- Known For
- Acting
- Born
- April 19, 1945
- Place of Birth
- Hitchin, Herts, England, UK
- Died
- September 20, 2024
Cleo Sylvestre
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 …
Filmography
movieBeautiful Things
2024 · Older Bambi
tvPlatform 7
2023 · Layla
movieBeyond the Lake
2022 · Caroline
movieNational Theatre Live: Under Milk Wood
2021 · Mae Rose Cottage / Mrs Pugh
tvAll Creatures Great & Small
2020 · Anne Chapman
movieSweetness in the Belly
2019 · Vertisse
movieNational Theatre Live: Allelujah!
2018 · Cora
tvfive by five
2017 · Connie
moviePaddington
2014 · Marjorie Clyde
tvThe Guilty
2013 · Ilse Lawson
movieFar from the Madding Crowd
2010 · Maryann / Mrs Hurst
tvNew Tricks
2004 · Milly
movieTube Tales
1999 · Woman (segment "A Bird In The Hand")
tvSilent Witness
1996 · 1st Neighbour
tvIf You See God, Tell Him
1993 · Mrs Williams
movieThe Attendant
1993
movieBlack and White in Colour
1992 · Self
movieThe Love Child
1988 · Cynthia
movieCatherine
1988 · Sister
tvThe Gemini Factor
1987 · Verity
movieSammy and Rosie Get Laid
1987 · Mother
tvRockliffe's Babies
1987 · Mother Superior
tvMinder
1979 · Ward Sister
Life Begins at Forty
tvLife Begins at Forty
1978 · Mrs Montague
tvGrange Hill
1978 · Mrs. Dunlop
tvYou're Only Young Twice
1977 · Sister
Armchair 30
tvArmchair 30
1973 · Lisa
movieThe Alf Garnett Saga
1972 · Bus Conductress
movieMy Lover, My Son
1970 · Dressmaker
tvStrange Report
1969 · Margaret
movieSome Women
1969 · Millie Jackson
movieThe Smashing Bird I Used to Know
1969 · Carlien
movieMrs. Lawrence Will Look After It
1968 · Stephanie Ward
tvThe Expert
1968 · Vicky Hammond
tvTill Death Us Do Part
1966 · Nurse
movieUp the Junction
1965 · In the factory
tvThe Troubleshooters
1965 · Gert, Karima
tvPublic Eye
1965 · Traffic Warden
tvThe Wednesday Play
1964 · Marge, in the Factory, Inmate: at Holm Lea, Stephanie Ward, Rachel
tvDoctor Who
1963 · Concubine (uncredited)
tvCoronation Street
1960 · Cilla Christie
movieJohnny on the Run
1953 · Susie