Timothy West, acclaimed British actor and lover of UK’s waterways, dies at 90

Timothy West, pictured in May with his wife, Prunella Scales, died peacefully in his sleep Tuesday, his family said. British actor Timothy West, who played the classic Shakespeare roles of King Lear and Macbeth and in recent years along with his wife, Prunella Scales, enchanted millions of people with their boating exploits on Britain’s waterways, has died. In a statement Wednesday, his children said that West died in his sleep “with his friends and family at the end.” “After a long and extraordinary life on and off the stage, our darling father Timothy West died peacefully in his sleep yesterday evening,” his children Juliet, Samuel and Joseph said. He excelled as a leading actor in numerous Shakespeare productions, including playing Falstaff in a 1996 production of Shakespeare’s “Henry IV” opposite his son Samuel, who played Prince Hal. “Timothy West was an icon of British drama, and at the BBC we feel incredibly privileged that he was on our screens across the decades,” said Lindsay Salt, director of BBC Drama.