Country girl
Prunella Margaret Rumney Illingworth grew up on a farm in the countryside. Her parents decided to leave London during World War II and the family lived in a farmhouse lit by oil-lamps, with a gramophone and wireless as their only entertainment.

Acting in the blood
Prunella followed her mother, Catherine Scales, into acting. Regardless of the role, she uses a strict method learnt at acting school to perfect her character. These techniques involve analysing every part of the role and identifying any potential obstacles in the way of making it a success.

Basil!
Prunella will always be best remembered for playing the fearsome Sybil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers. But Prunella denies suggestions that Sybil has haunted her career and typecast her in similar roles. In fact, she sees her TV work as welcome funding for her preferred - and less well paid - roles in the theatre.

Celebrity revision
Prunella's husband, Timothy West, is also an actor, as is one of their sons, Sam. She once recalled a time when Sam was studying William Shakespeare's Richard III for his O-Level exams. The family assembled various friends to read the text around the kitchen table. The stellar cast for the read-through included Derek Jacobi, Julian Glover and Isla Blair.

President Prunella
The rural spirit of Prunella's childhood is still very much alive, illustrated by her five-year tenure as President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England. The organisation, of which she is still a member, promotes the safeguarding of country life and Prunella has spoken out in favour of many environmental causes.

Domestic life
Prunella is a self-confessed homebody, listing her rather domesticated hobbies as herb growing and doing crochet. Her husband jokes that she "doesn't even like leaving the house to put the milk bottles out". The couple have lived in the same house in Wandsworth, South London for over 30 years. They own a narrow boat on the Avon canal, which they use to take holidays through the countryside.