William Sylvester

Birthday: 1922-01-31
Deathday: 1995-01-25
Birthplace: Oakland, California, USA
Gender: Male
Owned By: Unowned

William Sylvester (January 31, 1922 – January 25, 1995) was an American TV and film actor. His most famous film credit was Dr. Heywood Floyd in Stanley Kubrick's 2001 A Space Odyssey (1968). Born in Oakland, California and married at one time to the British actress Veronica Hurst, he moved to England after the Second World War and became a staple of British B films at a time when American and Canadian actors were much in demand in order to give indigenous films some appeal in the US.

As a result, he gained top billing in one of his very first films, House of Blackmail (1953), directed by the veteran filmmaker Maurice Elvey, for whom he also made What Every Woman Wants the following year. He also starred in such minor films as The Stranger Came Home (1954, for Hammer), Dublin Nightmare (1958), Offbeat (1960), Information Received (1961), Incident at Midnight, Ring of Spies and Blind Corner (all 1963). There were also lead roles in four British horror films: Gorgo (1960), Devil Doll (1963), Devils of Darkness (1964) and The Hand of Night (1966). Among his many TV credits were a 1959 BBC version of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar (playing Mark Antony), The Saint, The Baron, The High Chaparral, Harry O and The Six Million Dollar Man.

His later films included You Only Live Twice (1967) and, back in the USA after his prominent role for Kubrick, Busting (1973), The Hindenburg (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978). He died in Sacramento, California in 1995, aged 72.

Credits

Year Title Character
1980-12-25 First Family TV Commentator Howard
1978-06-28 Heaven Can Wait Nuclear Reporter
1976-01-01 Riding with Death Leonard Driscoll
1975-12-25 The Hindenburg Luftwaffe Colonel
1974-02-27 Busting Mr. Weldman
1973-10-10 Don't Be Afraid of the Dark Tom Henderson
1970-03-10 The Lawyer Paul Harrison
1970-02-20 The Challengers Brad York
1968-09-16 The Syndicate Burt Hickey
1968-08-11 The Hand of Night Paul Carver
1968-08-08 Red and Blue Trumpeter
1968-04-02 2001: A Space Odyssey Dr. Heywood Floyd
1965-05-01 Devils of Darkness Paul Baxter
1964-09-01 Devil Doll Mark English
1964-03-23 Ring of Spies Gordon Lonsdale
1964-01-01 Blind Corner Paul Gregory
1963-01-01 Incident at Midnight Vince Warren
1961-08-01 Information Received Rick Hogan
1961-02-02 Gorgo Sam Slade
1961-01-01 Offbeat Layton / Steve Ross
1959-03-01 Whirlpool Hermann
1958-10-10 The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
1958-10-01 Dublin Nightmare John Kevin
1957-04-30 High Tide at Noon Alec Douglas
1955-11-29 Portrait of Alison Dave Forrester
1954-09-24 The Stranger Came Home Philip Vickers
1954-06-10 What Every Woman Wants Jim Barnes
1953-11-23 Albert R.N. Texas
1953-07-13 House of Blackmail Jimmy
1953-02-17 Appointment in London Mac
1953-02-10 The Yellow Balloon Len Turner
1950-04-24 They Were Not Divided American Soldier (uncredited)
1949-10-14 Give Us This Day Giovanni