Timothy West’s son Samuel has shared his father’s final words, along with the “beautiful” significance of the time of his death.
The actor, whose remarkably varied career encompassed everything from Shakespearean theatre to soaps, died in November at the age of 90.
Samuel, an actor who has appeared in shows such as Slow Horses, All Creatures Great and Small and The Crown, told The Sunday Times that his father died at 6.55pm, which is when stage actors typically hear the “half-hour call” backstage ahead of their evening performance.
“I thought that was rather beautiful,” the 58-year-old told the paper. “No more visitors backstage. He took a deep breath in the wings and went on. And so it was a good death, surrounded by his three children. He was in his sleep, he was pain-free. I mean, we should all hope for something so good.”
His father’s final words to him also related to their shared profession, with Timothy asking him: “Where are you going to rehearsals?”
Timothy married fellow actor Prunella Scales in 1963, and the couple shared two sons, Samuel and Joseph. He was also father to a daughter, Juliet, from his first marriage to Jacqueline Boyer.
He and Scales appeared together in the Channel 4 show Great Canal Journeys, which saw the couple travel around the world’s waterways together. They were praised for talking openly about Scales’ experience with vascular dementia, after she was diagnosed with the condition in 2014.
His family confirmed the news of his death in a statement, which read: “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 great-grandchildren. All of us will miss him terribly.”
They thanked the “incredible NHS staff” for “their loving care during his last days”.
