Where Fawlty Towers cast are now as John Cleese announces reboot – from £12m divorce to infamous prank call scandal
FOR 44 years, no one was allowed to mention the reboot.
Fawlty Towers, starring John Cleese as hot-tempered hotel owner Basil Fawlty, ran for just 12 episodes from 1975 to 1979, but now the star has revealed it is returning with the help of his daughter, Camilla.
Manic Basil will be seen grappling with the modern world as he runs a boutique hotel in the Fawlty Towers reboot.
And the new episodes are likely to spark a bidding war between streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon, as well as US and UK channels.
But after nearly 50 years, many of the original cast who made the BBC classic such a smash hit will sadly be missing.
From bitter divorces to an infamous prank phone call scandal, here’s what happened to them after the show came to an end.
Basil Fawlty – John Cleese
John, 83, co-wrote all twelve episodes of Fawlty Towers with his then wife and co-star Connie Booth.
The pair divorced in 1978 – before the second series aired – but remained on good terms.
John has since remarried three more times, first to American model Barbara Trentham from 1981 to 1990, then to psychotherapist Alyce Eichelberger.
His acrimonious split from Alyce ended in a £12million settlement in 2008, before he married jewellery designer Jennifer Wade in 2012.
The Monty Python legend has enjoyed a Hollywood career in recent decades, appearing in hits like Shrek 2, The Pink Panther 2 and Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle.
In 2018’s Charming, he voiced the role of The Fairy Godmother.
He also starred in BBC’s Hold the Sunset as Phil as well as the ABC sitcom Speechless in which he had a special guest role as Martin, the father of Minnie Driver‘s character Maya.
Sybil Fawlty – Prunella Scales
Prunella, 90, played Basil’s long-suffering Sybil Fawlty, who infuriated her husband with gossipy phone calls.
In 1992, she was nominated for a BAFTA for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in TV drama A Question of Attribution.
Her film credits include Escape from the Dark, The Hound of the Baskervilles and The Merry Wives of Windsor.
She is married to actor Timothy West, and together the pair presented the show Great Canal Journeys for ten series.
In 2014, Prunella was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, which forced her to retire from her TV career six years later.
Her husband said: “The sad thing is, you just watch the gradual disappearance of the person you knew and loved and were very close to.
“A lot of her has left, but we still enjoy life and there’s still a lot Pru is able to enjoy and we are able to do together.”
Polly Sherman – Connie Booth
Connie, 82, played waitress Polly – and was a co-writer of with then-husband Cleese.
She has a daughter, Cynthia, with her ex-husband and the pair worked together on the second series of the show, despite getting a divorce after the first.
After the success of Fawlty Towers, Connie went on to star in TV movies including The Hound of The Baskervilles, The Return of Sherlock Holmes, and The Deadly Game.
But in 1995 she quit acting and began a career as a psychotherapist.
She remarried in 1995, to screenwriter Ed Solomon but the pair split and Connie married New Yorker critic John Lahr in 2000.
The pair live in North London together.
Manuel – Andrew Sachs
Clumsy waiter Manuel stole every scene he was in – and so did his thick Spanish accent.
Andrew subsequently took up the role as hotel manager in the sitcom Are You being Served? and famously played Ramsay Clegg in Coronation Street.
In 2008, the actor was infamously the subject of a prank by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross, in which they left voicemails stating that Brand had had sex with his granddaughter.
The BBC issued a public apology to Sachs, and Brand resigned.
Andrew was diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2012 and died in 2016, aged 86, after a long battle with the condition.
His wife Melody Sachs died just a year later.
Terry Hughes – Brian Hall
Brian Hall played Terry the chef from Fawlty Towers.
After the sitcom ended, he went on to star in hit TV series including Terry and June, Minder and Bergerac.
He starred in 1980 British drama film McVicar and played Eddie Green in BBC1 children’s drama Break in the Sun.
Brian was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 1994 and sadly died from the disease in 1997 aged 59.
In 1996, he told the : “Cancer is a bully and I hate bullies.
“This old boy cancer will get about as much change out of me as all the other bullies I’ve met – nothing.”
John Cleese, who was a close friend, said: “I am very upset. I was particularly fond of Brian and had several conversations with him this year.
“I admire profoundly the way in which he dealt with his cancer. I do not know where he found the strength.”
Major Gowen – Ballard Berkeley
Major Gowen has proved a controversial figure decades after the show first aired.
The character’s ‘racist’ jokes have led to some of his appearances being edited out from reruns.
However, John Cleese has defended the jokes, saying: “If you put nonsense words into the mouth of someone you want to make fun of, you’re not broadcasting their views, you’re making fun of them.
“The major was an old fossil left over from decades before. We were not supporting his views, we were making fun of them.
“If they can’t see that, if people are too stupid to see that, what can one say?”
Ballard himself had starring roles in To the Manor Born, Terry and June and Fresh Fields.
He also voiced the Head of the Army in the animated film version of Roald Dahl’s The BFG.
Ballard died at the age of 84 on January 16, 1988.