In a statement on Wednesday, his children said West died "peacefully" 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.
— Samuel West 💙💛 (@exitthelemming) pic.twitter.com/nyseesGugyNovember 13, 2024
West was a regular presence on stage and screen, his versatility allowing him to play a broad range of characters. 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. Other notable performances include his portrayal of Claudius in a 1977 production of Hamlet, in which Derek Jacobi played the titular role.
An array of credits on stage and screen, including short stints in British television's two most popular soap operas, Coronation Street and Eastenders, kept him in the public eye in later life.
"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.
West, who was born in the north England city of Bradford, made his London stage debut in 1959, before joining the Royal Shakespeare Company in the 1960s, where he earned his acting chops.
On television, he had roles in adaptations of Charles Dickens' novels, including Bleak House and Hard Times, the latter which was parodied in ITV's Brass from 1982 to 1990, in which West played a ruthless self-made businessman.
He clearly had the look, as well as the depth, to play Britain's wartime leader Winston Churchill three times, first in 1979's From Churchill and the Generals, then in The Last Bastion five years later and finally in Hiroshima in 1995.
West, who was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1984 for his services to drama, was married for 61 years to actress Prunella Scales, who is most famous for her role as Sybil Fawlty in the classic 1970s BBC comedy Fawlty Towers.
The couple had two sons, actor Samuel and Joseph. West was also married to actor Jacqueline Boyer from 1956 to 1961, and they had a daughter, Juliet West.
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