Cleo Sylvestre, Acting - KorPlix:Korean Person Archives

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Cleo Sylvestre
Acting

Cleo Sylvestre
Homepage
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn8jg8dgy12o
Known For
Acting
Birthday
1945-04-19,Hitchin, Herts, England, UK
Gender
Female
Biography
Cleopatra Mary Palmer (née Sylvestre; 19 April 1945 – 20 September 2024), known professionally as Cleo Sylvestre, was a British actress. She was the first black woman ever to play a leading role at the National Theatre in London, and the first woman to record with The Rolling Stones. Sylvestre was brought up in Euston, north London, by her mother, Laureen Sylvestre (née Goodare), a cabaret artist at the Shim Sham Club in Wardour Street, who was born in Yorkshire in 1911. Laureen was of mixed English and African' heritage, and married Owen Oscar Sylvestre, from Trinidad, in 1944. Owen was a Flight Sergeant in the Air Force and had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal; he and Laureen divorced in 1955. Sylvestre always understood Owen to be her father; her daughter Zoë discovered many years later - whilst working in Sierra Leone - that her biological father was Ben Lewis, a lawyer from Sierra Leone whom the family called Uncle Ben, and that she had 15 half-siblings. Aged eight, she made her film debut in Johnny on the Run. Sylvestre was educated at Camden School for Girls and also attended the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts. In 1964 she released a single, "To Know Him Is to Love Him", under the name "Cleo", produced by Andrew Loog Oldham and backed by The Rolling Stones. After Brian Jones left the Rolling Stones in 1969, she agreed to rehearse with his new band but abandoned music to concentrate on her theatre and television work. Her West End debut was at Wyndham's Theatre in Wise Child (1967) by Simon Gray, in which she starred alongside Sir Alec Guinness and was nominated most promising new actress. She was the first black actress in a leading role at the National Theatre in The National Health (1969) by Peter Nichols. She did several seasons with the Young Vic Company, including Molière's Les Fourberies de Scapin on Broadway and a tour of Mexico. She subsequently worked in many regional theatres, including the Theatre Royal, Lincoln, the Theatre Royal, Brighton, the Theatre Royal, York, the Derby Playhouse and the Belgrade Theatre, Coventry. She played Phaedre at the Edinburgh Fringe in 2007 and Rosa Parks, Josephine Baker and Wangari Maathai in Alison Mead's A Century of Women at Leicester Square Theatre (2011). She appeared with Antony Sher in his play ID (2003) at the Almeida Theatre, toured with English Touring Theatre in Far from the Madding Crowd (2008) and with Northern Broadsides in its 2010 production of Medea. She also appeared with Michael Sheen in Under Milk Wood (2021) at the Royal National Theatre. Children's theatre work includes seasons at the Unicorn Theatre and the London Bubble Theatre Company. Her television appearances include: Ken Loach's Up the Junction (1965), Doctor Who (1965), Cathy Come Home (1966) and Poor Cow (1967), as well as appearances in the original Till Death Us Do Part, Z-Cars, Callan, Doctors, New Tricks, The Armando Iannucci Shows, Chambers, The Bill, Who Do You Do and A Bird in the Hand, a Tube Tales episode directed by Jude Law. After a brief appearance as a factory worker in soap opera Coronation Street in 1966, she became the first ever regular black British female character on British TV, in the original series of Crossroads, playing Meg Richardson's adopted daughter Melanie from 1970 to 1972.

Filmography

National Theatre Live: Under Milk Wood

0

National Theatre Live: Under Milk Wood
2021-06-16

0

Some Women
1969-08-27

Mrs. Lawrence Will Look After It

10

Mrs. Lawrence Will Look After It
1968-08-21

5.5

Catherine
1988-07-01

Beyond the Lake

0

Beyond the Lake
2022-06-04

5.263

Tube Tales
1999-11-19

Johnny on the Run

8.333

Johnny on the Run
1953-06-01

7.5

The Love Child
1988-09-22

7.1

Paddington
2014-11-24

Beautiful Things

0

Beautiful Things
2024-02-10

4.429

The Attendant
1993-09-10

National Theatre Live: Allelujah!

0

National Theatre Live: Allelujah!
2018-11-01

Sammy and Rosie Get Laid

5.739

Sammy and Rosie Get Laid
1987-10-30

Sweetness in the Belly

6.269

Sweetness in the Belly
2019-09-06

The Smashing Bird I Used to Know

4.909

The Smashing Bird I Used to Know
1969-08-25

Far from the Madding Crowd

0

Far from the Madding Crowd
2010-11-15

Up the Junction

7.056

Up the Junction
1965-11-03

The Alf Garnett Saga

5

The Alf Garnett Saga
1972-03-22

Black and White in Colour

10

Black and White in Colour
1992-06-27

My Lover, My Son

4.192

My Lover, My Son
1970-05-13

9

The Expert
1968-07-05

7.1

Minder
1979-10-29

6.731

Grange Hill
1978-02-08

0

five by five
2017-03-27

8.167

Public Eye
1965-01-23

All Creatures Great & Small

8.158

All Creatures Great & Small
2020-09-01

Coronation Street

5.4

Coronation Street
1960-12-09

6.6

The Guilty
2013-09-05

7.349

New Tricks
2004-01-01

7.532

Silent Witness
1996-02-21

7.667

Strange Report
1969-09-21

The Troubleshooters

7.333

The Troubleshooters
1965-07-07

The Troubleshooters

7.333

The Troubleshooters
1965-07-07

The Wednesday Play

5.2

The Wednesday Play
1964-09-30

The Wednesday Play

5.2

The Wednesday Play
1964-09-30

The Wednesday Play

5.2

The Wednesday Play
1964-09-30

The Wednesday Play

5.2

The Wednesday Play
1964-09-30

7.9

Doctor Who
1963-11-23

Till Death Us Do Part

7.554

Till Death Us Do Part
1966-06-06

Rockliffe's Babies

5.8

Rockliffe's Babies
1987-01-09

6.095

Platform 7
2023-12-07

You're Only Young Twice

6.4

You're Only Young Twice
1977-09-06

The Gemini Factor

6.75

The Gemini Factor
1987-11-02

If You See God, Tell Him

7.5

If You See God, Tell Him
1993-11-11

Life Begins at Forty

6.667

Life Begins at Forty
1978-06-13

0

Armchair 30
1973-04-11