Prunella Scales
Known for: Acting
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.
Filmography
Series
Midsomer Murders
Eleanor Bunsall
1997
Series
Casualty
Jocelyn Anderson
1986
Series
Silent Witness
Anne Parker
1996
Series
Agatha Christie's Marple
Mrs Mackenzie
2004
Series
Bergerac
Gloria Gibbins
1981
Series
Loose Women
Self
1999
Series
BBC Play of the Month
Queen Jemima
1965
Film '72
Self
1971
Series
Playhouse
Florence Farr
1974
Series
Dalziel and Pascoe
Edith Disney
1996
Series
Thirty-Minute Theatre
Marie
1965
Series
An Audience with...
Self
1978
Series
ScreenPlay
Milly
1986
Series
Fawlty Towers
Sybil Fawlty
1975
Series
Screen One
H.M.Q.
1989
Series
The BBC Television Shakespeare
Mistress Page
1978
Series
Target
Diana Blake
1977
Series
Never the Twain
Susan Peel
1981
Film
Howards End
Aunt Juley
1992
Film
Wolf
Maude Waggins
1994
Series
Great Canal Journeys
Self
2014
Film
Emma
Miss Bates
1996
Film
The Boys from Brazil
Mrs. Harrington
1978
Series
Country Matters
Babs Pickard
1972
Series
Unnatural Causes
Judith
1986
Series
Mapp & Lucia
Miss Elizabeth Mapp
1985
Faces of Jim
Laura Morrell
1961
Series
Dennis the Menace and Gnasher
Mrs. Duffel
1996
Series
After Henry
Sarah France
1988
Series
Theatre Night
Mrs. Prentice
1985
Look at the State We're In!
Storyteller
1995
Series
Seven of One
Marion Joyce
1973
Film
Hobson's Choice
Vicky Hobson
1954
Series
Marriage Lines
Kate Starling
1961
Film
Room at the Top
Council Office Worker (uncredited)
1958
Weekend Playhouse
Olive Dodd
1984
Film
An Awfully Big Adventure
Rose
1995
Series
Signs and Wonders
Elizabeth Palmore
1995
Film
Second Best
Margery
1994
Film
Fair Game
Marjorie
1994
Film
Sub Rosa
Madame
2014
Film
Horrid Henry: The Movie
Great Aunt Greta
2011
Series
The Rector's Wife
Marjorie Richardson
1994
Film
Consuming Passions
Ethel
1988
Film
The Phone Call
Joan
2013
Series
Keeping Mum
Marjorie
1997
Film
The Wicked Lady
Lady Kingsclere
1983
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
Sybil Fawlty (archive footage) (uncredited)
2005
Thompson
1988
Looking for Victoria
Self / Victoria
2003
Series
Pride and Prejudice
Lydia Bennet
1952
Film
The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne
Moira O'Neill
1987
Film
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
Queen (voice)
1992
S.W.A.L.K.
Patti
1982
Series
Dickens
Elizabeth Dickens
2002
Film
A Chorus of Disapproval
Hannah Ap Llewellyn
1989
Film
Dirty Beasts
Narrator
1990
Film
50 Years of BBC Two Comedy
Self
2014
Film
The Hound of the Baskervilles
Glynis
1978
Series
The World of Lee Evans
Mother
1995
Film
The Merry Wives of Windsor
Mistress Page
1982
Film
The Shell Seekers
Dolly Keeling
2007
Film
Home Cooking
Judith
1986
Film
The Crowded Day
Customer
1954
Film
When We Are Married
Annie Parker
1987
Film
Mad Cows
Dr. Minny Stinkler
1999
Film
The Cancellation Of Fawlty Towers
2025
Film
A Question of Attribution
H.M.Q.
1991
Film
What the Pythons Did Next...
Self
2007
Film
Natural Causes
Celia Bryce
1988
Film
Run For Your Wife
Woman in Pub
2012
The Ring of Truth
Babs Pickard
1973
Film
Stiff Upper Lips
Aunt Agnes
1998
Film
Station Jim
Queen Victoria
2001
Laxdale Hall
Morag McLeod
1953
Film
Revolting Rhymes
Narrator
1990
Film
The Tale of Little Pig Robinson
Fleecy Flock
1990
Film
Bosses From Hell
1989
Film
Breaking the Code
Sara Turing
1996
Film
Fawlty Towers Revisited
Herself
2005
Film
The Littlest Horse Thieves
Mrs. Sandman
1976
Film
Outside Edge
Miriam
1982
The Apple Cart
Queen Jemima
1975
Film
Fawlty Towers: Re-Opened
Self / Sybil Fawlty
2009
Film
My Friend Walter
Aunt Ellie
1992
Film
Waltz of the Toreadors
Estella Fitzjohn
1962
Film
The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends: The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and Mr. Jeremy Fisher
Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle (voice)
1994
Film
What Every Woman Wants
Mary
1954
Series
The Royal
Red Admiral
2003
Film
What the Butler Saw
Mrs Prentice
1987
A Day in the Death of Joe Egg
Grace
2002
Film
An Ideal Husband
Lady Markby
1999
Think
Customer
2007
Lord of Misrule
Shirley
1996
Film
The Achurch Letters
Florence Farr
1977
Film
Mr. Loveday's Little Outing
Lady Moping
2006
Film
The Ghost of Greville Lodge
Sarah
2000
Film
Absurd Person Singular
Marion Brewster-Wright
1985
Film
Doris and Doreen
Doris Rutter
1978
Singles
Gail
1983
Film
Communicators From Hell
1989
Film
Beyond The Pale
Milly
1989
Film
Slimming Down
Mrs. Shrigley
1984
Film
An Audience with Alf Garnett
1997