, “I’m sorry, I’m trying to wait on you but I’m not going up all those stairs”, but we’ve been in this house for quite a long time.
‘And there are things here that are about us, an awful lot of books. I don’t want to move somewhere else. I don’t mind somebody here to make things easier for us.’
In an interview with The Daily Mail in 2023, Timothy revealed the heartache at seeing his wife deteriorate amid her health battle.
Prunella and Timothy previously starred together in their own Channel 4 TV show, Great Canal Journeys, between 2014 and 2021, but were forced to quit due to her ailing health.
Together, the couple had two sons, Joseph and actor Samuel West, 58, who is currently starring in All Creatures Great and Small.
West was previously married to actress Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, and they had a daughter, Juliet.
His children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West revealed the tragic news in a joint statement
West was married to fellow actress Prunella Scales for more than 60 years
Timothy West pictured with Queen Camilla in May 2024
Timothy pictured with his son Samuel West, 56, who is also an actor, in October 2010
The statement announcing Mr West’s death read: ‘After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening. 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. All of us will miss him terribly.
‘We would like to thank the incredible NHS staff at St George’s Hospital, Tooting and at Avery Wandsworth for their loving care during his last days.’
Prunella was formally diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013, though the signs of her illness were there long before.
Timothy first noticed something was not right when he saw her perform in a play in Greenwich in 2001.
Then, during a 2003 production of Oscar Wilde’s A Woman of No Importance at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London’s West End, she kept slipping her lines.
In an interview with the BBC last year, West said he recalled every word of that life-changing moment when the doctor finally diagnosed her condition: ‘We went to see a specialist who said, ‘Sorry this is just something which happens to you when you are older and it’s not going to get any easier, but you can cope with it. Don’t let it get you down.”
Timothy West pictured with his wife Prunella Scales in the play The External
Timothy West on set of Gentleman Jack in Halifax, Yorkshire, in 2018
Timothy West and Prunella Scales pictured with their son Sam West
Prunella Scales and Timothy West performing together in the When We Were Married play in Whitehall Theatre in 1986
Timothy West plays the role of Edward VII in 1975
Timothy West as Rev Cottrell in Agatha Christie’s Poirot in 2010
Prunella Scales with her husband Timothy West at the Cafe Pelican London in 1985
Timothy West and his son Samuel West performing in Henry IV at the Old Vic Theatre in 1997
Timothy starred in television shows such as comedy drama Brass, sitcom Not Going Out and soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders.
In Brass he played ruthless self-made 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 missing episodes of the BBC comedy Dad’s Army.
His film roles included Commissioner Berthier in The Day Of The Jackal (1973), King Francis in From Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998), and Nazi physician and war criminal Karl Gebhardt in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973).
On stage, he was a regular performer of Shakespeare, playing Lear in 2016 and 2002.
He performed at the Piccadilly Theatre, with the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National Theatre, and the West End, portraying many classic roles, including Shylock, Falstaff, and Macbeth.
In 1984, West was appointed CBE for his services to drama in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Prior to acting, West had attended the John Lyon School and Bristol Grammar School, and worked as an office furniture salesman and a recording technician before becoming an assistant stage manager at Wimbledon Theatre in 1956.
Emotional messages have poured in following his death. Paying tribute to West on Times Radio, broadcaster Angela Rippon, who campaigned alongside him to destigmatise dementia, said he would be a ‘huge loss to everybody’.
She said: ‘Timothy really will be a huge loss, obviously, to Pru, but I think a huge loss to everybody who came to love and respect them, not just the general public, but particularly those who live with dementia.’
The presenter continued: ‘I think between them, Timothy and Pru did an amazing, amazing job of convincing people that dementia was not something that you should be always afraid of, but something that you could embrace and live with and live with well.’
Timothy West with his wife Prunella Scales, at home in South London in December 2023
Timothy West pictured as Mr Bumble while filming Oliver Twist
Timothy West with his wife Prunella Scales and British actor Rodney Bewes in a scene from the stage production of Big In Brazil at the Old Vic in 1984
Prunella Scales and Timothy West at the UK Theatre Awards in 2012
TalkTV presenter Piers Morgan, 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 delightful man. My Life Stories interview with him, as the love of his life Prunella Scales sat in the audience, was so moving.
‘They were married 61yrs, and his devotion to her after she developed Alzheimer’s was profoundly touching.’
Mr Dreyfus wrote on X: ‘Marvellous actor. A constant in many of our lives. He shall be much missed. My thoughts with his family. RIP Timothy West.’
Alongside a sweet picture of Timothy, Gyles Brandreth, 76, said: ‘Cheers, Tim! And thank you. A marvellous man – a marvellous actor, husband, father, friend.
‘On stage, on screen, on a canal boat, on the end of a pier (he loved a seaside pier!), in the garden with a glass of wine, he was just the best. The great Timothy West has died at 90: what a worthwhile, well-filled life.’
Rev. Richard Coles also wrote: ‘Dearest Sam, my condolences to you and yours xxx’
Timothy’s EastEnders co-star Danny Dyer also wrote on social media: ‘Can’t believe it. [broken heart emojis].’
EastEnders also paid tribute after the actor’s long incredible career on the soap, writing: ‘We are extremely saddened to hear that Timothy West has passed away.
‘Timothy joined EastEnders as Stan and his presence as the patriarch of the Carter family was immediately felt. He will forever be in our hearts. We send all our love and thoughts to Timothy’s family and friends.’
But those who knew West the most acknowledge the only roles that were important to him were as a devoted husband and father.
That became all the more apparent after Prunella was formally diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2014, though the signs of her illness were there long before.
West revealed in his book that the actress had kept slipping her lines during a 2003 production of Oscar Wilde’s A Woman Of No Importance at the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London’s West End.