The Real-Life Basil Fawlty Was a War Hero Who Hated John Cleese

The origin story of Fawlty Towers has become the stuff of comedy legend, stemming from a 1970 Monty Python tour that took the troupe to the English seaside town of Torquay. There John Cleese was “fascinated” by the manager of a local hotel, who treated guests as if they were a “nuisance.”

The business in question was the Gleneagles Hotel, and the real-life proprietors were Donald Sinclair and his wife Beatrice. While the Pythons were guests, Sinclair allegedly chastised Terry Gilliam’s American table manners and tossed Eric Idle’s briefcase outdoors because he “thought it might be a bomb” (it “actually contained an alarm clock”).

Cleese’s wild stories have been corroborated by Michael Palin’s diaries. He recorded that “Mr. Sinclair, the proprietor, seemed to view us from the start as a colossal inconvenience.” So all the Pythons moved to another hotel after just one night, except for Cleese, who was soon joined by Connie Booth, his wife, and future co-author of Fawlty Towers. 

But there are two sides to every story. 

While Donald Sinclair passed away in 1981, Betty, the inspiration for Sybil Fawlty, lived until 2010. While she withheld her opinion of Fawlty Towers for three decades, she eventually aired her grievances in 2002. Sinclair was understandably miffed that her husband had been ''turned into a laughingstock,” especially considering that he was a “war hero” who had survived three separate torpedo attacks while serving as a naval commander in World War II. 

Betty Sinclair also recalled that it was she who insisted that the Pythons should stay at the hotel, despite her husband’s concerns that they “would upset the other guests.” And she claimed that the celebrity visitors really did turn out to be a disturbance. “The entire cast behaved so badly it defied belief,” Sinclair stated. “And if there was one thing my husband couldn’t stand, it was bad manners.’”

She also called Cleese an “utter fool” who had “made millions out of our unhappiness.”

To be fair, Cleese and the Pythons weren’t the only ones to share colorful stories about the Sinclairs. One former guest complained that their beach ball was confiscated during a stay, and there were rumors that Betty would enlist the staff to keep Donald locked up in a room whenever she left the hotel. 

Plus, Donald Sinclair died in the most Basil Fawlty-esque fashion imaginable — he reportedly suffered “a heart attack and stroke when some workmen he’d upset painted his patio furniture and car (including the windshield) gunmetal grey during the night.”

Still, one can see why this family wasn't exactly thrilled with Fawlty Towers. Their daughter revealed in 2016 that “mum and dad were both so embarrassed at Fawlty Towers and the way they had been portrayed.” She also explained that the war had hardened her father, and that the former military officer “loathed” having to work in the service industry. She did note that her mother had “energy and vision” while her father “was a very loving, funny man.”

The Sinclairs were likely even less happy with the 2001 movie Rat Race, in which John Cleese played an amoral billionaire character literally named “Donald Sinclair.”

Although at least he doesn’t hit any children or goose step through a dining room. 

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