Sylvia May Laura Syms OBE (6 January 1934 – 27 January 2023) was an English actress, best known for her roles in the films Woman in a Dressing Gown (1957), Ice Cold in Alex (1958), No Trees in the Street (1959), Victim (1961), and The Tamarind Seed (1974). In 2006 she portrayed The Queen Mother in the Stephen Frears movie The Queen, about the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and the days leading up to Diana’s funeral.
Is Sylvia Syms A Dame?
Some felt she deserved more recognition for her achievements. She did get an OBE, but that was for her charity work rather than her acting. “I’m not dame material really,” she said in an interview with the Guardian.
She had already turned down the chance to go to Hollywood, preferring to stay in England with her husband and two children.
The 1974 film The Tamarind Seed saw her playing the wife of a gay diplomat, a role that earned her another Bafta nomination.
While she continued to appear in a host of films, this was the high-water mark of her cinema career. But she kept working, with roles on stage, in film, and on television, including her memorable performance as Margaret Thatcher.
Her other film roles included 2003’s What A Girl Wants, starring Amanda Bynes, while on TV she made occasional appearances as dressmaker Olive Woodhouse in EastEnders between 2007 and 2010.