Prunella Scales: Beginning with Fawlty Towers to Remarkable Canal Adventures

Prunella Scales, who passed away at the age of 93, was regarded as among Britain's most brilliant comic actors.

Although a long and distinguished professional journey across theater and film, her legacy will forever be linked as Sybil Fawlty in the 1970s TV comedy, Fawlty Towers.

Sybil's primary objective throughout her existence to closely monitor her "stick insect" husband Basil - played by comedian John Cleese - between cigarette-fuelled phone conversations with her companion Audrey.

It fell to her to calm visitors who had been yelled at, completely overlooked or, occasionally, throttled by Basil when in one of his more manic moods.

Her unforgettable cackle, gravity-defying hairdo and intense anger were part of a carefully constructed character that ranks as a humorous triumph.

And while numerous performers would have removed themselves from too close an association with a single role, Scales always expressed her delight in having been part of the Fawlty Towers phenomenon.

Formative Years and Professional Start

The actress born Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth was born near Guildford on June 22nd, 1932.

She belonged to a household deeply in love with the theatre - with her mother, Bim Scales, a former actor who'd given it all up for marriage and children.

Bright and bookish, after wartime evacuation to the Lake District, Prunella attended Moira House educational institution in Eastbourne.

During 1949, she won a scholarship to the Old Vic Theatre School and - after two years - secured a position as a stage management assistant.

This was to the fury of her former headmistress in her hometown, who had wished she would seek admission to Cambridge University and sent correspondence to the theater to express this opinion.

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

"Everyone aspired to resemble Audrey Hepburn," she subsequently informed her chronicler, "but I wasn't attractive and nobody fancied me."

The youthful Prunella concealed her middle-class roots, aware that directors were beginning to look for authentic working-class realism in performers.

But she started picking up small roles in theatrical productions, and, during preparations for a role at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing, she encountered actor Andrew Sachs, who would subsequently appear as Manuel the Spanish server, in the famous series.

There was an early television appearance in 1952, as the character Lydia Bennet in a BBC production of Pride and Prejudice, which included Peter Cushing - more famous for his roles in horror movies - as Mr. Darcy.

And her first big screen roles came a year later - in lighthearted romance, the film Laxdale Hall, and David Lean's production Hobson's Choice, alongside the renowned Charles Laughton.

Throughout the latter 1950s and early 1960s, she was rarely out of work - appearing on stage, film and television, including a short appearance as transport worker, character Eileen Hughes, in Coronation Street.

She also met fellow actor Timothy West.

Following what she characterized as "a mild Times crossword and Polo mints flirtation", they became a couple, and wed in 1963.

Career Milestones and Defining Characters

Her major television opportunity came with the series Marriage Lines, a comedy program about recentlyweds, George and Kate Starling.

Scales appeared opposite Richard Briers, then one of the biggest stars in TV humor. The program achieved great success and ran for five years.

Then came the legendary Fawlty Towers, which elevated her to cultural icon.

John Cleese and his then wife, Connie Booth, had presented the initial screenplay of Fawlty Towers to the broadcasting corporation.

Actress Bridget Turner had been considered for the Sybil role but she had turned it down and Scales tried out for the character.

She later remembered that Cleese maintained high standards.

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

Merely twelve installments were ever made.

The first series, which aired in 1975, failed to win huge audiences but, as it continued, its hilarious mix of ridiculous physical comedy and embarrassing situations grew in popularity.

Scales thought hard about portraying Sybil Fawlty, and decided that her character's upbringing had to be below Basil's social standing.

At first, the creators were unsure about the treatment.

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

Later in her career, she was, all too often, called upon to play "dragons" and "old bags" when she hankered after more glamorous roles.

But when asked about her career pinnacle, Scales had no hesitation in selecting Sybil Fawlty.

"The role presented challenges," she insisted, "yet I remain proud of my work." She believed 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.

Later Career and Personal Life

After Fawlty Towers, Scales continued to work in television, including a stint as the frumpy Elizabeth Mapp in ITV's Mapp and Lucia.

Her vocal talents were frequently featured on radio, particularly the comedy program After Henry, which later transitioned to TV, and the series Ladies of Letters, with actress Patricia Routledge, which became an intrinsic part of Woman's Hour.

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

She once received a letter from a royal protection officer who confessed that when Scales appeared, he rose to his feet.

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

During 1995, she started appearing as character Dotty Turnbull in a series of TV adverts for the retail chain Tesco - which paid her partly in vouchers.

The advertising series, which continued for nine years, was identified as the primary reason in propelling it to market leadership in the mid 1990s.

Scales subsequently faced moderate critique for participating in the Tesco adverts, when she supported an initiative to stop local shops closing in her London community.

Among her most accomplished roles appeared in Breaking the Code, the movie concerning World War II cryptanalysts.

She appears as Alan Turing's mother, who embodies a society that treated homosexual acts as a crime, a perspective that contributed to his tragic end.

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