Prunella Scales
Actress
93 years (Jun 22, 1932 – Oct 27, 2025)Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK
Prunella Scales has built a career as a British television actress who has grown familiar through repetition rather than through one big title. At 66 credits the list is a long one. She played Sybil Fawlty in 'Fawlty Towers' across 12 episodes. She has a part in 'Wolf'. Drama is the usual register.
Prunella Scales
Actress
Prunella Scales has built a career as a British television actress who has grown familiar through repetition rather than through one big title. At 66 credits the list is a long one. She played Sybil Fawlty in 'Fawlty Towers' across 12 episodes. She has a part in 'Wolf'. Drama is the usual register.
36 Movies
Plays Maude Waggins
Wolf
1994
Plays Aunt Juley
Howards End
1992
Plays Mrs. Harrington
The Boys from Brazil
1978
Plays Queen (voice)
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
1992
Plays Ethel
Consuming Passions
1988
Plays Great Aunt Greta
Horrid Henry: The Movie
2011
Plays Vicky Hobson
Hobson's Choice
1954
Plays Annie Parker
When We Are Married
1987
Plays Aunt Agnes
Stiff Upper Lips
1998
Plays Madame
Sub Rosa
2014
Plays Rose
An Awfully Big Adventure
1995
Plays Margery
Second Best
1994
Plays Lady Markby
An Ideal Husband
1999
Plays Hannah Ap Llewellyn
A Chorus of Disapproval
1989
Plays Lady Kingsclere
The Wicked Lady
1983
Plays Woman in Pub
Run For Your Wife
2012
Plays Dolly Keeling
The Shell Seekers
2007
Plays Moira O'Neill
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
1987
Plays Estella Fitzjohn
Waltz of the Toreadors
1962
Plays Glynis
The Hound of the Baskervilles
1978
Plays Mary
What Every Woman Wants
1954
Plays Mrs. Sandman
The Littlest Horse Thieves
1976
Plays Mrs Prentice
What the Butler Saw
1987
Plays Dr. Minny Stinkler
Mad Cows
1999
Plays Joan
The Phone Call
2013
Plays Customer
The Crowded Day
1954
Plays Miriam
Outside Edge
1982
30 TV Shows
Plays Kate Starling
Marriage Lines
1961
Plays Sarah France
After Henry
1988
Plays Sybil Fawlty
Fawlty Towers
1975
Plays Miss Elizabeth Mapp
Mapp & Lucia
1985
Plays Elizabeth Palmore
Signs and Wonders
1995
Plays Marjorie Richardson
The Rector's Wife
1994
Plays Lydia Bennet
Pride and Prejudice
1952
Plays Anne Parker
Silent Witness
1996
Plays Judith
Unnatural Causes
1986
Plays Mother
The World of Lee Evans
1995
Plays Elizabeth Dickens
Dickens
2002
Plays Marjorie
Keeping Mum
1997
Plays Mrs. Duffel
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
1996
Plays Mrs. Prentice
Theatre Night
1985
Plays Mavis Blackhead
Pickersgill People
1978
Plays Susan Peel
Never the Twain
1981
Plays Marion Joyce
Seven of One
1973
Plays Eleanor Bunsall
Midsomer Murders
1997
Plays Gloria Gibbins
Bergerac
1981
Plays Red Admiral
The Royal
2003
Plays Marie
Thirty-Minute Theatre
1965
Plays Mrs Mackenzie
Agatha Christie's Marple
2004
Plays Florence Farr
Playhouse
1974
Plays Queen Jemima
BBC Play of the Month
1965
Plays Diana Blake
Target
1977
Plays Babs Pickard
Country Matters
1972
Plays Edith Disney
Dalziel and Pascoe
1996
Plays Milly
ScreenPlay
1986
Plays H.M.Q.
Screen One
1989
Plays Mistress Page
The BBC Television Shakespeare
1978
Latest Trailers
Watch Trailer
The Phone Call
Full Filmography
Sub Rosa
Madame
2014
The Phone Call
Joan
2013
Run For Your Wife
Woman in Pub
2012
Horrid Henry: The Movie
Great Aunt Greta
2011
The Royal
Red Admiral
2009Season 8
The Shell Seekers
Dolly Keeling
2007
Mr. Loveday's Little Outing
Lady Moping
2006
Agatha Christie's Marple
Mrs Mackenzie · 1 episode
2004–
Dickens
Elizabeth Dickens
2002Season 1
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Prunella Scales still alive?
Prunella Scales passed away on October 27, 2025 at age 93.
What are the most famous roles of Prunella Scales?
Prunella Scales is best known for roles in Wolf, Howards End, The Boys from Brazil.
How many movies has Prunella Scales been in?
Over a 72-year career (since 1953), Prunella Scales has appeared in 34 movies and 29 TV shows.
What was Prunella Scales's first movie?
The career of Prunella Scales began with Laxdale Hall (1953).
What is Prunella Scales's most recent movie or series?
Prunella Scales's most recent release is The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers, which premiered on May 31, 2025.
What TV shows has Prunella Scales appeared in?
On television, Prunella Scales has appeared in Fawlty Towers, Midsomer Murders, Agatha Christie's Marple, Silent Witness.
Prunella Scales
1932-06-22 · 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.