William Sylvester

William "Bill" Sylvester (born January 31, 1922 in Oakland , California , † January 25, 1995 in Butte County , California) was an American actor .

life and career

William Sylvester was born in California to the Italian immigrant Joseph Silvester (1899-1941) and the American Gertrude Bailey (1898-1957). After serving in the United States Navy during World War II, the young man settled in Great Britain, where he began his acting career. Sylvester made his film debut, directed by Edward Dmytryk, in Haus der Sehnsucht from 1949. He would spend much of his career in Great Britain, but while he also starred in some leading roles in low-budget productions in the 1950s, his appearances remained mostly limited to smaller roles, especially in later years. Sylvester found a niche thanks to his American accent, however, and was regularly cast in American roles in British films and television.

The most famous role that Sylvester played was that of the scientist Dr. Heywood Floyd in Stanley Kubrick's film classic 2001: A Space Odyssey from 1968. He also appeared as a German officer at the beginning of the film Die Hindenburg (1975). In the early 1980s, Sylvester retired from acting and spent the rest of his life in California, where he died in 1995. He was temporarily married to the British actress Veronica Hurst , but the marriage ended in divorce.

Filmography (selection)

• 1949: House of Sehnsucht (Give Us This Day)
• 1952: The Yellow Balloon
• 1953: House of Blackmail
• 1954: What Every Woman Wants
• 1957: Don't Look Back (High Tide at Noon)
• 1958: Gorgon (Gorgon)
• 1959: The Black Lorelei (Whirlpool)
• 1960: In the clutches of the FBI (Offbeat)
• 1961: Scotland Yard is listening in (Information Received)
• 1963: Kisses for the Killer (Ricochet)
• 1963: The Devil Plays Chance (Blind Corner)
• 1965: The Crypt of the Dead Women (Devils of Darkness)
• 1967: James Bond 007 You Only Live Twice
• 1968: 2001 : A Space Odyssey (2001: A Space Odyssey)
• 1968: The Hand of Night
• 1968: The Syndicate
• 1970: Challenge to the Grand Prix ( The Challengers , TV movie)
• 1970: The Lawyer
• 1970: Howdy (TV movie)
• 1974: Trace of Violence (Busting)
• 1975: Guilty or Innocent: The Sam Sheppard Murder Case (TV movie)
• 1975: The Hindenburg (The Hindenburg)
• 1976: Gemini Man (miniseries, 11 episodes)
• 1976: Riding with Death (TV movie)
• 1978: The Heaven Can Wait (Heaven Can Wait)
• 1980: Ene Mene Mu and President are you (First Family)

Web links

• William Sylvester in the Internet Movie Database (English)