🎬 Movies Mates PEOPLE
William Sylvester
Acting
Biography
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…
Read full biography
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.
Biography expanded
BODY OF WORK
William Sylvester's Filmography
Select any movie to open its full Movies Mates details page.
The 9th Wonder of the World: The Making of 'Gorgo'
as Sam Slade (archive footage)
2001: The Making of a Myth
as Dr. Heywood R. Floyd (archive footage) (uncredited)
Roger Moore: A Matter of Class
as Self (archive footage)
First Family
as TV Commentator Howard
Heaven Can Wait
as Nuclear Reporter
Riding with Death
as Leonard Driscoll
The Hindenburg
as Luftwaffe Colonel
Busting
as Mr. Weldman
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark
as Tom Henderson
The Lawyer
as Paul Harrison
The Challengers
as Brad York
The Syndicate
as Burt Hickey
The Hand of Night
as Paul Carver
Red and Blue
as Trumpeter
2001: A Space Odyssey
as Dr. Heywood Floyd
You Only Live Twice
as Pentagon Official (uncredited)
Devils of Darkness
as Paul Baxter
Devil Doll
as Mark English
Ring of Spies
as Gordon Lonsdale
Blind Corner
as Paul Gregory
Incident at Midnight
as Vince Warren
Information Received
as Rick Hogan
Gorgo
as Sam Slade
Offbeat
as Layton / Steve Ross
Whirlpool
as Hermann
No Poster
The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial
Dublin Nightmare
as John Kevin
High Tide at Noon
as Alec Douglas
Portrait of Alison
as Dave Forrester
The Unholy Four
as Philip Vickers
What Every Woman Wants
as Jim Barnes
Albert R.N.
as Texas
House of Blackmail
as Jimmy
Appointment in London
as Mac
The Yellow Balloon
as Len Turner
They Were Not Divided
as American Soldier (uncredited)
Give Us This Day
as Giovanni