Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs dies aged 86
The actor best known as Spanish waiter Manuel in the classic comedy passed away after a battle with dementia
Andrew Sachs, the actor best known as Fawlty Towers' Manuel, has died aged 86 following a four-year battle with dementia.
Sachs passed away on 23rd November and was buried on Thursday, 1st December, his wife Melody confirmed.
Mrs Sachs revealed that she had developed acute stress while looking after him but had recovered quickly and that she and her husband had since been happy together until his death.
"We were happy, we were always laughing, we never had a dull moment. He had dementia for four years and we didn’t really notice it at first until the memory started going.
"It didn’t get really bad until quite near the end," she told the Daily Mail. "I nursed Andrew, I was there for every moment of it."
Sachs played hapless Spanish waiter Manuel "from Barcelona" in both series of classic hotel sitcom Fawlty Towers in 1975 and 1979. He is also known to Coronation Street fans for his three month stint on the soap in 2009, where he starred as the ill-fated Ramsay Clegg.
In 2008, Sachs was the high-profile victim of a prank phone message by Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand, which was dubbed "Sachsgate".
Sachs's Fawlty Towers co-star John Cleese expressed his sadness and shock at the news of his death, calling him a "kind man and a truly great farceur".
Watch Andrew Sachs in action as Manuel, alongside Cleese, in the Fawlty Towers clips below...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6EaoPMANQM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-oH-TELcLE
