The actor passed away in a care home last Thursday, but the news of his demise was only confirmed yesterday by his family .
The German-born actor, who fled with his parents to England in 1938 to escape the Nazis, will be best remembered for playing alongside John Cleese in the 1970s TV show Fawlty Towers, as the bumbling fool of a Spanish waiter who only knew a few words in English.
John Cleese took to Twitter this morning to pay tribute to his former co-star. “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,” he tweeted. “and I heard very recently that he had been admitted to Denham Hall, but I had no idea that his life was in danger. A very sweet gentle and kind man and a truly great farceur. I first saw him in Habeas Corpus on stage in 1973. I could not have found a better Manuel. Inspired.”
Melody Sachs – who was married to the actor for 57 years and had three children together – said last night that it was “not all doom and gloom” in Andrew’s final years and that he was able to speak and write up until his last few weeks alive. However, he was unable to feed himself or eat during his final days, she added.
"It wasn't all doom and gloom, he still worked for two years (after his diagnosis in 2012). We were happy, we were always laughing, we never had a dull moment,” she told the Daily Mail this morning.
"He had dementia for four years and it wasn't very pleasant. 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."
Here’s the famous scene of John Cleese’s character Basil giving Manuel an English lesson: