Prunella Scales: From Fawlty Towers to Remarkable Canal Adventures

The celebrated actress Prunella Scales, who passed away at 93 years old, was considered one of Britain's finest comedic performers.

Despite an extensive and respected career on stage and screen, her legacy will forever be linked as Sybil Fawlty in the classic 1970s television series, Fawlty Towers.

Sybil's primary objective throughout her existence to keep tabs on her husband Basil described as a "stick insect" - played by John Cleese - between cigarette-fuelled phone conversations with her friend, Audrey.

It fell to her 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, extraordinary hairstyle and ferocious temper were components of a meticulously crafted persona that stands as a comic masterpiece.

And while many actors would have removed themselves from too close an association with a single role, Scales consistently voiced her pleasure in having been part of the Fawlty Towers phenomenon.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

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

It was a family deeply in love with the theatre - her mother being, Bim Scales, a former actor who'd abandoned her career for family life.

Intelligent and studious, following evacuation during the war to the Lake District, Prunella attended Moira House educational institution in the coastal town of Eastbourne.

During 1949, she earned a scholarship to the prestigious Old Vic drama school and - after two years - obtained a role as an assistant stage manager.

This was to the fury of her previous school principal in Eastbourne, who had wished she would seek admission to Cambridge University and sent correspondence to the theater to express this opinion.

During her theatrical training, Scales had been thought of as a developing character performer instead of a natural Juliet candidate.

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

Young Prunella also hid her privileged background, aware that directors were beginning to look for authentic working-class realism in performers.

Nevertheless she began acquiring small roles in theatrical productions, and, during preparations for a part at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing, she met actor Andrew Sachs, who would subsequently appear as Manuel the Spanish server, in Fawlty Towers.

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

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

During the late 1950s and early 1960s, she maintained constant employment - appearing on stage, film and television, including a short appearance as transport worker, Eileen Hughes, in the popular soap Coronation Street.

She additionally encountered colleague Timothy West.

Following what she characterized as "a gentle courtship involving crosswords and candies", they got together, and married in 1963.

Breakthrough and Iconic Roles

Her major television opportunity came with the series Marriage Lines, a comedy program about a newly married couple, the Starling couple.

Scales performed alongside actor Richard Briers, at that time a major celebrity in television comedy. The show proved hugely popular and continued for five seasons.

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

John Cleese and his then wife, Connie Booth, had submitted the first script of Fawlty Towers to the broadcasting corporation.

Performer Bridget Turner had been approached to play the Sybil role but she declined the part and Scales tried out for the character.

She subsequently recalled that Cleese was a hard taskmaster.

"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 debuted in 1975, failed to win huge audiences but, with subsequent episodes, its hilarious mix of absurd pratfalls and embarrassing situations increased in appeal.

Scales carefully considered about how to play Sybil Fawlty, and decided that her character's upbringing had to be inferior to Basil's social standing.

Initially, John Cleese and his wife were unsure about this approach.

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

Later in her career, she was, all too often, requested to portray "dragons" and "old bags" when she hankered after elegant characters.

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

"The role presented challenges," she maintained, "but I'm still proud of it." She even thought it helped get audience members 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 the television industry, comprising an engagement as character Elizabeth Mapp in ITV's 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 the program Woman's Hour.

Scales appeared in at two major royal roles; as Queen Elizabeth II in the BBC production of Alan Bennett's work, and as Queen Victoria in a one-woman show that she performed 400 times.

She obtained correspondence from one of Queen Elizabeth's security men who confessed that when Scales came on stage, he stood up.

"It was a knee-jerk reaction," 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 compensated her partially with shopping credits.

The advertising series, which ran for nine years, was identified as the biggest factor in establishing its dominant market position in the mid-nineties.

Scales subsequently faced some gentle criticism 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 the production Breaking the Code, the film about World War II cryptanalysts.

She appears as the mother of Alan Turing, who embodies a society that criminalized same-sex relationships, an attitude that eventually led to his death.

Beyond performance, {Scales was