Beloved Veteran Actor Dies at 90: Timothy West’s Family Confirms His Death

British stage, film, and TV actor Timothy West has died. Known for a decades-spanning career that included portraying Winston Churchill three times and starring roles in U.K. soaps Coronation Street and EastEnders, West passed away “peacefully in his sleep” on Tuesday, Nov. 19, his children, Juliet, Samuel and Joseph West announced. He was 90.

“After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father, Timothy West, died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening,” the statement read. “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 great-grandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly.”

West’s family added, “We would like to thank the incredible NHS staff at St George’s hospital, Tooting, and at Avery Wandsworth for their loving care during his last days.”

Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England on Oct. 20, 1934 to actors Lockwood West and Olive Carleton-Crowe, per the BBC, West’s career in entertainment began when he served as an assistant stage manager at the Wimbledon Theatre. He went on to enjoy a prolific career on both the stage and screen, becoming a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company for three seasons in the ’60s and playing the lead roles in Macbeth, King Lear, and more.

On the screen, West played Commissioner Berthier in The Day of the Jackal (1973), and also appeared in Cry Freedom (1987), Luc Besson’s The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999), and Richard Eyre’s biographical drama Iris (2001). On TV, he is best remembered for portraying Eric Babbage in Coronation Street in 2013 and Stan Carter in EastEnders between 2014 and 2015. He also starred as Bradley Hardacre in the comedy drama from Brass, appeared in the 1985 Agatha Christie series Miss Marple, and played Winston Churchill three times in Churchill and the Generals (1979), The Last Bastion (1984), and Hiroshima (1995). More recently, he hosted the Channel 4 series Great Canal Journeys alongside his wife of 60 years, fellow actress Prunella Scales, and starred in the series Gentlemen Jack as American Revolution-era British officer Jeremy Lister from 2019 to 2022.

Following his passing, former EastEnders star Tracy-Ann Oberman remembered him as “the most wonderful actor and human being.” Broadcaster Piers Morgan called him “a wonderful actor and delightful man,” adding that his “Life Stories interview with him, as the love of his life Prunella Scales sat in the audience, was so moving.”

“We are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Timothy West We would like to extend our heartfelt sympathies to Timothy’s family and friends – in particular to his wife Prunella and children, including Samuel, who is an Associate Artist and will play Malvolio in Twelfth Night,” the Royal Shakespeare Company added.

West is survived by his wife, his sister Patricia, daughter Juliet, sons Samuel and Joseph, seven grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren.