The Legendary Prunella Scales: From the Iconic Fawlty Towers to Great Canal Journeys

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

Despite an extensive and respected career on stage and screen, she will inevitably be remembered as the unforgettable Sybil Fawlty in the 1970s TV comedy, Fawlty Towers.

It was Sybil's mission throughout her existence to closely monitor her husband Basil described as a "stick insect" - portrayed by John Cleese - between telephone chats fueled by cigarettes with her companion Audrey.

She was tasked to placate guests who had been shouted at, completely overlooked or, occasionally, physically confronted by Basil when in one of his more manic moods.

Her unforgettable cackle, extraordinary hairstyle and ferocious temper were components of a carefully constructed character that ranks as a humorous triumph.

Although many actors would have distanced themselves from too close an association with one particular character, Scales consistently voiced her delight in participating of the Fawlty Towers phenomenon.

Formative Years and Professional Start

Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth came into the world near Guildford on June 22nd, 1932.

It was a family profoundly passionate about the theatre - her mother being, Catherine Scales, an ex-actress who'd abandoned her career for marriage and children.

Intelligent and studious, after wartime evacuation to England's Lake District, Prunella attended Moira House educational institution in Eastbourne.

During 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 her hometown, who had wished she would seek admission to Cambridge and wrote to the theatre to tell them so.

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 middle-class roots, conscious that directors were beginning to look for a new kind of earthy credibility in their actors.

But she started picking up small roles in theatrical productions, and, while rehearsing for a role at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing, she encountered actor Andrew Sachs, who would subsequently appear as Manuel, the Spanish waiter, 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 included Peter Cushing - better known for his horror film performances - as Mr Darcy.

And her first big screen roles followed the next year - in romantic comedy, the film 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, featuring a brief stint as transport worker, Eileen Hughes, in Coronation Street.

She additionally encountered colleague Timothy West.

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

Breakthrough and Iconic Roles

Her big TV break arrived through the series Marriage Lines, a comedy program about recentlyweds, George and Kate Starling.

Scales appeared opposite Richard Briers, at that time a major celebrity in TV humor. The program achieved great success and ran for five years.

Then came the legendary Fawlty Towers, which propelled her to iconic status.

John Cleese and his spouse at the time, Connie Booth, had presented the initial screenplay of their comedy creation to the broadcasting corporation.

Actress 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, quite rightly, was extremely rigorous about learning the script, and if you didn't, he could get quite cross, which was fair enough."

Only 12 episodes were ultimately produced.

The initial season, which aired in 1975, didn't immediately attract massive viewership but, with subsequent episodes, its hilarious mix of absurd pratfalls and embarrassing situations increased in appeal.

Scales thought hard about how to play Sybil Fawlty, and decided that her social background had to be inferior to Basil's social standing.

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

"After witnessing the initial read-through," Scales remembered, "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 selecting Sybil Fawlty.

"The role presented challenges," she maintained, "yet I remain proud of my work." She believed it helped get 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 said.

Subsequent Work and Private World

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

Her voice was also regularly heard on radio, notably the comedy program After Henry, which subsequently transferred to television, and the series Ladies of Letters, with actress Patricia Routledge, which evolved into a staple of the program Woman's Hour.

Scales appeared in at two major royal roles; as Queen Elizabeth in the television drama of Alan Bennett's work, and as the monarch Queen Victoria in a solo performance that she performed 400 times.

She obtained correspondence from a royal protection officer who confessed that when Scales came on stage, he stood up.

"The response was automatic," she clarified. "I was thrilled."

In 1995, she began starring as character Dotty Turnbull in television commercials for the retail chain Tesco - which compensated her partially with shopping credits.

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

Scales later came in for some gentle criticism for participating in the commercial campaign, when she supported an initiative to prevent neighborhood store closures in her London community.

Among her most accomplished roles appeared in the production Breaking the Code, the film about World War II cryptanalysts.

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

Beyond performance, {Scales was