Home >

William Sylvester

William Sylvester

Birthday: 1922-01-31 | Place of Birth: Oakland, California, USA

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.

...

Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2001
2001: The Making of a Myth

as    Dr. Heywood R. Floyd (archive footage) (uncredited)

1976
Riding with Death

as    Leonard Driscoll

1976
Gemini Man

as    Leonard Driscoll

1974
Busting

as    Mr. Weldman

1973
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

as    Tom Henderson

1970
The Challengers

as    Brad York

1970
Devils of Darkness

as    Paul Baxter

1968
The Syndicate

as    Burt Hickey

1968
2001: A Space Odyssey

as    Dr. Heywood Floyd

1968
The Hand of Night

as    Paul Carver

1964
Devil Doll

as    Mark English

1964
Blind Corner

as    Paul Gregory

1961
Offbeat

as    Layton / Steve Ross

1961
Gorgo

as    Sam Slade

1958
Dublin Nightmare

as    John Kevin

1957
High Tide at Noon

as    Alec Douglas

1956
Portrait of Alison

as    Dave Forrester

1955
Albert R.N.

as    Texas

1953
House of Blackmail

as    Jimmy

1953
Appointment in London

as    Mac

1949
Give Us This Day

as    Giovanni