fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Sylvia Lewis is an American actress, dancer and choreographer.

This biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (March 2010)

Sylvia Lewis
Born	York, Pennsylvania U.S.
Years active	1952–90
Spouse(s)	John Rich (1955–59) Ed Simmons (1966–72) Philip Gunning (1975–present)
Children	Catherine
Website	www.sylvialewis.net

Career

Sylvia Lewis was born in York, Pennsylvania on April 22, 1931, in York, Pennsylvania.^{[citation needed]} She first performed as a young child in the last days of vaudeville in Baltimore, Maryland. She received her first classical training as a scholarship student at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, studying dance, voice and piano. She went to Hollywood at the age of twelve.

Lewis began her film career in Singin' in the Rain and Red Garters as a dancer, then in Drums of Tahiti as an actress. Later, she added choreography on her list of credits, which began while she was a regular featured character on the ABC television series Where's Raymond?, in which she played the dance partner named "Sylvia" of series star Ray Bolger. In the second season, the program was renamed The Ray Bolger Show. She had a brief, but very memorable scene in the Jerry Lewis movie The Ladies Man in which she has no lines, but is able to show off her dance skills and charisma.

Lewis was one of several actresses considered for the role of Princess Aouda in Around the World in 80 Days (1956) after Shirley MacLaine rejected it twice. Lewis tested for the role twice. MacLaine was later chosen for the role after she reconsidered it.[1]

Lewis has choreographed many television shows since the 1950s, including Who's the Boss? and Married... with Children. Guest appearances on shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., plus a healthy stage career on both coasts, earned her a reputation as a triple-threat performer.

In 1995 she appeared in the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies as "July," still dancing and stunning at age 63.[2]

Filmography

Television work

References

External links

• Sylvia Lewis at IMDb
• Sylvia Lewis at the Internet Broadway Database
• Official Sylvia Lewis Website

---