Prunella Scales
60 movies · 38 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Jun 22, 1932
- Died
- Oct 27, 2025 (age 93)
- Place of birth
- Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England, UK
- Also known as
- Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales · Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth · پرونلا اسکیلز
Biography
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.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Prunella Scales: movies and TV shows
Acting (98)
- 2025
- 2014 Sub Rosa
as Madame
- 2013 The Phone Call
as Joan
- 2012 Run For Your Wife
as Woman in Pub
- 2011 Horrid Henry: The Movie
as Great Aunt Greta
- 2007 The Shell Seekers
as Dolly Keeling
- 2007 Think
as Customer
- 2006 Mr. Loveday's Little Outing
as Lady Moping
- 2005 The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
as Sybil Fawlty (archive footage) (uncredited)
- 2004
- 2003
- 2002
- 2002 A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
as Grace
- 2001 Station Jim
as Queen Victoria
- 2000 The Ghost of Greville Lodge
as Sarah
- 1999 Mad Cows
as Dr. Minny Stinkler
- 1999 An Ideal Husband
as Lady Markby
- 1998 Stiff Upper Lips
as Aunt Agnes
- 1997
- 1997
- 1997
- 1996 Emma
as Miss Bates
- 1996 Breaking the Code
as Sara Turing
- 1996 Lord of Misrule
as Shirley
- 1996
- 1996
- 1996
- 1995
- 1995
- 1995
- 1995 An Awfully Big Adventure
as Rose
- 1995
- 1994 Second Best
as Margery
- 1994 Wolf
as Maude Waggins
- 1994 Fair Game
as Marjorie
- 1994 The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher
as Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (voice)
- 1994
- 1992 Freddie As F.R.O.7.
as Queen (voice)
- 1992 My Friend Walter
as Aunt Ellie
- 1992 Howards End
as Aunt Juley
- 1991 A Question of Attribution
as H.M.Q.
- 1990 The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
as Fleecy Flock
- 1990 Dirty Beasts
as Narrator
- 1990 Revolting Rhymes
as Narrator
- 1989
- 1989 Beyond The Pale
as Milly
- 1989 A Chorus of Disapproval
as Hannah Ap Llewellyn
- 1989
- 1989
- 1988
- 1988 Natural Causes
as Celia Bryce
- 1988 Consuming Passions
as Ethel
- 1988
- 1987 When We Are Married
as Annie Parker
- 1987 The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
as Moira O'Neill
- 1987 What the Butler Saw
as Mrs Prentice
- 1986 Home Cooking
as Judith
- 1986
- 1986
- 1986
- 1985
- 1985
- 1985 Absurd Person Singular
as Marion Brewster-Wright
- 1984
- 1984 Slimming Down
as Mrs. Shrigley
- 1983 The Wicked Lady
as Lady Kingsclere
- 1983 Singles
as Gail
- 1982 The Merry Wives of Windsor
as Mistress Page
- 1982 Outside Edge
as Miriam
- 1982
- 1981
- 1981
- 1978 Doris and Doreen
as Doris Rutter
- 1978
- 1978 The Boys from Brazil
as Mrs. Harrington
- 1978 The Hound of the Baskervilles
as Glynis
- 1978
- 1977
- 1977 The Achurch Letters
as Florence Farr
- 1977
- 1976 The Littlest Horse Thieves
as Mrs. Sandman
- 1975
- 1975 The Apple Cart
as Queen Jemima
- 1974
- 1973
- 1973 The Ring of Truth
as Babs Pickard
- 1972
- 1965
- 1965
- 1962 Waltz of the Toreadors
as Estella Fitzjohn
- 1961
- 1961
- 1958 Room at the Top
as Council Office Worker (uncredited)
- 1954 The Crowded Day
as Customer
- 1954 What Every Woman Wants
as Mary
- 1954 Hobson's Choice
as Vicky Hobson
- 1953 Laxdale Hall
as Morag McLeod
- 1952
Talk shows and appearances (9)
- 2014
- 2014 Great Canal Journeys
34 episodes
- 2009
- 2007
- 2005
- 2003 Looking for Victoria
2 episodes
- 1999 Loose Women
1 episode
- 1978 An Audience with...
2 episodes
- 1971 Film '72
1 episode