Timothy West died ‘peacefully’ after three-month hospital stay
Actor Timothy West passed away "peacefully, surrounded by his family" at a care home where he had been receiving palliative care, following a three-month hospital stay after a fall, an inquest has revealed.
West, best known for his roles in TV shows such as the comedy-drama Brass, sitcom Not Going Out, and soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders, was married to actress Prunella Scales for over 60 years.
His family confirmed his death in November, announcing that he had passed away at the age of 90 with loved ones by his side. Some of these family members attended the hearing into his death at Westminster Coroner’s Court on Thursday via videolink.
Assistant coroner Ellie Oakley said: “Timothy West had an unwitnessed fall near his home on 11 August 2024 which resulted in a significant traumatic brain injury.
“It is not possible to determine how the fall happened and there is no evidence of others being involved.
“He was treated in hospital for around three months before being discharged to a care home on 5 November 2024 for palliative care.
“Unfortunately he was not well enough to be discharged to his home despite receiving appropriate care in the care home.
“He died on 12 November 2024.”
The coroner addressed the family and close friends who viewed proceedings online at the conclusion of the inquest, telling them: “I would like to end by passing on my sincerest condolences to Mr West’s family and friends for this tragic loss of their loved one.”
West had been living at Wandsworth Common Care Home in the days leading up to his death.
The home’s general manager, Thomas Holden, said in a statement read out at Thursday’s 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.”
Mr Holden said West was admitted with a view to trying to rehabilitate him enough so that he could go home “as he wished to spend his last days there” but that there was a “slow decline” in his health over the days he resided there.
West was admitted to hospital in August last year after a fall near his home.
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He remained in hospital for around three months during which time the actor’s loved ones eventually decided to prioritise his “comfort and dignity” and arranged for him to be discharged to the private care home.
The medical cause of death was given as a subdural haematoma and extra-axial haemorrhage, with a traumatic brain injury and non-convulsive status epilepticus, aspiration pneumonia and hypertension as contributing factors.
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.
“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 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.
In Brass the Bradford-born actor played ruthless self-made businessman Bradley Hardacre from 1982 to 1984 before returning for a third series in 1990, while in Not Going Out he played Geoffrey, the father of Lucy Adams, played by Sally Bretton.
He appeared as Eric Babbage in seven episodes of Coronation Street in 2013, and in EastEnders he played Stan Carter from 2014 to 2015.
His film roles included Commissioner Berthier in The Day Of The Jackal (1973), King Francis in From Ever After: A Cinderella Story (1998), and Nazi physician and war criminal Karl Gebhardt in Hitler: The Last Ten Days (1973).
On stage, he was a regular performer of Shakespeare, playing Lear in 2016 and 2002.
In 1984, West was appointed a CBE for his services to drama in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List.
Before acting, West attended the John Lyon School and Bristol Grammar School, and worked as an office furniture salesman and a recording technician before becoming an assistant stage manager at Wimbledon Theatre in 1956.