Legendary actor Timothy West dies aged 90 after incredible six-decade career

Legendary actor and director Timothy West has died in his sleep. The star, who was married to Fawlty Towers actress Prunella Scales, passed away at the age of 90.

In a statement issued by his agent his children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West said: "After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening. He was 90 years old.

"Tim was with friends and family at the end. He leaves his wife Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly.

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"We would like to thank the incredible NHS staff at St George's Hospital, Tooting and at Avery Wandsworth for their loving care during his last days."

West is best known as an actor, appearing in dozens of shows including Brass, Miss Marple and Not Going Out. However he spent time at the Forum Theatre in Billingham where he was artistic director. Durig his time there in 1973 he directed 'We Bombed in New Haven' by Joseph Heller, 'The Oz Obscenity Trial' by David Livingstone and 'The National Health' by Peter Nichols.

As an actor he had a long list of shows to his name including two of the country's most popular soaps. He joined the cast of ITV soap Coronation Street in February 2013 where he played Eric Babbage. He moved on to rival soap Eastenders in 2013, playing Stan Carter from January 2014. He filmed his final scenes for EastEnders in February 2015.

West and Scales, 92, who played Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, appeared together in the documentary series Great Canal Journeys between 2014 and 2021, which saw them travelling on narrowboats. The couple married in 1963, and have two sons, actor Samuel West, and Joseph West. West was also married to actor Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, and they had a daughter, Juliet West.

He has had a career spanning six decades appearing in many of the leading shows of the day. These also included Upstairs Downstairs, Miss Marple, King Lear and Edward the seventh.

During his career he also played former British prime minister Winston Churchill three times, in From Churchill and the Generals (1979), The Last Bastion (1984), and Hiroshima (1995).

In Brass he played ruthless self-made businessman Bradley Hardacre from 1982 to 1984 before returning for a third series in 1990, while in Not Going Out he played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams, played by Sally Bretton.

In 2019, the Bradford-born actor played Private Godfrey in Dad’s Army: The Lost Episodes, a recreation of three missing episodes of the BBC comedy Dad’s Army. He was also a regular performer of Shakespeare, playing Lear in 2016 and 2002.