Renowned British actor Timothy West, celebrated for his role in the 1970s espionage thriller The Day of the Jackal and an extensive career across stage and screen, has died at age 90.
In a heartfelt statement posted to social media, West’s children, Juliet, Samuel, and Joseph West, announced their father’s death.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Timothy West On Supporting His Wife With Dementia.
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“After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening,” the family said, adding that he was surrounded by friends and family at the time.
West is survived by his wife, Fawlty Towers star Prunella Scales, to whom he was married for 61 years, as well as their three children, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.
“Tim was with friends and family at the end … All of us will miss him terribly,” the family’s statement continued.
They concluded with a message of gratitude to the NHS staff at St George’s Hospital in Tooting and London’s Avery Wandsworth aged care facility, thanking them for “their loving care during his last days”.
Born on October 20, 1934, in West Yorkshire, West began his career in BBC’s 1960 miniseries adaptation of Persuasion.
He was a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for three seasons during the ‘60s, playing leading roles in various plays including Macbeth and King Lear.
His breakout role came in 1973 with the political thriller The Day of the Jackal, which earned multiple Golden Globe and Oscar nominations.
West’s versatile career spanned roles in British favourites Coronation Street, EastEnders, Not Going Out, and his final appearance in the long-running UK soap opera Doctors, which aired November 13.
Many tributes poured in for West, including one from Piers Morgan, who described him in an Instagram post as “a wonderful actor, and delightful man”.
Morgan recalled his poignant interview with West, with Scales in the audience, noting the actor’s enduring devotion to his wife after her Alzheimer’s diagnosis.
