Timothy West, star of stage, film and television, dies aged 90

By Chris Wiegand and Caroline Davies

With a career ranging from Shakespeare to EastEnders and Great Canal Journeys, actor was a familiar face from the 1960s onwards

Timothy West with his wife, Prunella Scales, in May 2024. They were married for 61 years and starred together in Great Canal Journeys. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA Media

The actor Timothy West, whose career ranged from Shakespeare, Ibsen and Pinter on stage to TV appearances in Brass, EastEnders and Great Canal Journeys (with his wife, Prunella Scales), has died aged 90.

His children, Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West, said in a statement: “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.

“Tim was with friends and family at the end. 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.”

Hugely popular, with a commanding stage presence but unassuming personal manner, West toured the UK’s regional theatres with the same adventurous spirit with which he travelled its waterways.

“I feel more useful when I’m on the road, touring this country and others, playing in different theatres, exploring different places, meeting different people,” he wrote in his witty 2001 memoir A Moment Towards the End of the Play. “It’s no way to get rich, or famous, and it drives my agent mad, but I love it.”

Timothy West in King Lear at the Old Vic, London, in 2003. Photograph: Tristram Kenton/The Guardian

There were many tributes paid to West after news of his death. The writer and broadcaster Gyles Brandreth posted on Instagram: “A marvellous man – a marvellous actor, husband, father, friend. On stage, on screen, on a canal boat, on the end of a pier (he loved a seaside pier!), in the garden with a glass of wine, he was just the best. The great Timothy West has died at 90: what a worthwhile, well-filled life.”

West played leading roles in Uncle Vanya, Death of a Salesman, The Master Builder, Long Day’s Journey into Night, Macbeth and, on four occasions, King Lear. He also became known for portraying real-life characters on stage and screen, such as the designer William Morris and conductor Thomas Beecham, as well as political figures including Mikhail Gorbachev, Joseph Stalin and Winston Churchill. West’s films included The Day of the Jackal (1973) and Cry Freedom (1987).

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First published at The Guardian (Australian Edition), November 14, 2024