Prunella Scales, the actress best known for playing Sybil Fawlty in BBC sitcom Fawlty Towers has died at the age of 93.
Born in Surrey in 1932, acting was in her blood - her mother Catherine studied at the the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, later joining the Liverpool Playhouse's Repertory Company.
After finishing school Scales was awarded a scholarship to attend the Old Vic Theatre School and then quickly landed her first job as an assistant stage manager at the Bristol Old Vic.
She swiftly made the switch to acting, appearing in a range of films and stage plays throughout the 1950s, including The Matchmaker on Broadway and David Lean romanatic comedy Hobson’s Choice.
Her big break came in television starring opposite Richard Briers in sitcom Marriage Lines, while her national treasure status was secured playing Sybil Fawlty over two series of much-loved John Cleese comedy Fawlty Towers.
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It would be the role that she was destined to be remembered for, despite her long list of post-Fawlty big screen credits, including the likes of The Hound of the Baskervilles (1978), The Boys From Brazil (1978), The Wicked Lady (1983), A Chorus of Disapproval (1989), Howards End (1992), Wolf (1994), An Awfully Big Adventure (1995) and Stiff Upper Lips (1997).
Most recently she appeared alongside her husband of 41-years, actor Timothy West, in 10 series of Great Canal Journeys for Channel 4 until ill health forced her to retire from acting.
1. Prunella Scales on...death
"I always say I want to die on the eighth curtain call. Eight will mean the show's been rather a success." | Getty Images
2. Prunella Scales on...Fawlty Towers
"It's strange how 'Fawlty' has become a perennial. I keep meeting new generations of schoolboys who know the lines better than I did when I said them. The program has sensational sales in video. I'm mercifully on a small percentage." | Getty Images
3. Prunella Scales on...comedy
"The charming sitcom is all very well, but good comedy is based on pain and danger and fear." | Getty Images
4. Prunella Scales on...actors
"Actors go into it because it gives us the chance to play people a great deal more interesting than we are, and to say things infinitely wittier and more intelligent than anything we could think of." | Getty Images