Scales, Prunella (1932- )

English actor, best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the much-repeated television comedy series Fawlty Towers (1975, 1978). Her stage performances include her one-woman show An Evening with Queen Victoria (1980) and her role as the Queen in Alan Bennett's A Question of Attribution (1988) - the first time the Queen had been portrayed on stage.

Born in Surrey, she trained at the Old Vic Theatre School and the Herbert Berghof Studio, New York. In the 1960s she was teamed with Richard Briers in the television comedy Marriage Lines.

She has also appeared in film, for example in the literary adaptations Howard's End (1992) and An Ideal Husband (1998). She was awarded the CBE in 1992.