Timothy West, actor and husband of Fawlty Towers' Prunella Scales, dies aged 90

West was married to Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales, who played Sybil in the comedy series.

A statement released jointly by his children said the actor died peacefully in his sleep “with friends and family at the end”.

"After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening. He was 90 years old," the statement read.

It added: "He leaves his wife Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly.

"We would like to thank the incredible NHS staff at St George’s Hospital, Tooting and at Avery Wandsworth for their loving care during his last days."

West married Scales in 1963. Three years later, the pair welcomed their first child together, Samuel, who followed in his parents' acting footsteps with roles in the likes of All Creatures Great and Small, Slow Horses and Mr Selfridge.

Scales and West starred together in their own Channel 4 TV show Great Canal Journeys between 2014 and 2019, which documented the journeys the pair would take on narrowboats across Europe, Egypt and India.

The series was also notable for exploring how the couple navigated Scales’s experiences with vascular dementia.

West was known to soap fans for his roles as Eric Babbage in Coronation Street in 2013, and in EastEnders as Stan Carter, a part he played between 2014 and 2015.

He held many other popular TV roles over the course of his 60-year acting career.

In BBC comedy Not Going Out, he played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams (Sally Bretton), while in comedy-drama Brass, he played the ruthless businessman Bradley Hardacre.

He also had roles in adaptations of Charles Dickens’s novels Hard Times, Oliver Twist and Bleak House, and portrayed Winston Churchill on three occasions, in Churchill and the Generals (1979), The Last Bastion (1984) and Hiroshima (1995).

More recently, he starred in Sally Wainwright's drama series Last Tango in Halifax and Gentleman Jack.

His last on-screen acting role airs today (13th November) on the BBC daytime series Doctors, with the show's social media account calling it "a moving reminder of his incredible talent".

West was also known for treading the boards, and had leading roles in Uncle Vanya, Death of a Salesman, The Master Builder, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Macbeth and King Lear.

Tributes have been flooding in for West following the sad news of his passing.

EastEnders wrote on Instagram: "We are extremely saddened to hear that Timothy West has passed away. Timothy joined EastEnders as Stan and his presence as the patriarch of the Carter family was immediately felt. Timothy was instantly loved and adored by all those that worked with him at EastEnders and he will forever be in our hearts . We send all our love and thoughts to Timothy’s family and friends."

The Royal Shakespeare Company added: “We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Timothy West We would like to extend our heartfelt sympathies to Timothy’s family and friends – in particular to his wife Prunella and children, including Samuel, who is an Associate Artist and will play Malvolio in Twelfth Night.”

Meanwhile, director and actor Alice Lowe said: “[I] first encountered Timothy West in his support of the Scarborough @NSDFest . He was wonderful. An encouraging, positive, generous presence in what he knew can be a tough unrelenting industry, but he gave young people the self belief to carry on with it. Kindness and faith in joy."