Scales has had vascular dementia for more than 20 years.
Dame Joanna Lumley said: “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.
“I think between them, Timothy and Pru did an 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,” she added on Times Radio.
Paying tribute on X, broadcaster Piers Morgan recalled interviewing West, external for his Life Stories series with the actor’s wife Scales sitting in the audience.
“[She was] the love of his life… his devotion to her after she developed Alzheimer’s was profoundly touching,” Morgan said.
Former EastEnders actress Tracy-Ann Oberman described West as, external “the most wonderful actor and human being”.
