Actor Timothy West CBE passed away in hospital in November 2024, aged 90, leaving behind his wife, Prunella Scales and three adult children, Joseph, Juliet and Samuel.
A talent on both stage and screen, he is best known for his TV work on Brass, EastEnders, Bleak House, Gentleman Jack and Last Tango in Halifax (alongside Sir Derek Jacobi CBE and Anne Reid MBE), as well as his acting in Shakespeare, Pinter and Ibsen plays.
He tied the knot on the 26th of October, 1963, to the now-retired actor Prunella Scales (best known for Fawlty Towers). The couple were married for 61 years, and their wonderful chemistry could be seen when they presented the documentary Great Canal Journeys together.
His children released a statement issued by his agent to share the sad news of his passing: “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 great grandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly.
“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.”
In an exclusive interview with Yours magazine in 2023 (read the full interview below) Tim West opened up to writer Carole Richardson on his and Prunella's relationship. Revealing that his wife Prunella, who has been suffering with dementia for a number of years had recently said to him “Thank you for a lovely life.”
Timothy West and Prunella Scales
Yours writer Carole Richardson sat down with Timothy West at his home in London back in 2023 to chat with him about the release of his book Pru & Me:
Eyes wide with curiosity, Prunella Scales appears in the hallway of her London home and asks: “Who are you?” With the help of the carer who has just let me in, I explain I’m there to interview her husband, Tim, about his new book, Pru & Me. And, while I’m not sure Prunella has understood, she nevertheless offers the warmest of welcomes.
“Can I take your coat? Can I get you a drink? Would you like to sit in here?” she asks, leading me into the front room of their Victorian house on Wandsworth Common. The couple, who married in 1963, have lived here for 55 years.
“Are you happy sitting in here?” Pru asks, and I reassure her that I am. Very much so. Who wouldn’t be happy in such a beautiful family sitting room, surrounded by classic books and music?
It soon transpires that Tim (89) is having his toenails attended to upstairs, but when he emerges, Pru is ushered next door. She has been living with vascular dementia for the past 20 of her 91 years, and I can see why Tim writes about her incredible kindness in his new book. She clearly has an enormous capacity for empathy, which is borne out in her repeated questioning. “Yes, well, there’s a bit too much of that,” he says with a gentle smile.
After all, he should know. It was in 2001, when Prunella was in her early 70s, that Tim first noticed a change. His wife had played everyone from Sybil Fawlty to Queen Elizabeth II and, blessed with an excellent memory, always knew entire scripts.
Yet appearing in a play in Dulwich, Tim sensed she was having to search for her lines. It was then that Alzheimer’s first crossed his mind, but life carried on pretty much as normal. By 2003, though, she was struggling so much she needed stage prompts. At first, the GP put Pru’s symptoms down to old age. “Old age? But I’m only 74!” was her response. Sadly, she continued to decline and, in 2013, was diagnosed with vascular dementia. It must have been devastating news, but the couple were typically stoic.
Their solution was to continue as normally as possible, which they did in part through their Channel 4 TV show, Great Canal Journeys. The pair make a wonderful double act and, while Pru’s ailing health eventually led them to quit the show in 2020, Tim’s book is a celebration of their shared adventures and “splendid love”. It spans from the moment he met his beloved ‘Pruey’ when they bonded over The Times crossword and Polo mints, through to their 1963 marriage, parenthood and grandparenthood.
While Tim has a daughter, Juliet, from a previous marriage, the pair also share two sons – Joe and Sam, who plays Siegfried Farnon in
All Creatures Great and Small. Last year, Tim and Pru celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary.
Throughout both the book and our interview, what shines through is the positive way they’ve managed Pru’s illness and how it’s even brought some benefits. After being an “Olympic standard worrier,” Pru’s anxiety has been lessened by her condition, as she’s been forced to live purely in the present. Dementia has left her with virtually no short-term memory and, the night before we meet, she and Tim have been to see Hamlet. Although Pru could follow the plot during the play, she couldn’t remember anything about it after leaving the theatre.
While Tim readily admits he’s not blessed with patience and that “of course” he gets bad-tempered, he tries not to dwell on the future. He’s already been warned by a doctor that one day his beloved Pru might not recognise him. “It would be a worry if it happened, but it hasn’t happened,” he says.
In essence, the couple are living for today and enjoying their time together. Not that they’ve retired. While Tim says he’s “still available for work”, Prunella has recorded all her old love letters to him, for the audio version of his book.
“We like to think positively,” he emphasises, although he appreciates that they are fortunate enough to have carer support. “If this book is helpful to other people I am very pleased, but it wasn’t written to be helpful. It was a story about how we coped and managed. How we are.”
Heading next door to say goodbye to Pru, I find her having her fingernails painted. Her carers explain that she’ll soon be heading to the hairdressers for a cut and colour.
“What a ghastly wife you’ve got, having to have all these things done to her!” she dramatically announces to Tim. After an hour chatting to him about their very special love story, it’s as clear as day that he would never agree.
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Pru and Me
AmazonArabella Horspool is a Commercial Content Writer for Yours at Bauer Media. She's a bookworm who is passionate about TV, film and theatre. She enjoys cooking, scrapbooking, playing board games and spending time with her pet dogs, tortoise and chickens.