Prunella (Margaret Rumney) Scales

Actress, born in Abinger, Surrey, SE England, UK. Educated in Eastbourne, she trained at the Old Vic Theatre School and the Herbert Berghof Studio, New York City. She played in repertory in various British cities, and has made numerous appearances in the West End, including Hay Fever (1968), When We Are Married (1986), and The School for Scandal (1990). On television she played opposite John Cleese in the comedy series Fawlty Towers (1975, 1978), and starred in After Henry (1988, 1990). A widely acclaimed performance is her solo role in An Evening with Queen Victoria, where she spans Victoria's life from teenage princess to old age with a minimum of make-up and costume change. Later work includes Jane Austen's Emma (1997) for television, and the feature film Stiff Upper Lips (1997).

Prunella Scales CBE (born June 22, 1932) is an English actress best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the British sitcom Fawlty Towers.

Born Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth in Sutton Abinger, Surrey, she he has had a long and distinguished career as an actress mostly in comic roles.

Her first career break came with the early 1960s sitcom, Marriage Lines starring opposite Richard Briers.

Scales narrowly missed out on the role of "Eth" in The Glums, part of Take It From Here, written by Frank Muir and Denis Norden;

She is married to the British actor Timothy West, and has two sons, their eldest is the actor and director Samuel West. In 2003, she appeared as Hilda, alias "she who must be obeyed", wife of Horace Rumpole in a series of four BBC Radio 4 plays, with her husband playing her fictional husband.

Prunella Scales and Timothy West toured Australia at the same time in different productions.

Scales is a supporter of the Labour Party, and appeared on a Labour party political broadcast during the 2005 UK general election campaign.

Her authorized biography, Prunella written by Teresa Ransom, was published by John Murray in 2005 .