Andrew Sachs, the beloved British actor who rose to fame playing Manuel in BBC sitcom "Fawlty Towers," has died aged 86. The actor had been battling dementia for the last four years and died in a care home last week, his wife of 57 years Melody Sachs has announced. In a statement, she said that he never grumbled about his condition and stayed positive until the end, his illness barely noticeable until the actor’s final days. He suffered a life-threatening bout of pneumonia earlier this year that forced him to move into Denville Hall, a private care in London for retired actors.
He was buried on Thursday in a private ceremony.
Sachs was born in Germany
Sachs, who was born in Germany to a Jewish family before escaping to Vienna during the war, arrived in London in 1938. He attended RADA before doing two terms of national service until 1950. He was noticed by Noel Coward and he had a long career on screen, radio and stage including roles in "Doctor Who," "Coronation Street" and in the Dustin Hoffman directed "Quartet." His last credited role was as Cyril Bishop in the BBC soap ‘Eastenders’ although he made an uncredited appearance as a clock in Tim Burton’s "Alice Through The Looking Glass."
Twelve episodes in 'Fawlty Towers'
He will be remembered mostly for his role as the bumbling Spanish waiter Manuel in the John Cleese penned sitcom "Fawlty Towers." The show was not an easy ride, despite the fact that there were only 12 episodes, as an accident involve a chip pan set on fire left Sach with a chemical burn on his arm.
He won £700 damages from the BBC. He later lamented that he was so associated with the role it deterred directors from casting him, although he did turn down the role of Victor Meldrew in "One Foot In The Grave."
Sadly in recent years he was better known for the voicemail scandal nicknamed Sachsgate. In 2008 he was the victim of the highly publicized prank which saw Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand making obscene phone calls to him during Ross’ Radio 2 show, in which they joked about Brand sleeping with his granddaughter. Although Brand resigned and Ross was suspended from the show, both apologizing for their actions, Sach said in 2014 that he was still disgusted by the incident.
