John Cleese has remembered his on-screen wife, Prunella Scales, as "absolutely perfect" in a heartwarming tribute to his Fawlty Towers co-star.
British actor Scales, best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty, died aged 93 on Monday.
Cleese, who played Basil Fawlty in the two-season 70s comedy, remembered Scales as a "really wonderful comic actress".
"I've recently been watching a number of clips of Fawlty Towers whilst researching a book," Cleese said in a statement.
"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."
Numerous writers, actors and presenters have joined Cleese in paying tribute to Scales, whose acting résumé includes TV, film and theatre roles.
She starred as Elizabeth Mapp in the 1985 TV adaptation of Mapp & Lucia, Queen Elizabeth II in A Question of Attribution and as another royal playing Queen Victoria more than 400 times in one-woman show An Evening with Queen Victoria.
British broadcaster Gyles Brandreth said Scales was brilliant.
"Prunella was a wonderful actress who brought her high intelligence to every part she played — from Sybil Fawlty to Elizabeth II," Brandreth said.
"She was funny, intrepid, interesting, interested, challenging, huge fun."
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer passed on his condolences to Scales's family.
"Clearly Prunella Scales was part of a golden era for British comedy," a spokesperson for Sir Keir said.
"Someone whose talent was beamed into people's homes over many years and gave many people a huge amount of enjoyment."
Scales was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2013, but continued working for many years after.
Between 2014 and 2019, she and her husband, actor Timothy West, who died in November 2024, explored waterways in Britain and abroad in the travel show Great Canal Journeys.
The program was praised for the way it honestly depicted Scales's dementia.
The British Alzheimer's Society interim chief executive, Corinne Mills, described Scales as "a true British icon".
"Prunella was an inspiration not just for her achievements on screen, but because she spoke so openly about living with dementia.
"We are profoundly grateful for the awareness she helped to raise and send our heartfelt condolences to her loved ones."
Scales's sons Alex and Samuel announced their mother had died peacefully in London in a statement on Tuesday.
"She was watching Fawlty Towers the day before she died," the statement said.
She is also survived by a stepdaughter, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.
ABC/Wires
