Actress, Cabaret and Jazz Doyenne Sylvia Syms, Known for Her Versatility

Not to be confused with the English actress of the same name, Sylvia Syms was born Sylvia Blagman in Brooklyn, New York on December 2, 1917. Perhaps less well known for her acting career, Syms became a premier jazz and cabaret singer, remarkable for a versatility that encompassed many genres of music. She was dubbed by close friend, Frank SInatra, as the “world’s greatest saloon singer.” Syms had just begun a month-long residency at the Algonquin Oak Room in Sylvia Syms Sings Sinatra, and famously collapsed on stage as she was about to begin her encore, “This Will Be My Shining Hour.” She was pronounced dead of a heart attack, on May 10, 1992, age 74. She was also about to celebrate the release of a new album, You Must Believe in Spring

Syms’ interest in performing began at an early age—her first performance being in front of family and friends. She has said of that, “My parents didn’t know how to cope with my singing. They were poor and their backgrounds had taught them that the life of a singer or actress led directly to the gutter.” She revealed that she was singing in her carriage before she was talking, and later would sit on the stoop of her home in Brooklyn singing at the top of her lungs. Overcoming childhood polio, Syms began haunting clubs in Manhattan as a teenager, where she met the likes of Dean Martin and Mae West (who put her in a revival of “Diamond Lil” as Flo the shoplifter in 1948). She made her first meaningful singing debut in 1941 at Kelly’s Stable, a famous club among famous clubs on West 52nd Street in New York City.

As an actress,she often played the part of Bloody Mary in South Pacific and had the lead in a production of Hello, Dolly!  Her other roles were in musicals and plays such as Dream Girl, Thirteen Daughters, Funny Girl, Flower Drum Song and Camino Real. In 1972, Syms had a lung removed, which did not stop her from performing as Bloody Mary at the Chateau de Ville Dinner Theater in Framingham, Massachusetts.