Beloved Veteran Actor Died From ‘Traumatic Brain Injury’ Suffered in Fall: Inquest Reveals Details of Timothy West’s Death

New details have emerged about the circumstances surrounding the death of acclaimed British actor Timothy West.

West, who was married to actress Prunella Scales for over 60 years and starred in U.K. soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders, passed away at a palliative care home on Nov. 12, 2024, months after he suffered a “significant traumatic brain injury” in a fall.

The details emerged in an inquest into his death at Westminster Coroner’s Court last month, per the BBC and the Independent. According to assistant coroner Ellie Oakley, West suffered a fall near his home on Aug. 11, 2024, causing a “significant traumatic brain injury,” though “it is not possible to determine how the fall happened and there is no evidence of others being involved.”

Following a three-month hospitalization, West was transferred to Wandsworth Common Care Home on Nov. 5, where he received palliative care until his passing at the age of 90 just a week later.

“Unfortunately, he was not well enough to be discharged to his home despite receiving appropriate care in the care home,” Oakley said. “He died on November 12, 2024.”

Thomas Holden, the general manager at Wandsworth Common Care Home, said that West was admitted to the home with the hopes of rehabilitating him enough so that he could go home “as he wished to spend his last days there.” However, the actor suffered a “slow decline” in his health over the following days. Holden added that West’s family spent the day with him on Nov. 12 and “continued to stay with him in his room during the evening and he passed away peacefully with his family around him at 7.20 p.m.”

The inquest revealed West’s medical cause of death as a subdural hematoma and extra-axial hemorrhage, with a traumatic brain injury and non-convulsive status epilepticus, aspiration pneumonia and hypertension as contributing factors

West’s children Juliet, Samuel, and Joseph, confirmed their father’s passing in a statement last year, sharing, “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.”

They added that the beloved actor “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.”

In addition to his roles as Eric Babbage in Coronation Street and Stan Carter in EastEnders, West is also well-remembered for his starring roles in TV comedies such as Brass and Not Going Out, as well as dramas like Bleak House and Gentleman Jack. He also played Winston Churchill three times in Churchill and the Generals (1979), The Last Bastion (1984), and Hiroshima (1995).