London: Andrew Sachs, (pictured) who became a household name playing the Spanish waiter Manuel in British sitcom Fawlty Towers, has died at the age of 86, local media reported late on Thursday.
His wife Melody told the British newspaper Daily Mail that the German-born comic actor had been suffering dementia for the past four years and had been left wheelchair-bound and unable to speak shortly before his death.
“My heart has been broken every day for a long time,” she said.
“It didn’t get really bad until quite near the end. I nursed Andrew, I was there for every moment of it.”
The actor died last week in a care home and was buried on Thursday, the newspaper reported. John Cleese, the co-creator of Fawlty Towers, paid tribute to the “gentle and kind” actor on Twitter, saying he had perfectly portrayedthe hapless Manuel in the 1970s sitcom.
“Just heard about Andy Sachs. Very sad. I knew he was having problems with his memory as his wife Melody told me a couple of years ago.” “But I had no idea that his life was in danger.”
“I first saw him in Habeas Corpus on stage in 1973. I could not have found a better Manuel. Inspired.”
Samuel West, whose mother Prunella Scales starred alongside Sachs in Fawlty Towers, added: “Creator of one of our most beloved EU migrants. Such warmth and wit; impossible to think of him without smiling.” Black actor and comedian Sir Tony Robinson also paid tribute to Sachs. “So sad that Andrew Sachs has died. A true friend and a kindred spirit,” Robinson tweeted.
Although most famous for his role in Fawlty Towers, Sachs’ acting repertoire included radio plays, children’s TV shows and narrations for audio books. He also starred on British soap opera ‘Coronation Street’ in 2009.
In October 2008, Sachs was at the centre of a media storm after comedian Russell Brand and TV presenter Jonathan Ross left obscene messages on his answer-phone, and joked on air.
They suggested that Brand had physical relations with Sachs’ granddaughter and the comedian joked that Sachs might kill himself as a result.
But Sachs slipped from public life as his illness took hold.
Sachs’ wife said the father-of-three, whose parents fled Berlin to escape the Nazis in 1938, refused to complain about his deteriorating health leading up to his death. — dpa
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