Sylvia Syms
Encyclopedia
Sylvia M. L. Syms OBE
(born 6 January 1934) is a British
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.
, London
, England
, the daughter of Daisy (née Hale) and Edwin Syms, a trade union
ist 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.
. 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.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born 6 January 1934) is a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
actress. She is probably best known for her roles in the films Woman in a Dressing Gown
Woman in a Dressing Gown
Woman in a Dressing Gown is a 1957 British film directed by J. Lee Thompson. Yvonne Mitchell won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival....
(1957), Ice-Cold in Alex
Ice-Cold in Alex
Ice-Cold in Alex is a British film based on the novel of the same name by British author Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film was a prizewinner at the 8th Berlin International Film Festival...
(1958), No Trees in the Street
No Trees in the Street
No Trees in the Street is a 1959 British crime thriller directed by J. Lee Thompson.-Cast:* Sylvia Syms as Hetty* Herbert Lom as Wilkie* Melvyn Hayes as Tommy* Ronald Howard as Frank* Stanley Holloway as Kipper* Joan Miller as Jess...
(1959) , Victim (1961) and The Tamarind Seed
The Tamarind Seed
The Tamarind Seed is a 1974 Blake Edwards film starring Julie Andrews as Judith Farrow, a British Home Office functionary and Omar Sharif as Feodor, a Soviet air attaché – lovers involved in Cold War intrigue. This was Lorimar's first film. The score was composed by John Barry. The...
(1974). She remains active in films, television and theatre.
Personal life
Syms was born in WoolwichWoolwich
Woolwich is a district in south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.Woolwich formed part of Kent until 1889 when the County of London was created...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the daughter of Daisy (née Hale) and Edwin Syms, a trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
ist and civil servant. She was educated at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art is a drama school located in London, United Kingdom. It is generally regarded as one of the most renowned drama schools in the world, and is one of the oldest drama schools in the United Kingdom, having been founded in 1904.RADA is an affiliate school of the...
in London, on whose council she later served. Her daughter Beatie Edney
Beatie Edney
Beatrice "Beatie" Edney is an English television actress.Born Beatrice Edney in London, she is the daughter of famous British actress Sylvia Syms and cousin of Nicholas Webb. Edney first came to audiences' attention as Heather MacLeod the 1986 film Highlander, the first film in the Highlander series...
is also an actress.
Career
Syms started her career as a starletStarlet
Starlet may refer to:*Toyota Starlet, car*Corby Starlet, airplane*The Starlet, reality TV show*Starlet sea anemone, a species of sea anemone native to the east coast of the United States...
. In her second film, My Teenage Daughter (1954), she played Anna Neagle
Anna Neagle
Forming a professional alliance with Wilcox, Neagle played her first starring film role in the musical Goodnight Vienna , again with Jack Buchanan. With this film Neagle became an overnight favourite...
's "problem" daughter. In 1958, she appeared in the film Ice-Cold in Alex
Ice-Cold in Alex
Ice-Cold in Alex is a British film based on the novel of the same name by British author Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film was a prizewinner at the 8th Berlin International Film Festival...
(alongside John Mills
John Mills
Sir John Mills CBE , born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills, was an English actor who made more than 120 films in a career spanning seven decades.-Life and career:...
, Anthony Quayle
Anthony Quayle
Sir John Anthony Quayle, CBE was an English actor and director.-Early life:Quayle was born in Ainsdale, Southport, in Lancashire to a Manx family....
and Harry Andrews
Harry Andrews
Harry Fleetwood Andrews, CBE was an English film actor known for his frequent portrayals of tough military officers. His performance as Sergeant Major Wilson in The Hill alongside Sean Connery earned Andrews the 1965 National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actor and a nomination for the...
) 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
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
story The Moonraker
The Moonraker
The Moonraker is a 1958 British historical drama film set during the English Civil War. It was directed by David MacDonald and starred George Baker, Sylvia Sims, Marius Goring, Gary Raymond, Peter Arne, John Le Mesurier and Patrick Troughton....
alongside George Baker
George Baker (actor)
George Baker, MBE was an English actor and writer. He was best-known for portraying Tiberius in I, Claudius, and Inspector Wexford in The Ruth Rendell Mysteries.-Personal life:...
. By 1960, she had worked with Flora Robson
Flora Robson
Dame Flora McKenzie Robson DBE was an English actress, renowned as a character actress, who played roles ranging from queens to villainesses.-Early life:...
, Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
, Stanley Holloway
Stanley Holloway
Stanley Augustus Holloway, OBE was an English stage and film actor, comedian, singer, poet and monologist. He was famous for his comic and character roles on stage and screen, especially that of Alfred P. Doolittle in My Fair Lady...
, Lilli Palmer
Lilli Palmer
Lilli Palmer , born Lilli Marie Peiser, was a German actress. She won the Volpi Cup, the Deutscher Filmpreis three times, and was nominated twice for a Golden Globe Award.-Life and career:...
and William Holden
William Holden
William Holden was an American actor. Holden won the Academy Award for Best Actor in 1954 and the Emmy Award for Best Actor in 1974...
. In 1962, she played Tony Hancock
Tony Hancock
Anthony John "Tony" Hancock was an English actor and comedian.-Early life and career:Hancock was born in Southam Road, Hall Green, Birmingham, England, but from the age of three was brought up in Bournemouth, where his father, John Hancock, who ran the Railway Hotel in...
's wife in The Punch and Judy Man
The Punch and Judy Man
The Punch and Judy Man is a British comedy film from 1963 directed by Jeremy Summers. It was Tony Hancock's second film in a starring role, following The Rebel .-Plot:...
. The film also featured her nephew, Nick Webb
Nick Webb (musician)
Nicholas "Nick" Webb was an English acoustic guitarist, composer, and co-founder of contemporary jazz group Acoustic Alchemy...
. Other comedies followed, such as The Big Job
The Big Job (film)
The Big Job is a British comedy film that was first released in 1965. It stars Sid James, Dick Emery, Joan Sims, Sylvia Syms, Jim Dale and Lance Percival....
(1965) with Hancock's former co-star Sid James
Sid James
Sid James was an English-based South African actor and comedian. He made his name as Tony Hancock's co-star in Hancock's Half Hour and also starred in the popular Carry On films. He was known for his trademark "dirty laugh" and lascivious persona...
, but it was for drama that she won acclaim, including The Tamarind Seed
The Tamarind Seed
The Tamarind Seed is a 1974 Blake Edwards film starring Julie Andrews as Judith Farrow, a British Home Office functionary and Omar Sharif as Feodor, a Soviet air attaché – lovers involved in Cold War intrigue. This was Lorimar's first film. The score was composed by John Barry. The...
(1974) with Julie Andrews
Julie Andrews
Dame Julia Elizabeth Andrews, DBE is an English film and stage actress, singer, and author. She is the recipient of Golden Globe, Emmy, Grammy, BAFTA, People's Choice Award, Theatre World Award, Screen Actors Guild and Academy Award honors...
and Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif is an Egyptian actor who has starred in Hollywood films including Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago and Funny Girl. He has been nominated for an Academy Award and has won two Golden Globe Awards.-Early life:...
, 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
Leslie Crowther
Leslie Crowther, CBE was an English comedian, actor and gameshow host.-Biography:Crowther was born in West Bridgford in Nottinghamshire. At the end of 1944 he moved to London with his parents, but was evacuated for a few months to Bute until just after the war ended.His father, Leslie Frederick...
. At the same time, she was one of two team captains on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
's weekly Movie Quiz, hosted by Robin Ray
Robin Ray
Robin Ray was an English actor, musician and broadcaster, the son of comedian Ted Ray and the brother of actor Andrew Ray.-Career:...
. In 1975, she was the head of the jury at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival
25th Berlin International Film Festival
The 25th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 27 to July 8, 1975.-Jury:* Sylvia Syms * Ottokar Runze* Henry Chapier* Else Goelz* Albert Johnson* Rostislav Yurenev* Carlo Martins* S...
.
Shortly after the downfall of British Prime Minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
in 1990, Syms portrayed her on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
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
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
story "Ghost Light
Ghost Light (Doctor Who)
-Pre-production:Working titles for this story included The Bestiary and Life-Cycle. As revealed in the production notes for the DVD release, the story was renamed Das Haus der tausend Schrecken upon translation into German.The story evolved out of an earlier, rejected script entitled Lungbarrow...
". From 2000 until 2003, she played the part of Marion Riley in the ITV comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
series At Home with the Braithwaites
At Home with the Braithwaites
At Home with the Braithwaites is a British comedy-drama television series, created and written by Sally Wainwright . The storyline follows a suburban family from Leeds, whose life is turned upside down when the mother of the family wins 38 million pounds on the lottery...
.
In 2002, she starred in the serial The Jury
The Jury (TV serial)
The Jury is a British television serial broadcast in 2002 . The series was the first ever to be allowed to film inside the historic Old Bailey courthouse.-Series One:...
and contributed "Sonnet 142
Sonnet 142
-Interpretations:*Sylvia Syms, for the 2002 compilation album, When Love Speaks...
" to the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
When Love Speaks
When Love Speaks
When Love Speaks is a compilation album that features interpretations of William Shakespeare's sonnets and excerpts from his plays by famous actors and musicians, released under EMI Classics in April 2002.-Track listing:...
. In 2006, she co-starred as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother
Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon
Elizabeth Angela Marguerite Bowes-Lyon was the queen consort of King George VI from 1936 until her husband's death in 1952, after which she was known as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, to avoid confusion with her daughter, Queen Elizabeth II...
alongside Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winner Dame Helen Mirren
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren, DBE is an English actor. She has won an Academy Award for Best Actress, four SAG Awards, four BAFTAs, three Golden Globes, four Emmy Awards, and two Cannes Film Festival Best Actress Awards.-Early life and family:...
in Stephen Frears
Stephen Frears
Stephen Arthur Frears is an English film director.-Early life:Frears was born in Leicester, England to Ruth M., a social worker, and Dr Russell E. Frears, a general practitioner and accountant. He did not find out that his mother was Jewish until he was in his late 20s...
' The Queen
The Queen (film)
The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
. 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
Dirk Bogarde
Sir Dirk Bogarde was an English actor and novelist. Initially a matinee idol in such films as Doctor in the House and other Rank Organisation pictures, Bogarde later acted in art-house films such as Death in Venice...
, Marius Goring
Marius Goring
Marius Goring CBE was an English stage and cinema actor. He is most often remembered for the four films he did with Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in A Matter of Life and Death and as Julian Craster in The Red Shoes...
, Hardy Krüger
Hardy Krüger
Hardy Krüger is a German actor. He is thought of as one of the greatest German actors of the 1960s. He was born in Wedding, Berlin, German Reich...
, Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom
Herbert Lom is a Czech film actor, best known for his role as former Chief Inspector Charles Dreyfus in the Pink Panther movie series.-Life and career:...
, Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....
, Jenny Agutter
Jenny Agutter
Jennifer Ann "Jenny" Agutter is an English film and television actress. She began her career as a child actress in the mid 1960s, starring in the BBC television series The Railway Children and the film adaptation of the same book, before moving on to adult roles and relocating to Hollywood.She...
, Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren
Sophia Loren, OMRI is an Italian actress.In 1962, Loren won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Two Women, along with 21 awards, becoming the first actress to win an Academy Award for a non-English-speaking performance...
, George Peppard
George Peppard
George Peppard, Jr. was an American film and television actor.Peppard secured a major role when he starred alongside Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's , portrayed a character based on Howard Hughes in The Carpetbaggers , and played the title role of the millionaire sleuth Thomas Banacek in...
, Roger Moore
Roger Moore
Sir Roger George Moore KBE , is an English actor, perhaps best known for portraying British secret agent James Bond in seven films from 1973 to 1985. He also portrayed Simon Templar in the long-running British television series The Saint.-Early life:Moore was born in Stockwell, London...
, Ray Milland
Ray Milland
Ray Milland was a Welsh actor and director. His screen career ran from 1929 to 1985, and he is best remembered for his Academy Award–winning portrayal of an alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend , a sophisticated leading man opposite a corrupt John Wayne in Reap the Wild Wind , the murder-plotting...
, Bernard Miles
Bernard Miles
Bernard James Miles, Baron Miles, CBE was an English character actor, writer and director. He opened the Mermaid Theatre in London in 1959, the first new theatre opened in the City of London since the 17th century....
and Richard Todd
Richard Todd
Richard Todd OBE was an Irish-born British stage and film actor and soldier.-Early life:Richard Todd was born as Richard Andrew Palethorpe-Todd in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Andrew William Palethorpe Todd, was an Irish physician and an international Irish rugby player who gained three caps for...
.
In 2009, she appeared in the film Is Anybody There? alongside Michael Caine
Michael Caine
Sir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
and Anne-Marie Duff
Anne-Marie Duff
Anne-Marie Duff is an English actress best known for playing Fiona Gallagher in Shameless, and Elizabeth I in The Virgin Queen.-Early life:...
and in the ITV1
ITV1
ITV1 is a generic brand that is used by twelve franchises of the British ITV Network in the English regions, Wales, southern Scotland , the Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey. The ITV1 brand was introduced by Carlton and Granada in 2001, alongside the regional identities of their...
drama series Collision
Collision (TV series)
Collision is a five-part television drama miniseries, which debuted on ITV in November 2009. In the same month, it was also on PBS as a series in two parts. It tells the story of a group of strangers whose lives intertwine following a devastating car crash...
. In 2010, she guest-starred as a patient in BBC1's drama series Casualty
Casualty (TV series)
Casualty, stylised as Casual+y, is a British weekly television show broadcast on BBC One, and the longest-running emergency medical drama television series in the world. Created by Jeremy Brock and Paul Unwin, it was first broadcast on 6 September 1986, and transmitted in the UK on BBC One. The...
, having played a different character in an episode from 2007. Syms had also appeared as another character in Casualty's sister series Holby City
Holby City
Holby City, stylised as Holby Ci+y, is a British medical drama television series that airs weekly on BBC One.The series was created by Tony McHale and Mal Young as a spin-off from the established BBC medical drama Casualty, and premiered on 12 January 1999...
in 2003.
Since 2007, Syms has also had a recurring role in BBC1's EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, 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.
Filmography
- 1957 My Teenage DaughterMy Teenage DaughterMy Teenage Daughter is a 1956 British drama film directed by Herbert Wilcox and starring Anna Neagle, Sylvia Syms and Norman Wooland. A mother tries to deal with her teenage daughter's descent into delinquency. It was intended as a British response to Rebel Without a Cause...
The Birthday PresentThe Birthday PresentThe Birthday Present is a 1957 British drama film directed by Pat Jackson. It stars Tony Britton, a top toy salesmen returning from a business trip to Germany with a watch hidden inside a toy, intended as a birthday present for his wife Sylvia Syms. He is caught by customs, arrested, and sentenced...
Woman in a Dressing GownWoman in a Dressing GownWoman in a Dressing Gown is a 1957 British film directed by J. Lee Thompson. Yvonne Mitchell won the Silver Bear for Best Actress at the 7th Berlin International Film Festival....
No Time for TearsNo Time for Tears (film)No Time for Tears is a 1957 British drama film directed by Cyril Frankel and starring Anna Neagle, George Baker and Sylvia Syms. The staff at a children's hospital struggle with their workload.-Cast:* Anna Neagle ... Matron Eleanor Hammond... - 1958 The MoonrakerThe MoonrakerThe Moonraker is a 1958 British historical drama film set during the English Civil War. It was directed by David MacDonald and starred George Baker, Sylvia Sims, Marius Goring, Gary Raymond, Peter Arne, John Le Mesurier and Patrick Troughton....
Ice-Cold in AlexIce-Cold in AlexIce-Cold in Alex is a British film based on the novel of the same name by British author Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film was a prizewinner at the 8th Berlin International Film Festival...
Bachelor of Hearts - 1959 No Trees in the StreetNo Trees in the StreetNo Trees in the Street is a 1959 British crime thriller directed by J. Lee Thompson.-Cast:* Sylvia Syms as Hetty* Herbert Lom as Wilkie* Melvyn Hayes as Tommy* Ronald Howard as Frank* Stanley Holloway as Kipper* Joan Miller as Jess...
Ferry to Hong KongFerry to Hong KongFerry to Hong Kong is a 1959 British melodrama/adventure film directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Curd Jürgens, Sylvia Syms, Orson Welles and Jeremy Spenser.-Plot:...
Expresso BongoExpresso BongoExpresso Bongo, a 1958 West End musical and a 1959 film, was a satire of the music industry. It was first produced on the stage at the Saville Theatre, London on 23 April 1958. Its book was written by Wolf Mankowitz and Julian More, with music by David Heneker and Monty Norman, also the... - 1960 Conspiracy of HeartsConspiracy of HeartsConspiracy of Hearts is a 1960 British film. It stars Lilli Palmer, Sylvia Syms and Albert Lieven. Its plot involves Italian nuns smuggling Jewish children out of an internment camp near their convent to save them from the Holocaust. It was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Film Promoting...
The World of Suzie WongThe World of Suzie WongThe World of Suzie Wong is a 1957 novel written by Richard Mason. The main characters are Robert Lomax, a young British artist living in Hong Kong, and Suzie Wong, the title character, a Chinese woman who works as a prostitute... - 1961 Le Vergini di Roma
Flame in the StreetsFlame in the StreetsFlame in the Streets is a 1961 British drama film directed by Roy Ward Baker and starring John Mills, Sylvia Syms, Brenda De Banzie, Earl Cameron and Johnny Sekka.-Synopsis:...
Victim - 1962 The Quare FellowThe Quare FellowThe Quare Fellow is Brendan Behan's first play, first produced in 1954.The title is taken from a Hiberno-English pronunciation of queer, meaning 'strange' or 'unusual'. In context, the word lacks the denotation of homosexuality which it holds today...
- 1963 The Punch and Judy ManThe Punch and Judy ManThe Punch and Judy Man is a British comedy film from 1963 directed by Jeremy Summers. It was Tony Hancock's second film in a starring role, following The Rebel .-Plot:...
The World Ten Times OverThe World Ten Times OverThe World Ten Times Over is a 1963 British drama film directed by Wolf Rilla and starring Sylvia Syms, Edward Judd and William Hartnell. The film depicts the lives of two prostitutes working in the Soho area of London.-Cast:* Sylvia Syms ... Billa... - 1964 East of SudanEast of SudanEast of Sudan is a 1964 British action film directed by Nathan Juran and featuring Anthony Quayle, Sylvia Syms and Derek Fowlds. All of the action scenes were taken from the 1939 film The Four Feathers, and the 1956 films Odongo and Safari....
Operation CrossbowOperation Crossbow (film)Operation Crossbow is a British 1965 spy thriller and World War II film, made from a story from Duilio Coletti and Vittoriano Petrilli and filmed at MGM-British Studios... - 1965 The Big JobThe Big Job (film)The Big Job is a British comedy film that was first released in 1965. It stars Sid James, Dick Emery, Joan Sims, Sylvia Syms, Jim Dale and Lance Percival....
- 1967 Danger RouteDanger RouteDanger Route is a 1967 British spy film directed by Seth Holt for Amicus Productions and starring Richard Johnson as Jonas Wilde, Carol Lynley and Barbara Bouchet. It was based on Andrew York's 1966 novel The Eliminator that was the working title of the film...
- 1968 Hostile WitnessHostile WitnessFor the legal term, please see Hostile witnessHostile Witness is a 1968 British courtroom-based drama film based on a play by Jack Roffey, directed by Ray Milland and starring Milland, Sylvia Sims, Raymond Huntley and Julian Holloway.-Cast:* Ray Milland as Simon Crawford - Q.C.* Sylvia Syms as...
The Fiction Makers
- 1969 Run Wild, Run FreeRun Wild, Run FreeRun Wild, Run Free is a 1969 film directed by Richard C. Sarafian. The film was written by David Rook, based on his novel The White Colt. The film was shot on location in Dartmoor, Devon, England.-Plot:...
It's Your MoveIt's Your Move (1969 film)It's Your Move is a 1969 Italian comedy film directed by Robert Fiz and starring Edward G. Robinson and Terry-Thomas.-Cast:* Edward G. Robinson - Sir George McDowell* Adolfo Celi* Maria Grazia Buccella - Monique* George Rigaud* Manuel Zarzo...
The DesperadosThe DesperadosThe Desperados is a 1969 western film directed by Henry Levin. The film stars Vince Edwards and Jack Palance.-Plot:A ruthless preacher, Parson Josiah Galt, leads a band of Southern marauders during the Civil War that includes his sons, David, Adam and Jacob... - 1972 AsylumAsylum (1972 film)Asylum is a 1972 British horror film made by Amicus Productions. The film was directed by Roy Ward Baker, produced by Milton Subotsky, and scripted by Robert Bloch .It is a horror portmanteau film, one of several produced by Amicus during the 1960s to...
- 1974 The Tamarind SeedThe Tamarind SeedThe Tamarind Seed is a 1974 Blake Edwards film starring Julie Andrews as Judith Farrow, a British Home Office functionary and Omar Sharif as Feodor, a Soviet air attaché – lovers involved in Cold War intrigue. This was Lorimar's first film. The score was composed by John Barry. The...
- 1978 Give Us TomorrowGive Us TomorrowGive Us Tomorrow is a 1978 British British crime film directed by Donovan Winter and starring Sylvia Syms, Derren Nesbitt and James Kerry. A master criminal takes a bank manager's family hostage to help him rob the bank.-Cast:* Sylvia Syms ... Wendy...
- 1980 There Goes the Bride
- 1986 Absolute BeginnersAbsolute Beginners (film)Absolute Beginners is a 1986 British rock musical film adapted from the Colin MacInnes book of the same name about life in late 1950s London. The film was directed by Julien Temple, featured David Bowie and Sade, and a breakout role by Patsy Kensit...
- 1988 A Chorus of DisapprovalA Chorus of DisapprovalA Chorus of Disapproval is a 1988 British film adapted from the Alan Ayckbourn play of the same title, directed by Michael Winner. Among the movie's cast are Anthony Hopkins, Jeremy Irons, Richard Briers, and Alexandra Pigg....
- 1989 Shirley ValentineShirley Valentine (film)Shirley Valentine is a 1989 British/American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Lewis Gilbert. The screenplay by Willy Russell is based on his 1986 one-character play of the same title.-Plot:...
- 1990 The Laughter of God
- 1992 Shining ThroughShining ThroughShining Through is a 1992 British-American World War II film drama, directed and written by David Seltzer and starring Michael Douglas and Melanie Griffith, with Liam Neeson, Joely Richardson and John Gielgud in supporting roles. Although based on the novel of the same name by Susan Isaacs, the...
- 1993 Dirty Weekend
- 1997 The House of AngeloThe House of AngeloThe House of Angelo is a 1997 British historical drama film directed by Jim Goddard and starring Edward Woodward, Peter Woodward and Sylvia Syms...
- 1998 Food of LoveFood of LoveFood of Love is a 2002 Spanish/German film based on the 1998 novel The Page Turner by David Leavitt. The screenplay was written by Ventura Pons who also directed the feature....
- 2002 Deep Down
- 2003 What a Girl WantsWhat a Girl Wants (film)What a Girl Wants is a 2003 film starring Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Kelly Preston and Oliver James. Directed by Dennie Gordon, the film is a remake of the 1958 film, The Reluctant Debutante which had a screenplay by William Douglas-Home, based on his play of the same name.The title, "What a Girl...
- 2004 Mavis and the Mermaid
- 2005 The Poseidon AdventureThe Poseidon Adventure (2005 film)The Poseidon Adventure is a 2005 action and adventure film based on a novel by Paul Gallico. It is a remake of the 1972 film of the same name.-Plot:...
- 2006 The QueenThe Queen (film)The Queen is a 2006 British drama film directed by Stephen Frears, written by Peter Morgan, and starring Helen Mirren as the title role, HM Queen Elizabeth II...
- 2011 Booked OutBooked OutBooked Out is an upcoming comedy-drama film written and directed by Bryan O'Neil. The film stars Mirren Burke, Rollo Weeks, Claire Garvey and Sylvia Syms.-Plot:...
Television
- 2000–2003 At Home with the BraithwaitesAt Home with the BraithwaitesAt Home with the Braithwaites is a British comedy-drama television series, created and written by Sally Wainwright . The storyline follows a suburban family from Leeds, whose life is turned upside down when the mother of the family wins 38 million pounds on the lottery...
- 2002 Doctor ZhivagoDoctor Zhivago (TV serial)Doctor Zhivago is a 2002 British television serial directed by Giacomo Campiotti and starring Keira Knightley and Sam Neill. The teleplay by Andrew Davies is based on the 1957 novel of the same title by Boris Pasternak....
- 2007, 2009, 2010 EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
- 2010 DoctorsDoctors (BBC Soap Opera)Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...
- 2011 Case HistoriesCase HistoriesCase Histories is a 2004 detective novel by Kate Atkinson set in Cambridge, England. It introduces Jackson Brodie, a former police inspector and now private investigator...
- 2011 Rev.Rev. (TV series)Rev. is a British television sitcom produced by Big Talk Productions. The show premiered on BBC Two on 28 June 2010. The show's working titles were The City Vicar and Handle With Prayer...