About Donald Sinclair (hotel owner)
Donald William Sinclair (10 July 1909 – 5 September 1981) was an English naval officer and hotel owner. He was the co-proprietor of the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay in Devon. He helped manage the hotel after an extensive career as an officer in the Merchant Navy and the Royal Navy. During the Second World War, Sinclair twice survived the sinking of the ships on which he was serving. Sinclair was the inspiration for the character Basil Fawlty, played by John Cleese, in the television sitcom Fawlty Towers that Cleese co-wrote. This was owing to Sinclair's allegedly stuffy, snobbish and eccentric treatment of his guests, including Cleese and other members of the Monty Python cast. Cleese later played a character named Donald Sinclair in the 2001 film Rat Race. Before the Second World War, Donald Sinclair was in the Merchant Navy.
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