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All Music Guide:
Vocalist and jazz singer, Sylvia Syms was known as the "world's greatest saloon singer" by Frank Sinatra. She sang everything from cabaret music to light jazz. Her claim to fame is her versatility in singing, making every song original in its style and sound.
Sylvia Syms was born in New York City. Her interest in music developed at an early age, her first performance being in front of family and friends. She began her professional singing career in nightclubs where she met such singing legends as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra. Her career quickly took off and she released albums on the DRG label, the Bainbridge label and several other independent labels. She brought a new sound to jazz with such hits as "Wild Is the Wind" and "Cuando Te Fuiste De Mi."
Aside from her jazz performances she has released several pre-rock songs and albums. On the Prestige label she released the albums Sylvia Is! and For Once In My Life. She was accompanied by Milt Hinton, Osie Johnson, Bucky Pizzarelli, Willie Rodriguez, Sam Bruno and Johnny "Hammond" Smith. On these albums she recorded popular favorites as well as fresh releases. The favorites included "If You Could See Me Now," "You Don't Have To Say You Love Me," "Vaya Con Dios," "Yesterday" and "For Once In My Life." Sylvia Syms had a talented gift in that she took early rock songs and made them brand new as if they were being sung for the first time. This ability made her well-known in the music industry.
Along with upbeat rock songs, Sylvia Syms also recorded a CD full of love songs. The album, titled Sylvia Syms Sings/Songs of Love, includes such popular sentimentals as "Isn't It Romantic," "What's the Use of Won'drin," "We Just Couldn't Say Goodbye" and "Let Me Love You."
Sylvia Syms, the nightclub singer should not be confused with the British film and television actress, Sylvia Syms. Although the two both died in 1992, British actress Sylvia Syms was only 58 when she died, whereas Sylvia Syms the singer died at the age of 79 in New York City.
During her long career, Sylvia Syms recorded more than 15 albums in several different genres. Her musical contribution is that of singing several different styles of music with one voice. Confused throughout her life as also being a British actress, Sylvia Syms died with the recognition of being a talented jazz singer on May 10, 1992.
Wikipedia:
Sylvia M. L. Syms OBE (born 6 January 1934) is an English actress. She is probably best known for her roles in the films Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), Ice Cold in Alex (1958), No Trees in the Street (1959), Victim (1961) and The Tamarind Seed (1974). She remains active in films, television and theatre.
Personal life
Syms was born in Woolwich, London, England, the daughter of Daisy (née Hale) and Edwin Syms, a trade unionist and civil servant. She was educated at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, on whose council she later served. Her daughter Beatie Edney is also an actress. She is the aunt of musicians Nick Webb (musician) (1954-98) and Alex Webb (1961 - ).
Career
Syms started her career as a starlet. In her second film, My Teenage Daughter (1954), she played Anna Neagle's "problem" daughter. In 1958, she appeared in the film Ice Cold in Alex (alongside John Mills, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews) which, in recent years, has become something of a cult film following its use in a beer commercial. A love scene between Mills and Syms was dropped from the film because it was considered too strong.
In 1958, Syms also appeared in the English Civil War story The Moonraker alongside George Baker. By 1960, she had worked with Flora Robson, Orson Welles, Stanley Holloway, Lilli Palmer and William Holden. In 1962, she played Tony Hancock's wife in The Punch and Judy Man. The film also featured her nephew, Nick Webb. Other comedies followed, such as The Big Job (1965) with Hancock's former co-star Sid James, but it was for drama that she won acclaim, including The Tamarind Seed (1974) with Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif, for which she was nominated for a British Film Academy award. My Good Woman in 1972 was a husband-and-wife television comedy series which ran until 1974 with Leslie Crowther. At the same time, she was one of two team captains on the BBC's weekly Movie Quiz, hosted by Robin Ray. In 1975, she was the head of the jury at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival.
Shortly after the downfall of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in 1990, Syms portrayed her on ITV in a TV play covering the events surrounding her demise. She later recreated the role on the stage.
In 1989, Syms appeared in the Doctor Who story "Ghost Light". From 2000 until 2003, she played the part of Marion Riley in the ITV comedy-drama series At Home with the Braithwaites.
In 2002, she starred in the serial The Jury and contributed "Sonnet 142" to the compilation album When Love Speaks. In 2006, she co-starred as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother alongside Oscar-winner Dame Helen Mirren in Stephen Frears' The Queen. She also appeared in The Poseidon Adventure, an American TV movie with little connection to the original movie of the same name made in the 1970s. She has also taken up producing and directing.
Among the many other famous actors and actresses Syms has worked with are Dirk Bogarde, Marius Goring, Hardy Krüger, Herbert Lom, Cliff Richard, Jenny Agutter, Sophia Loren, George Peppard, Roger Moore, Ray Milland, Bernard Miles and Richard Todd.
In 2009, she appeared in the film Is Anybody There? alongside Michael Caine and Anne-Marie Duff and in the ITV1 drama series Collision. In 2010, she guest-starred as a patient in BBC1's drama series Casualty, having played a different character in an episode from 2007. Syms had also appeared as another character in Casualty's sister series Holby City in 2003.
Since 2007, Syms has also had a recurring role in BBC1's EastEnders, playing dressmaker Olive Woodhouse. Her most recent appearance in the role was on 20 July 2010.
In 2010, Syms took part in the BBC's The Young Ones, a series in which six celebrities in their 70s and 80s attempt to overcome some of the problems of ageing by harking back to the 1970s.
