Obituary
RIP Prunella Scales, of Fawlty Towers and much else besides, at 93.
Basil!!
by 14 Comments
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Musings on the byways of popular culture
Musings on the byways of popular culture
by 14 Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Almost certainly my favourite TV moment.
Not a shock, given her age and health issues – but I am saddened to hear it.
Oh dear. So soon after our recent thread.
TBH I am not very familiar with her other work.
Mapp & Lucia comes to mind, but maybe it didn’t make it over here. Also Howard’s End.
Mapp & Lucia! Superb! I only read the books because the TV version was so good.
Loved Mapp and Lucia. I also remember seeing her playing the Queen/Coral Browne alongside Alan Bennett and Simon Callow in Singles Spies at the National back in 1988. She had a good eighties.
She was so perfect as Sybil Fawlty it’s impossible to imagine anyone else in the role. I used to watch her and Timothy West on their canal boat adventures. She bore her illness with such dignity, and he always gave the impression of being besotted with her despite the hardships of her mental decline. RIP Pru, thanks for all the hearty laughs.
She was in ‘Hobson’s Choice’ as one of Charles Laughton’s younger daughters alongside Brenda De Banzie. What a film.
Available on Youtube
It’s magnificent. As good as Laughton is in this, De Banzie as Maggie steals it from under everyone’s nose. It’s her film.
To John Mills as Will Mossop, the genius but shy bootmaker she determines to make a success, as they kiss for the first time. ‘Come on, lad. Get it over’
Oh that’s a shame but she lived to a good age and leaves a great legacy.
I used to enjoy the Radio 4 version of this sequel to the life of Sybil and Mrs Richards.
Nice to see a softer version of her ‘After Basil’
Saw Prunella at The Old Vic upstairs bar in the late 90s where her husband and son were appearing as Falstaff and Hal. She was holding court in some fantastic leopardskin print leggings, drinking fizz with glass held high. Clearly living her best life and I didn’t bother her and her friends but admired from afar.
My mum got diagnosed with vascular dementia around the same time Prunella did, and enjoyed the TV canal shows with my dad greatly, until she couldn’t. It’s a vile way to go, and when Timothy West died I wished Prunella a peaceful – and quick – end that day. I know damn well that last year wasn’t good for anyone, but now they’re together. A wonderful, talented and relatable couple. Bless them both.