The Legendary Prunella Scales: From Fawlty Towers to Remarkable Canal Adventures

The celebrated actress Prunella Scales, who died at the age of 93, was considered among Britain's most brilliant comedic performers.

Although a long and distinguished career on stage and screen, her legacy will forever be linked as the unforgettable Sybil Fawlty in the classic 1970s television series, the beloved Fawlty Towers.

Sybil's primary objective throughout her existence to closely monitor her "stick insect" husband Basil - portrayed by John Cleese - between telephone chats fueled by cigarettes with her friend, Audrey.

She was tasked to placate guests who had been shouted at, completely overlooked or, in some cases, throttled by Basil when during his particularly frenzied episodes.

Her unforgettable cackle, gravity-defying hairdo and ferocious temper were components of a carefully constructed character that stands as a humorous triumph.

Although numerous performers would have distanced themselves from too close an association with a single role, Scales always expressed her pleasure in having been part of the Fawlty Towers experience.

Formative Years and Professional Start

The actress born Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth was born in the Guildford area on 22 June 1932.

It was a family deeply in love with the theatre - with her mother, Catherine Scales, a former actor who'd given it all up for family life.

Intelligent and studious, following evacuation during the war to the Lake District, Prunella attended Moira House Girls School in Eastbourne.

In 1949, she earned a scholarship to the Old Vic Theatre School and - two years later - secured a position as an assistant stage manager.

This decision angered of her previous school principal in Eastbourne, who had wished she would seek admission to Cambridge and wrote to the theatre to tell them so.

At drama school, Scales had been thought of as a developing character performer rather than a natural Juliet candidate.

"We all wanted to look like Audrey Hepburn," she later told her chronicler, "but I wasn't attractive and nobody fancied me."

Young Prunella concealed her middle-class roots, conscious that producers started seeking a new kind of earthy credibility in performers.

But she started picking up minor parts in plays, and, while rehearsing for a part at Worthing's Connaught Theatre, she met Andrew Sachs, who would subsequently appear as Manuel the Spanish server, in Fawlty Towers.

There was an early television appearance in 1952, as the character Lydia Bennet in a television adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, which featured Peter Cushing - more famous for his horror film performances - as Mr. Darcy.

And her first big screen roles followed the next year - in lighthearted romance, Laxdale Hall, and David Lean's production Hobson's Choice, opposite Charles Laughton.

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, she was rarely out of work - appearing on stage, film and television, including a brief stint as transport worker, Eileen Hughes, in Coronation Street.

She additionally encountered fellow actor Timothy West.

After what Prunella described as "a mild Times crossword and Polo mints flirtation", they became a couple, and married in 1963.

Career Milestones and Defining Characters

Her big TV break arrived through the series Marriage Lines, a BBC sitcom about a newly married couple, George and Kate Starling.

Scales performed alongside actor Richard Briers, at that time a major celebrity in TV humor. The show proved hugely popular and ran for five years.

Subsequently arrived Fawlty Towers, which elevated her to cultural icon.

John Cleese and his spouse at the time, Connie Booth, had submitted the first script of their comedy creation to the broadcasting corporation.

Actress Bridget Turner had been considered for the Sybil role but she declined the part and Scales auditioned for the role.

She subsequently recalled that Cleese was a hard taskmaster.

"John, appropriately, demanded strict script adherence, and failure to comply would understandably provoke his irritation."

Only 12 episodes were ever made.

The first series, which aired in 1975, failed to win huge audiences but, as it continued, its comedic combination of absurd pratfalls and embarrassing situations grew in popularity.

Scales carefully considered about portraying Sybil Fawlty, and determined that her social background had to be inferior to her husband Basil's.

At first, the creators were unsure about this approach.

"After witnessing the initial read-through," recalled Scales, "they were sold on the idea."

In subsequent years, she frequently found herself, called upon to play "dragons" and "old bags" when she desired elegant characters.

However when questioned about what she thought was the high point, Scales had no hesitation in selecting Sybil Fawlty.

"It was a tough job," she insisted, "yet I remain proud of my work." She even thought it assisted in bringing the paying public into theaters.

"I like to think that if the public have seen you in one thing they'll come and see you in another," she expressed.

Subsequent Work and Private World

After Fawlty Towers, Scales continued to work in the television industry, comprising a stint as character Elizabeth Mapp in the series Mapp and Lucia.

Her vocal talents were frequently featured on audio broadcasts, particularly the BBC Radio 4 sitcom, which later transitioned to TV, and the series Ladies of Letters, with Patricia Routledge, which became an intrinsic part of Woman's Hour.

Scales performed two significant royal characters; as Queen Elizabeth in the BBC production of Alan Bennett's A Question of Attribution, and as Queen Victoria in a solo performance that she performed 400 times.

She once received a letter from a royal protection officer who admitted that when Scales came on stage, he stood up.

"The response was automatic," she clarified. "The experience delighted me."

In 1995, she started appearing as Dotty Turnbull in a series of TV adverts for the retail chain Tesco - which compensated her partially with shopping credits.

The campaign, which continued for nine years, was identified as the biggest factor in establishing its dominant market position in the mid 1990s.

Scales subsequently faced some gentle criticism for participating in the commercial campaign, when she supported an initiative to stop local shops closing in her area of London.

One of her finest performances appeared in Breaking the Code, the movie concerning World War II cryptanalysts.

She portrays the mother of Alan Turing, who represents a culture that criminalized same-sex relationships, an attitude that eventually led to his death.

Beyond performance, {Scales was