Prunella Scales was a wonderful comic actress ...in scene after scene she was absolutely perfect'

JOHN Cleese led tributes to his Fawlty Towers costar Prunella Scales after she died "peacefully at home" in London aged 93.

- By Martin Phillips

Canals... with husband Timothy West, and in 2008

The actress, who was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013, passed away one year after husband, Timothy West, aged 90.

Prunella, who played bossy hotel manager Sybil Fawlty in the 1970s hit sitcom, watched the show the day before she died.

And "her last days were comfortable, contented and surrounded by love", said her sons Samuel, the actor, and Joseph.

In a statement about their "darling mother", they said: "Although dementia forced her retirement from a remarkable acting career of nearly 70 years, she continued to live at home."

Monty Python star John, 86, 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.

"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."

Broadcaster Gyles Brandreth said: "Prunella Scales was a wonderful actress who brought her high intelligence to every part she played from Sybil Fawlty to Elizabeth II. She was funny, intrepid, interesting, interested, challenging, huge fun and blessed with a beautiful marriage. All this and the canal journeys too!'

Jon Petrie, director of comedy at the BBC, also paid tribute, saying: "She was a national treasure whose brilliance as Sybil Fawlty lit up screens and still makes us laugh today."

Corinne Mills, of the Alzheimer's Society, described the actress as a "true British icon". She said: "Prunella was an inspiration not just for her achievements on screen, but because she spoke so openly about living with dementia, shining an important light on the UK's biggest killer."

In a remarkable acting career spanning nearly seven decades, Prunella was best known for her screen appearances as two very different wives.