British actor Timothy West, who performed the basic Shakespeare roles of King Lear and Macbeth and who lately alongside along with his spouse, Prunella Scales, enchanted hundreds of thousands of individuals with their boating exploits on Britain’s waterways, has died, He was 90.
In an announcement Wednesday, his kids stated that West died “peacefully” in his sleep “along with his family and friends on the finish.”
“After a protracted and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday night,” his kids Juliet, Samuel and Joseph stated.
West was an everyday presence on stage and display screen, his versatility permitting him to play a broad vary of characters. He excelled as a number one actor in quite a few Shakespeare productions, together with enjoying Falstaff in a 1996 manufacturing of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” reverse his son Samuel, who performed Prince Hal. Other notable performances embrace his portrayal of Claudius in a 1977 manufacturing of “Hamlet,” by which Derek Jacobi performed the titular function.
An array of credit on stage and display screen, together with quick stints in British tv’s two hottest cleaning soap operas, “Coronation Street” and “Eastenders,” stored him within the public eye in later life.
“Timothy West was an icon of British drama, and at the BBC we feel incredibly privileged that he was on our screens across the decades,” stated Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama.
West, who was born within the north England metropolis of Bradford, made his London stage debut in 1959, earlier than becoming a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company within the Sixties, the place he earned his performing chops.
On tv, he had roles in diversifications of Charles Dickens’ novels, together with “Bleak House” and “Hard Times,” the latter which was parodied in ITV’s “Brass” from 1982 to 1990, by which West performed a ruthless self-made businessman.
He clearly had the look, in addition to the depth, to play Britain’s wartime chief Winston Churchill 3 times, first in 1979’s “From Churchill and the Generals,” then in “The Last Bastion” 5 years later and at last in “Hiroshima” in 1995.
West, who was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1984 for his companies to drama, was married for 61 years to actress Prunella Scales, who’s most well-known for her function as Sybil Fawlty within the basic Nineteen Seventies BBC comedy “Fawlty Towers.”
The couple had two sons, actor Samuel and Joseph. West was additionally married to actor Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, they usually had a daughter, Juliet West.
Their lengthy romance was showcased over 10 seasons of Channel 4’s “Great Canal Journeys,” when each had been primarily of their 80s. The program, which ostensibly was a love letter to narrowboats and of the British countryside, was broadly praised for the way in which it truthfully depicted Scales’ gradual deterioration with dementia.
The Carers Trust, which gives assist and help to these caring for his or her family members, praised West for being a “devoted carer” for his spouse, who’s 92.
The Canal & River Trust, which cares for the two,000 miles of waterways within the U.Okay., praised West for uplifting numerous folks to get on the market and benefit from the nation’s water community.
“He was a dedicated supporter and a compelling advocate for boating who will be sadly missed,” the charity’s chief govt Richard Parry stated.
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