31 Facts About Sylvia Syms

Sylvia Syms portrayed Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother in the 2006 biopic The Queen.

Sylvia Syms was born in Woolwich, London, England, in 1934, the daughter of Daisy and Edwin Sylvia Syms, a trade unionist and civil servant.

When Sylvia Syms was 12, her mother died from a brain tumour.

Sylvia Syms was educated at convent schools before deciding to become an actress and attending the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, graduating in 1954.

Sylvia Syms's career began in repertory theatre in Eastbourne and Bath.

Sylvia Syms made her West End debut in The Apple Cart with Noel Coward.

Sylvia Syms appeared in a TV play The Romantic Young Lady.

In My Teenage Daughter, Sylvia Syms played Anna Neagle's troubled daughter.

Sylvia Syms then made the English Civil War film, The Moonraker and the war film Ice Cold in Alex, directed by Thompson.

Sylvia Syms announced she would make her first screen comedy The Light Blue.

In 1959, Sylvia Syms appeared in the film Expresso Bongo as Maisie King, opposite Cliff Richard.

Sylvia Syms played opposite Dirk Bogarde in the 1961 film Victim, as the wife of a barrister who is a closet homosexual.

Sylvia Syms made Ferry to Hong Kong, The World of Suzie Wong and Conspiracy of Hearts.

Sylvia Syms travelled to Ireland to play opposite Patrick McGoohan as the wife of a condemned man in The Quare Fellow.

Sylvia Syms played Tony Hancock's wife in The Punch and Judy Man.

In 1970, Sylvia Syms changed direction playing Beatrice opposite Julian Glover's Benedick in a production of William Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing.

Sylvia Syms featured in the husband-and-wife TV comedy My Good Woman from 1972 to 1974 and on the weekly BBC programme Movie Quiz as one of two team captains.

In 1975, Sylvia Syms headed the jury at the 25th Berlin International Film Festival.

In 1989, Sylvia Syms guest-starred in the Doctor Who story Ghost Light.

Shortly after the end of British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher's term in office in 1990, Sylvia Syms portrayed her in Thatcher: The Final Days, a Granada television film for ITV, which dramatises the events surrounding Thatcher's removal from power, a role she recreated for the stage.

Sylvia Syms featured in the serial The Jury and in the same year contributed Sonnet 142 to the compilation album When Love Speaks.

For Stephen Frears's biopic The Queen, Sylvia Syms was cast as Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother.

Sylvia Syms appeared in The Poseidon Adventure, an American TV film that was a loose remake of the 1972 feature film.

Sylvia Syms appeared as another character in Casualtys sister series Holby City in 2003.

In 2010, Sylvia Syms took part in the BBC's The Young Ones, a series in which six celebrities in their seventies and eighties attempt to overcome some of the problems of ageing by harking back to the 1970s.

From 2013 to 2019, Sylvia Syms was the narrator of Talking Pictures, which aired on BBC Two.

From 9 June 1956 to 1989, Sylvia Syms was married to Alan Edney, whom she had dated since she was a teenager.

Sylvia Syms was the aunt of musicians Nick and Alex Webb.

Sylvia Syms was a longtime supporter of the Stars Foundation for Cerebral Palsy, serving on its board as an officer for 16 years until 2020, with singer Vera Lynn.

Sylvia Syms died there on 27 January 2023, three weeks after her 89th birthday.

Sylvia Syms always brought a level of intelligence to her roles along with a sense of fun.