Actor Timothy West, who starred in EastEnders and Coronation Street, has sadly died aged 90, leaving behind his actress wife of 61 years, Prunella Scales

UK screens have dimmed after the news that Timothy West, a distinguished presence on British television since 1956, has passed away at 90. Timothy, who was married to Prunella Scales for more than 60 years, starred in the likes of Coronation Street, EastEnders, Not Going Out and Brass and was one of the country’s most beloved actors.

A very moving statement issued after his death 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.” Timothy and Prunella, who has been living with dementia for the last 11 years, celebrated their diamond anniversary in November last year and opened up about their relationship together.

While appearing on BBC Breakfast, Prunella left viewers feeling emotional as she thanked her now late husband for “sticking with me”, and revealed that regular letter-writing helped keep their relationship alive over so many years. “He [Tim] wrote lovely letters. Marvellous letters,” she said, while Tim added: “We both loved writing to each other. Sometimes two or three times a day.”

Timothy and Fawlty Towers star Prunella, 92, who played Sybil Fawlty in the show, shared three children together- Juliet, Samuel and Joseph – as well as their seven grandchildren and four greatgrandchildren.

After his death, stars of stage and screen paid tribute to Timothy, including Dame Joanna Lumley, who worked together with him to help rid some of the stigma around dementia. As well as saying it would be “a huge loss to everybody”, she also paid tribute to his marriage to Prunella.

“Timothy really will be a huge loss, obviously, to Pru, but I think a huge loss to everybody who came to love and respect them, not just the general public, but particularly those who live with dementia,” she said. “I think between them, Timothy and Pru did an amazing, amazing job of convincing people that dementia was not something that you should be always afraid of, but something that you could embrace and live with and live with well.”

Timothy played Eric Baggage for seven episodes of Coronation Street in 2013, before joining EastEnders as Stan Carter for the next two years of his career.

Earlier today, an EastEnders spokesperson said: “We are extremely saddened to hear that Timothy West has passed away. Timothy joined EastEnders as Stan and his presence as the patriarch of the Carter family was immediately felt.

“Timothy was instantly loved and adored by all those that worked with him at EastEnders and he will forever be in our hearts. We send all our love and thoughts to Timothy’s family and friends.”