Actor Timothy West dies aged 90

Actor Timothy West, one of Britain's most distinguished and versatile actors, has died at the age of 90, his family have announced.

He was known for roles on stage and screen including in TV sitcoms Not Going Out and Bedtime, dramas such as Bleak House and Gentleman Jack, and soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders.

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

The actor is also survived by his wife, Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years.

In recent years, the couple had been followed in 10 series of Channel 4's Great Canal Journeys.

Scales has had vascular dementia for more than 20 years.

Dame Joanna Lumley said: "Timothy really will be a huge loss, obviously, to Pru, but I think a huge loss to everybody who came to love and respect them, not just the general public, but particularly those who live with dementia.

"I think between them, Timothy and Pru did an amazing job of convincing people that dementia was not something that you should be always afraid of, but something that you could embrace and live with and live with well," she added on Times Radio.

Paying tribute on X, broadcaster Piers Morgan recalled interviewing West for his Life Stories series with the actor’s wife Scales sitting in the audience.

"[She was] the love of his life... his devotion to her after she developed Alzheimer’s was profoundly touching," Morgan said.

Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman described West as "the most wonderful actor and human being".

In their statement, Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West described their father as having had a "long and extraordinary life on and off the stage".

West leaves "a sister, a daughter, two sons, seven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren", the family said, adding: "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."

On the big screen, he played a member of the French intelligence service in the 1973 film adaptation of Frederick Forsyth's The Day of the Jackal.

His lead TV roles included 1980s comedy-drama Brass, in which he played ruthless self-made businessman Bradley Hardacre.

He starred in Lynda La Plante's 1992 crime drama Framed, and was film-maker Frank Sheringham in 1994 children's TV series Smokescreen.

In Not Going Out, the British sitcom created by Lee Mack which has been running since 2006, West played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams (played by Sally Bretton).

West also appeared in seven episodes of Coronation Street in 2013 as Eric Babbage, while in EastEnders he played Stan, the patriarch of the Carter family, in 2014 and 2015.