LONDON – British actor Timothy West, who played wartime leader Winston Churchill three times as well as Shakespeare’s classic roles of Hamlet, King Lear and Macbeth, has died. He was 90.
In a statement, his children said West died “peacefully” with his “friends and family at last.”
“After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our beloved father Timothy West passed away peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening,” said his children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph.
During his long career, West was a frequent presence on stage and screen, his versatility allowing him to play a wide range of characters. He rose to prominence as the lead actor in many Shakespeare productions while playing recurring roles in two British television series, “Coronation Street” and “Eastenders,” which kept him in the public eye in later life.
West, who was born in the northern English town of Bradford, made his London stage debut in 1959, before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s, where he found his acting chops.
On television, he has been involved in many adaptations of Charles Dickens’ novels, including “Hard Times”, “Oliver Twist” and “Bleak House”. “Hard Times” starred in ITV’s “Brass” from 1982 to 1984, where he played a ruthless self-made businessman. He returned for a third series in 1990.
West played Churchill three times, in 1979’s “From Churchill and the Generals”, “The Last Bastion” five years later and in 1995’s “Hiroshima”.
He was married for 61 years to actress Prunella Scales, best known for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the 1970 BBC comedy “Fawlty Towers.”
The long-running couple were featured in 10 series of Channel 4’s “Great Canal Journeys” between 2014 and 2021. The show, which was thought to be a love letter to narrowboats and the British countryside, was widely praised for its faithful portrayal of Scales’. slow decline and dementia.
West was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1984 for his services to acting.
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