Prunella Scales

Prunella Scales
Birth name	Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth
Born	June 22, 1932 in Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England
Notable Roles	Marriage Lines in Kate Starling Fawlty Towers in Sybil Fawlty
Notable Episodes	Fawlty Towers: 1x02 - The Builders Fawlty Towers: 1x03 - The Wedding Party Fawlty Towers: 2x02 - The Psychiatrist
Awards	None for TV Other: Patricia Rothmere Award; Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Prunella Scales is a British actress best known for her work in the British sitcoms Marriage Lines and Fawlty Towers, and for playing Queen Victoria in the British TV movie Looking for Victoria.

Biography

Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth was born on June 22, 1932 in Sutton Abinger, Surrey, England. She trained as a classical British theater actress at the Old Vic Theatre School in London and the Herbert Berghof Studio in New York.

But it was through her television work—especially her role in the BBC sitcom Marriage Lines—that she caught the eye of director John Howard Davies. When he was hired as the director of the sitcom Fawlty Towers—the brainchild of then-inactive Python John Cleese—Davies suggested Scales for the part of hotel manager Basil Fawlty's shrewd, sharp-tongued, gossippy, uneducated, excessively lower middle class wife Sybil. When she first met with Davies to discuss the job, she asked him why Basil and Sybil were ever married in the first place. According to her story, Davies sighed and said, "I was worried you might ask me that." Scales and Davies thus worked out an entire history of the character—never mentioned in the series—and how she came to meet, marry and open a hotel with Basil. Her performance would create her trademark role.

After Fawlty Towers, she returned to the stage and other British TV and film work. She has appeared in such films as The Boys from Brazil with Gregory Peck and Laurence Olivier, Howards End with Emma Thompson and Anthony Hopkins and Wolf with Jack Nicholson and Michelle Pfeiffer. She has worked with her Fawlty Towers costar Cleese twice in the years since the end of the series—in his miniseries Look at the State We're In! and The Human Face. In recent years, she has garnered attention for her work in a series of UK commercials for Tesco supermarkets and for her performance as Queen Victoria in the TV movie Looking for Victoria.

She and her husband Timothy West are both recipients of the distinguished Commander of the Order of the British Empire. They have had two children together—Joe West and actor/celebrity poker player Samuel West. A proud supporter of the Labour Party, Scales is also a spokesperson for the British movement to preserve ancient growth forests.

Roles

Guest Starring Roles

Series	Role	Episode	Airdate
TV Playhouse	Gabrielle	1x06 - French for Love	October 29, 1955
The Seven Faces of Jim	Various characters	1x02 - The Face of Genius	November 23, 1961
Jackanory	Storyteller	06/08/70 - One's Pool (1)	June 8, 1970
Jackanory	Storyteller	06/09/70 - One's Pool (2)	June 9, 1970
Jackanory	Storyteller	06/10/70 - One's Pool (3)	June 10, 1970
Jackanory	Storyteller	06/11/70 - Penny Pony (1)	June 11, 1970
Jackanory	Storyteller	06/12/70 - Penny Pony (2)	June 12, 1970
Thirty-Minute Theatre		11/22/71 - Blues in the Morning	November 22, 1971
Seven of One	Marion Joyce	1x06 - One Man's Meat	April 29, 1973
Target	Diana Blake	2x02 - A Good and Faithful Woman	September 22, 1978
Bergerac	Gloria Gibbins	1x03 - Unlucky Dip	November 1, 1981
Thompson	Guest	1x05 - Episode Five	December 8, 1988
Look at the State We're In!	Storyteller	1x05 - Nanny Knows Best	June 3, 1995
Dalziel and Pascoe	Edith Disney	1x02 - An Advancement of Learning	March 23, 1996
Midsomer Murders	Eleanor Bunsall	3x04 - Beyond the Grave	February 5, 2000
Silent Witness	Anne Parker	5x03 - Faith	March 16, 2001
Casualty	Jocelyn Anderson	19x03 - Out with a Bang	September 18, 2004
Where the Heart Is	Hattie Dymchurch	9x02 - When All This Is Over	July 3, 2005

Specials and Made-for-TV Movies

Title	Role	Airdate	Series/Banner
The Big Job	Dolly	May 21, 1974
Doris and Doreen	Doris Rutter	December 16, 1978	Six Plays by Alan Bennett
Outside Edge	Miriam	December 19, 1982
The Merry Wives of Windsor	Mistress Page	December 27, 1982	The Complete Dramatic Works of William Shakespeare
A Question of Attribution	H.M.Q.	October 4, 1992
Woodcock	Captain	January 16, 1994
The Rector's Wife	Marjorie Richardson	March 3, 1994
Fair Game	Marjorie	June 11, 1994
Signs and Wonders	Elizabeth Palmore	January 16, 1995
Lord of Misrule	Shirley	March 6, 1996
Breaking the Code	Sara Turing	September 17, 1996
Emma	Miss Bates	November 24, 1996
Station Jim	Queen Victoria	December 30, 2001
Dickens	Elizabeth Dickens	May 11, 2002
Looking for Victoria	Presenter / Queen Victoria	October 27, 2003
Essential Poems for Christmas	Reader	December 23, 2004

Talk, News and Game Show Appearances

Series	Episode	Airdate
Aspel & Company		March 7, 1992
This Morning		September 18, 2001
Breakfast		September 20, 2005

Memorable Moments

• Fawlty Towers
  • 1x02 - The Builders: When she finds Basil Fawlty's cheap contractor has bungled renovations on the hotel, Sybil beats Basil and the contractor with an umbrella.
  • 2x03 - Waldorf Salad: When an American guest orders a Waldorf salad, Basil can't find the ingredients. He steps out to apologize to the guest and make excuses, but when he turns around, Sybil is walking out of the kitchen with a fully prepared Waldorf salad.
  • 2x04 - The Kipper and the Corpse: After he has annoyed and terrified the guests all day while trying to hide a dead body, Basil refers all their questions to Sybil. He then slips away in the laundry, leaving her behind to futilely call his name.

Awards and Accolades

BAFTA TV Awards

(1 Nomination)

• Nominated: Best Actress (1991)

A Question of Attribution

Other Awards

• Order of the British Empire
  • Awarded Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1984.

• London Evening Standard Theatre Awards
  • Won: Patricia Rothmere Award (2001)

Trivia

• Was the first actor to portray a reigning English monarch on the England stage when she portrayed Queen Elizabeth II in a production.