Timothy West & Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales’ incredible 60-year love story – from hosting TV hit to health battle
LEGENDARY actor Timothy West enjoyed a heartwarming 60-year love story with his wife Prunella Scales before he passed away.
Timothy, who died “in his sleep” aged 90, had a partnership like no other with Fawlty Towers star Prunella.
The pair’s incredible relationship spanned over six decades and saw them appear together in hit sitcoms as well as bring up two children.
Timothy and Prunella first met in 1961 while making what they both describe as a “terrible play” for the BBC called She Died Young.
And it was one sweet tradition that saw them fall in love and keep up during over 60 years of marriage.
Opening up about their first meeting during an appearance on Loose Women last year, Timothy said that when he and Prunella weren’t filming scenes for the show, they would spend their time off playing crosswords and writing letters to each other.
The star said: “Pru and I had certain amounts of time off.
“We spent a lot of time doing crosswords and writing letters to each other. This is something that has gone on all our lives.”
The 90-year-old continued: “We love writing letters about something that the other person might have missed or not quite understood. We would make each other laugh and make each other find out about things.”
The happy couple then tied the knot at Chelsea Register Office in 1963 before going on to welcome two sons: Samuel and Joseph.
Prunella previously revealed that her husband was “brilliant” when she was in labour with Samuel, their eldest son, and made her laugh “so much” that she had to have stitches.
Samuel, 58, has since followed in his parents’ footsteps as an actor and is a familiar face on our screens, having appeared in Slow Horses, The Crown, and Mr Selfridge.
He currently stars in Channel 5‘s hit period drama, All Creatures Great and Small.
Meanwhile, Joe is now a teacher, having always wanted to pursue a career in the profession. He married a French lector and settled down in France.
Timothy is also a dad to his daughter Juliet from his first marriage.
In later life, between 2014 and 2019, the couple filmed Great Canal Journeys, a Channel 4 series celebrating their love of narrow boating.
Prunella was diagnosed with vascular dementia, a form of the disease caused by reduced blood flow to the brain, in 2014.
But it was as long ago as 2001 when West first noticed something was not entirely right with his wife.
He had been to see her in the opening night of a play in Greenwich where everything had gone well.
Timothy described her condition in his memoir Pru and Me.
He revealed he had consulted the couple’s GP about her memory a year before her diagnosis – but had been told not to worry.
Speaking to the BBC soon after the couple’s diamond wedding anniversary in 2023, he said: “Somehow we have coped with it and Pru doesn’t really think about it.”
Timothy describe how he and his wife visited theatres and galleries together
The actor acknowledged that while he is his wife’s primary carer, he is also very reliant on her.
Their love was sos trong that the core of their relationship did not even alter since the dementia diagnosis.
“I don’t think it has changed at all,” says Timothy to the BBC with complete assuredness.
Prunella added: “I’ve got to know him better and better and better.
“I’ve been asked to live the rest of my life with somebody I respect very much, and I quite admire and agree with about a lot of things. And argue with about a lot of things quite happily.”