Sylvia Syms (December 2, 1917 – May 10, 1992) was an American jazz singer. One music journalist noted that she was "One of America's most distinguished cabaret and jazz singers with a profound appreciation of lyrics".
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Biography
Syms was born Sylvia Blagman in Brooklyn, New York. As a child, she had polio. As a teenager, she went to jazz nightclubs on New York's 52nd Street and received informal training from Billie Holiday. She made her debut in 1941 at Kelly's Stable.
In 1948, performing at the Cinderella Club in Greenwich Village, she was seen by Mae West, who gave her a part in a show she was doing. Among others who observed her in nightclubs was Frank Sinatra who considered her the "world's greatest saloon singer." Sinatra conducted her 1982 album, Syms by Sinatra.
She was signed to a contract by Decca Records, having her major success with a recording of "I Could Have Danced All Night" in 1956, which sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. Syms made regular appearances at the Carlyle in Manhattan. At times, impromptu, while enjoying a cocktail in the bar of the Carlyle, she would walk on stage and perform with the cabaret's other regular, Bobby Short.
Syms had a lung removed around 1972. The operation did not stop her from performing as Bloody Mary in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific at the Chateau de Ville Dinner Theater.
She died of a heart attack while on stage in the Oak Room at the Algonquin Hotel in New York City on May 10, 1992. She was 74 years old.
Films
The Goldbergs (1950)
The Blue Veil (1951)
Night Without Sleep (1952)
It Happens Every Thursday (1953)
Some of My Best Friends Are... (1971)
Born to Win (1971)
Television
Eddie Condon's Floor Show – 1949
The Tonight Show – 1954
The Tonight Show – 1955
The Tonight Show – 1956
The VIP Show of the Year – Sep 9, 1956
The Tonight Show – October 1956
Stars of Jazz – Dec 17, 1956
Art Ford's All-Star Jazz Party – 1958
Playboy's Penthouse – Sep 23, 1961
Playboy's Penthouse – Apr 21, 1962
The Merv Griffin Show – 1962
The Merv Griffin Show – 1963
The Tonight Show – Sep 17, 1963
The Mike Douglas Show – 1965
The Merv Griffin Show – Jun 29, 1966
Donald O'Connor Show – Oct 21, 1968
The Merv Griffin Show – 1969
The Mike Douglas Show – 1969
The Mike Douglas Show – Aug 9, 1970
The Tonight Show – Aug 6, 1972
The Mike Douglas Show – Aug 11, 1974
The Merv Griffin Show – 1974