| Biography | Sylvia May Laura Syms OBE (6 January 1934-27 January 2023) was an English stage and screen actress. Her best-known film roles include My Teenage Daughter (1956), Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), for which she was nominated for a BAFTA Award, Ice Cold in Alex (1958), No Trees in the Street (1959), Victim (1961), and The Tamarind Seed (1974). Known as the "Grand Dame of British Cinema", Syms was a major player in films from the mid-1950s until mid-1960s, usually in stiff-upper-lip English pictures, as opposed to kitchen sink realism dramas, before becoming more of a supporting actress in both film and television roles. On television, she was known for her recurring role as Olive Woodhouse on the BBC soap opera EastEnders. She was also a notable theatre player.
Syms was educated at convent schools before deciding to become an actress and attending The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1954. She later served on RADA's council.
Syms's career began in repertory theatre in Eastbourne and Bath.[6]
Syms portrayed Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in the 2006 biopic The Queen.
In the last year of her life, Syms lived at Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors in London. She died there on 27 January 2023, aged 89. |