SIDNEY, SYLVIA

SIDNEY, SYLVIA (Sophia Kosow ; 1910–1999), U.S. actress. Born in New York, Sidney first appeared there in 1927 and became internationally known after her part in the film Street Scene (1931). She played for the Guild Theater in To Quito and Back (1937) and for the Group Theater in The Gentle People, (1939). She acted in summer theaters, played in The Four-Poster on Broadway (1951), and toured in Auntie Mame (1958). Later Broadway stints included Enter Laughing (1963), Barefoot in the Park (1963), and Vieux Carré (1977).

Her films include Through Different Eyes (1929), Madame Butterfly (1932), Jennie Gerhardt (1933), Sabotage (1936), Fury (1936), Dead End (1937), You Only Live Once (1937), You and Me (1938), The Searching Wind (1946), Love from a Stranger (1947), Les Miserables (1952), Violent Saturday (1955), Behind the High Wall (1956), Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, 1973), I Never Promised You a Rose Garden (1977), Damien: Omen ii (1978), Hammett (1982), Beetlejuice (1988), and Used People (1992).

She performed in many television shows and tv movies, among them the tv series Ryan's Hope (1975) and Fantasy Island (1998), and the tv movies Raid on Entebbe (1977), Siege (1978), The Shadow Box (1980), Come Along with Me (1982), Finnegan Begin Again (1985), An Early Frost (Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actress, 1985), Pals (1987), and Andre's Mother (1999).

Sidney was married to publisher Bennet Cerf (from 1935 to 1936) and actor/teacher Luther Adler (from 1938 to 1946).

She wrote Sylvia Sidney Needlepoint Book (with A. Lewis, 1968) and Question and Answer Book on Needlepoint (1974).

[Jonathan Licht /

Ruth Beloff (2^nd ed.)]