From his thespian roots with the Royal Shakespeare Company to starring in two of Britain’s most popular soaps, there were few roles Timothy West could not deftly turn his acting skills to.
But of all the many roles he enjoyed over a glittering career spanning some six decades, it was his real-life turn as devoted husband to Fawlty Towers actress Prunella Scales, 92, that he most loved.
The legendary Bradford-born actor passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening, aged 90, leaving behind, ‘a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren,’ his family said in a statement, adding ‘all of us will miss him terribly.’
There was also of course his beloved wife of 61 years, Prunella, who West touchingly cared for following her dementia diagnosis in 2014.
The pair tied the knot in 1963, a whole 12 years before she played the iconic role that she would forever be associated with: as Sybil Fawlty in the now-cult classic TV series Fawlty Towers.
Of all the roles he enjoyed over a glittering career, it was his real-life turn as devoted husband to Prunella Scales that Timothy West most loved. Picture: West with Prunella Scales and Rodney Bewes in Big In Brazil at the Old Vic Theatre, 1984
The pair were devoted to each other, marking their diamond wedding anniversary last year
The pair tied the knot in 1963, a whole 12 years before she played the iconic role that she would forever be associated with: as Sybil Fawlty in the now-cult classic TV series Fawlty Towers. Pictured: Scales (left) with John Cleese, Connie Booth an Andrew Sachs
The couple at their wedding in 1963, which would last until his death last night aged 90
West’s first marriage lasted five years – his second to Prunella saw the couple married for more than 60 years
His children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West revealed the tragic news in a joint statement
At the time they met, West had just ended his marriage of five years to actress Jacqueline Boyer, with whom he had a daughter, Juliet.
His next to Prunella, in 1963, would last more than six decades, such was the touching strength of commitment to one another.
West documented their story in Pru & Me: A Love Story, a book released last year marking their diamond anniversary.
It was on the set of period TV drama She Died Young – which Scales would go on to describe as ‘a terrible play’ – where the pair of burgeoning actors fell for each other in 1961, and began a romantic tradition they would keep up for the rest of their lives.
On Loose Women last year, West revealed that when he and Prunella were in between takes, they would spend their time doing crosswords and writing letters to one another.
He said: ‘Pru and I had certain amounts of time off. We spent a lot of time doing crosswords and writing letters to each other.
‘This is something that has gone on all our lives.’
The distinguished actor continued: ‘We love writing letters about something that the other person might have missed or not quite understood.
‘We would make each other laugh and make each other find out about things.’
The couple welcomed two sons – Joseph (Joe) and actor Samuel West, 58, who is currently starring in All Creatures Great and Small.
Prunella’s big break in acting came with the early 1960s sitcom Marriage Lines opposite Richard Briers, before she landed the role of overbearing spouse Sybil in Fawlty Towers.
Secret to happiness: ‘We would make each other laugh and make each other find out about things,’ West touchingly once said
The couple, pictured last December, had a tradition of doing crosswords or writing letters to one another when they were in between takes on set
The couple enjoyed a last hurrah together, on screen in their hugely popular Channel 4 TV show, Great Canal Journeys
The couple indulged in their shared love for travelling and navigated on narrowboats across Europe, Egypt and India
It was around this time that West too began building his career, having already established himself on stage with the Royal Shakespeare Company playing such iconic roles as Shylock, Falstaff (accompanied by his son Samuel as Hal on tour and at the Old Vic), and Macbeth.
He also famously played King Lear four times over four decades.
But in 1975 he became a household name on the small screen in the major TV series Edward the Seventh, in which he played the title role from the age of 23 until the King’s death.
From there he pivoted into film, including roles in Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), The Day of the Jackal (1973), The Thirty Nine Steps (1978), Masada (1981) and Cry Freedom (1987).
He also had a memorable turn as bee-keeper Albert Taylor in Royal Jelly, a wonderfully odd episode of Roald Dahl’s Tales of the Unexpected, in which the character turned his baby daughter into a bee.
In 1984 he was appointed a CBE for his services to drama and later served as president to the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (Lamda).
Three years ago, he starred opposite Judi Dench and Kate Winslet in Iris as Maurice, with his son Samuel West playing his character as a younger man.
Other notable screen appearances included Brass, where he played patriarch Bradley Hardacre, Not Going Out as Geoffrey Adams and landowner Jeremy Lister in BBC1’s period drama Gentleman Jack.
In 2013, he crossed over into the world of soap drama, joining the cast of Coronation Street as wealthy retiree Eric Babbage, before moving to EastEnders as Stan Carter.
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.
Family tradition: The couple pictured with their actor son, Samuel West
Timothy West, pictured with his sons Samuel and Joseph, who starred alongside him in the major TV drama Edward VII
West with Prunella, pictured in 1998, revealed that she was formally diagnosed with dementia in 2014, but there were signs in the years before that of her memory difficulties
‘Dropping out would have devastated her,’ he wrote. ‘Very reluctantly, she was persuaded to use prompters — or ‘idiot boards’, as she called them, that were placed around the stage (out of sight of the audience).’
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.”‘
If anything, it motivated the couple ever more to have one last hurrah, this time together, on screen.
Those who knew West the most acknowledge the only roles that were important to him were as a devoted husband and father. Pictured: The couple earlier this year
Their hugely popular Channel 4 TV show, Great Canal Journeys featured the pair indulging in their shared love for travelling and navigating on narrowboats across Europe, Egypt and India.
Four years ago, the couple announced they would step down from the programme due to Prunella’s deteriorating memory condition and hearing loss.
Her short-term memory has been severely affected by her dementia and she frequently cannot remember things she did or said just a few minutes earlier, West had revealed.
In an interview with The Daily Mail in 2023, the distinctive actor revealed the heartache at seeing his wife slip away amid her battle.
He said: ‘The part I’ve always found the most challenging as a carer is remaining patient. It’s fair to say I’ve never been especially well-endowed in this department though I do try to keep everything in check.
‘Not just for Pru’s sake, who these days forgets it all in a trice, but for my own, and for the sake of those around us.
‘The thing I find especially frustrating is that she can actually understand perfectly everything I’m saying. She just can’t hear me very well.’
In an extract from his book, West admitted that life as a carer for a wife with dementia was not always easy, but love carried them through.
He wrote: ‘We have exactly the same conversation every day of the week and it’s something I never tire of.
‘Repetition doesn’t really exist in Pru’s world and the look on her face when she enters the room and sees me sitting there on the sofa waiting for her makes me realise just how much I love her.
‘I wouldn’t wish Pru’s condition on anybody, but there’s undoubtedly something to be said for spending more time in the present moment, blissfully unencumbered by regrets about things we haven’t done or things we fear might happen.
‘What I miss most of all, I think, is us no longer being able to share our hopes and fears with one another.
‘You can have a conversation or go to the theatre with anybody, but you cannot bare your soul to just anyone.
‘Still, my regrets are tempered by the fact that Pru is happy and knows she is loved.’