RIP: Actor Andrew Sachs dies at 86

Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs dies 86

Fawlty Towers star Andrew Sachs has died at the age of 86 following a secret four-year battle with dementia that left him wheelchair-bound and unable to speak.

The much-loved actor, best known for his portrayal of put-upon Spanish waiter Manuel in the classic 1970s sitcom, passed away in a care home last week and was buried on Thursday.
His wife Melody, who cared for him tirelessly, said: ‘My heart has been broken every day for a long time.’

She also revealed that she collapsed while caring for him. After developing acute stress, she was taken into intensive care but ‘got over it real quick’ and bounced back so that she could carry on looking after him.

She said the couple were happy until the end, adding: ‘I never once heard him grumble.’
Mrs Sachs told how her husband had been diagnosed with vascular dementia in 2012. It is the second most common form of the disease after Alzheimer’s.

Mrs Sachs, 85, said: ‘It wasn’t all doom and gloom, he still worked for two years.
‘We were happy, we were always laughing, we never had a dull moment. He had dementia for four years and we didn’t really notice it at first until the memory started going.
‘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 on November 23 and yesterday family and close friends gathered for his funeral and burial in North London.

Eight years ago, Sachs was inadvertently thrust into the headlines when he fell victim to a cruel prank by Russell Brand and Jonathan Ross. The affair became known as Sachsgate.


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