Prunella Margaret Rumney West Scales CBE (née Illingworth; born 22
June 1932) is an English actress best known for her role as Basil
Fawlty's wife Sybil in the BBC comedy Fawlty Towers and her BAFTA
award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of
Attribution (Screen One, BBC 1991) by Alan Bennett.Scales was born in
Sutton Abinger, Surrey, the daughter of Catherine (née Scales), an
actress, and John Richardson Illingworth, a cotton salesman. She
attended Moira House Girls School, Eastbourne. She had a younger
brother, Timothy ("Timmo") Illingworth (1934â€"2017).Scales' parents
moved their family to Bucks Mill near Bideford in Devon in 1939 at the
start of the Second World War. Scales herself (and her brother) were
evacuated to Near Sawrey (then in Lancashire, now in Cumbria).
June 1932) is an English actress best known for her role as Basil
Fawlty's wife Sybil in the BBC comedy Fawlty Towers and her BAFTA
award-nominated role as Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of
Attribution (Screen One, BBC 1991) by Alan Bennett.Scales was born in
Sutton Abinger, Surrey, the daughter of Catherine (née Scales), an
actress, and John Richardson Illingworth, a cotton salesman. She
attended Moira House Girls School, Eastbourne. She had a younger
brother, Timothy ("Timmo") Illingworth (1934â€"2017).Scales' parents
moved their family to Bucks Mill near Bideford in Devon in 1939 at the
start of the Second World War. Scales herself (and her brother) were
evacuated to Near Sawrey (then in Lancashire, now in Cumbria).
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