Timothy West 'died peacefully' after hospital stay

Actor Timothy West died "peacefully with his family around him" at a care home where he was being looked after following a fall, an inquest has heard.

West, who was married to actress Prunella Scales for more than 60 years, appeared in TV sitcoms Not Going Out, dramas such as Bleak House and Gentleman Jack, and soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders.

Westminster Coroner's Court heard the Bradford-born actor had had a fall on 11 August last year, which resulted in a "significant traumatic brain injury".

Assistant coroner Ellie Oakley said he had been treated in hospital for about three months before being moved to Wandsworth Common Care Home where he was receiving palliative care before his death on 12 November.

She said: "It is not possible to determine how the fall happened and there is no evidence of others being involved.

"Unfortunately he was not well enough to be discharged to his home despite receiving appropriate care in the care home."

The care home's general manager, Thomas Holden, said in a statement read out at the inquest: "On 12 November his family were with him all day.

"They continued to stay with him in his room during the evening and he passed away peacefully with his family around him at 19:20."

In a statement announcing his death last year, West's children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph said: "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.

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

West and Scales, 92, who played Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers, appeared in the documentary series Great Canal Journeys between 2014 and 2021, which saw them travelling on narrowboats.

The couple married in 1963 and had two sons, Samuel and Joseph.

West was also married to actor Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, and they had a daughter, Juliet.