The REAL Sybil dies aged 95: Woman's Torquay hotel helped inspire Fawlty Towers
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
Last updated at 4:32 PM on 16th September 2010
Last updated at 4:32 PM on 16th September 2010
The hotelier who was the inspiration behind Basil Fawlty’s wife Sybil in the classic BBC comedy Fawlty Towers has died aged 95.
Beatrice Sinclair and her husband Donald were immortalised in fiction by John Cleese after he stayed at their Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, Devon, in 1971.
Mr Cleese was staying in the resort while filming Monty Python's Flying Circus and became impressed by Mr Sinclair’s ‘wonderful’ rudeness.
Infamous: An undated picture of Beatrice Sinclair and husband Donald with daughters Ann and Helen. They were the inspiration behind Sybil and Basil Fawlty
He is said to have terrorised his guests and at one point threw Eric Idle's suitcase behind a wall in the garden in case it contained a bomb.
Mr Sinclair barked and threw maps at them and Mr Cleese found his behaviour so funny he was inspired to write Fawlty Towers and create Basil in his image.
It is unclear how much of the character Sybil was based on Mrs Sinclair but during the Python's stay she apparently tried to charge Graham Chairman and Michael Palin a two week fee for a night's stay.
She was also the ‘driving force’ and founder of the hotel and her husband would always address her with 'Yes Dear', just as Basil addressed Sybil, played by Prunella Scales, in the popular TV series.
Mrs Donald - who always denied her husband was anything like Basil - died on Monday at the Georgian House care home in Torquay aged 95.
The hotel's current owner Brian Shone said: ‘She was the person who drove the business and she was the strong one. Whenever she told Donald what to do he would say “yes dear”.
Immortalised: John Cleese and Prunella Scales as Basil and Sybil Fawlty in the classic TV series Fawlty Towers
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1312598/Fawlty-Towers-Sybil-inspiration-Beatrice-Sinclair-dies-95.html#ixzz0zjbbbmJ4
No comments:
Post a Comment