John Cleese Pays Tribute to Late Fawlty Towers Co-Stars Prunella Scales and Nicky Henson

John Cleese shared snaps with his late Fawlty Towers co-stars Prunella Scales and Nicky Henson on Thursday after the former’s death earlier this week at the age of 93.

The celebrated actress was best-known for her role as Sybil Fawlty – the long-suffering wife of John Cleese’s hotel owner Basil – in the BBC comedy.

Her death came after her long battle with dementia and just under a year after her husband, the legendary actor Timothy West, passed away aged 90.

Meanwhile Nicky, who played the role of Mr Johnson in Fawlty Towers – passed away in 2019.

On Thursday John paid tribute to both of them as he shared snaps as a trio of them laughing together at an event – following his official tribute for Prunella on Tuesday. 

He penned in his post: ‘Two of my best departed Comedy friends. 

‘Pru, who was already a star when I entered Show business, and Nicky Henson, who shared dressing rooms with me on the first day I ever worked for the BBC, in 1966. #prunellascales #nickyhenson.’

His post was flooded with messages of people sharing their condolences. 

John led the tributes to her straight after her death was announced on Tuesday.

He said: ‘How very sad. Pru was a really wonderful comic actress. 

‘I’ve recently been watching a number of clips of Fawlty Towers whilst researching a book. Scene after scene she was absolutely perfect.’

He added: ‘She was a very sweet lady, who spent a lot of her life apologising. I used to tease her about it. I was very, very fond of her.’

The actress died ‘peacefully at home in London’ and had been watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died, her sons Samuel and Joseph said in a statement.

Their statement added: ‘Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home.

‘Pru was married to Timothy West for 61 years. He died in November 2024.

‘She is survived by two sons and one stepdaughter, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

‘We would like to thank all those who gave Pru such wonderful care at the end of her life: her last days were comfortable, contented and surrounded by love.’

Fawlty Towers won the Bafta for best scripted comedy in 1976 and this year marked 50 years since the comedy show first appeared on screens.

The series also starred the late Andrew Sachs as hapless Spanish waiter Manuel, and Cleese’s then-wife Connie Booth as chambermaid Polly.

Prunella had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013.

She also played Queen Elizabeth II in Alan Bennett’s A Question Of Attribution, a role which earned her a Bafta nomination, and in 1973 Scales teamed up with Ronnie Barker in the series Seven Of One, also for the BBC.

Her husband Timothy, who died in November 2024, starred in TV shows such as comedy drama Brass, sitcom Not Going Out and soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders.

Together the couple filmed 10 series of the Channel 4 programme Great Canal Journeys, which saw them travel across the UK and other parts of the world exploring different waterways, and the couple also talked openly about Scales’s diagnosis.

Their last journey for the programme was broadcast in June 2019.

In 2023, the couple did a joint interview with BBC Breakfast where Timothy spoke about first noticing signs of his wife’s illness while she was performing on stage at the Greenwich Theatre in 2001.

Prunella’s big career break was starring in the early 1960s sitcom Marriage Lines, and she also featured in many BBC Radio 4 sitcoms.