Sylvia Miles

Miles was born and raised in Greenwich Village, New York City. She was the second daughter of Jewish parents, Belle (née Feldman) and Reuben Scheinwald, a furniture maker.{{cite web|last1=Stark|first1=John|title=Forget That Trinket in Her Right Hand—Actress Sylvia Miles' Biggest Fan Is Sylvia Miles|url=http://people.com/archive/forget-that-trinket-in-her-right-hand-actress-sylvia-miles-biggest-fan-is-sylvia-miles-vol-30-no-15|website=People|access-date=January 1, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231075344/http://people.com/archive/forget-that-trinket-in-her-right-hand-actress-sylvia-miles-biggest-fan-is-sylvia-miles-vol-30-no-15|archive-date=December 31, 2016|date=October 10, 1988}} She was educated at Washington Irving High School and the Actors Studio.

Miles began her career on stage in 1947,{{Citation needed |date=July 2021}} and on television and film in 1954.{{Citation needed |date=June 2021}}

In the early 1960s, she played the role of Sally Rogers in the pilot episode of what would become The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was later taken by Rose Marie for the series.{{cite news |author=Mel Gussow |date=April 15, 1981 |title=Theatre: 'It's Me,' by and with Sylvia Miles |newspaper=The New York Times |page=C28 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/04/15/theater/theater-it-s-me-by-and-with-sylvia-miles.html |accessdate=January 1, 2017}} Her early television work included appearances in three episodes of Naked City (TV series) and two episodes of Route 66 (TV series) (cf. as Red in "The Thin White Line," Route 66, S2E11). She appeared Off-Broadway in “Ruthless!” The Musical (1992) at the Players Theatre, NYC, playing Sylvia St. Croix (originally played by Joel Vig in drag); she was one of the few females to play the role. She appeared on Broadway in two productions, most notably the 1976 revival of The Night of the Iguana.{{cite web |title=Sylvia Miles |website=Internet Broadway Database |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/sylvia-miles-53012 }}

Miles was cast in the film Midnight Cowboy (1969) as an aging Park Avenue kept-woman, who invites Joe Buck (Jon Voight) up to her penthouse apartment for sex—another role in which Miles showed off her voluptuous figure.{{cite news |url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/sylvia-miles-dead-midnight-cowboy-star-was-94-1139055|title=Sylvia Miles, Scene-Stealer in 'Midnight Cowboy' and 'Farewell, My Lovely,' Dies at 94|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=June 12, 2019}} The role earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, although she appeared on-screen for about six minutes.[http://www.filmsite.org/aa69.html Miles' profile], filmsite.org; accessed November 20, 2014. She received a second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her slightly larger role (eight minutes) in Farewell, My Lovely (1975).

File:Sylvia-Miles-92-In-The-Shade.jpg in Key West, 1974.]]

Miles starred in Andy Warhol's underground feature film Heat (1972),{{cite web|url=https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/warhol-joe-dallesandro-and-sylvia-miles-in-heat-ar00372|title=Joe Dallesandro and Sylvia Miles in HEAT|publisher=TATE.org|access-date=June 12, 2019}} appearing in a lingering nude scene with Joe Dallesandro. She had a role in the Indian suspense film Shalimar (1978).{{cite web|url=https://www.rogerebert.com/interviews/interview-with-sylvia-miles|title=Interview with Sylvia Miles|date=June 12, 2019|publisher=Roger Ebert.com}} She appeared in Evil Under the Sun (1982), the film version of Agatha Christie's novel of the same name, portraying a Broadway producer.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/03/05/movies/evil-under-sun-new-christie.html|title='Evil Under Smile', New Christie |newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 5, 1982}} She played real-estate agent Dolores in the Oliver Stone film Wall Street (1987), a role she reprised in Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010).{{cite news |url=https://variety.com/2019/film/news/sylvia-miles-dead-dies-midnight-cowboy-1203241094/|title=Sylvia Miles, Oscar-Nominated for 'Midnight Cowboy' and 'Farewell My Lovely,' Dies at 94|work=Variety|date=June 12, 2019}}

Miles was also featured in the mainstream films 92 in the Shade, Critical Condition, The Great Scout & Cathouse Thursday, Crossing Delancey, and the 1989 comedy She-Devil, in which she played the mother of Meryl Streep's character.{{cite web|url=http://parallax-view.org/2014/08/11/review-92-shade/|title=92 in the Shade|publisher=Parallax-View|access-date=June 12, 2019}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.tvguide.com/celebrities/sylvia-miles/credits/176012/|title=List of Sylvia Miles Credits|magazine=TV Guide|access-date=June 12, 2019}} In her final years, Miles appeared in a few roles on television such as Sex and the City and One Life to Live, and in the films Go Go Tales and Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

In 1975, Miles complained about being typecast as a prostitute in almost all of her then 14 movies and 26 off-Broadway plays to date. "Do I look like a prostitute? What does a hooker look like, anyway? Me?"{{cite news |title=The Happy Hooker? |author=Vernon Scott |newspaper=The Herald Journal |location=Logan, Utah |date=August 22, 1975 |page=11}}

In a New York restaurant in 1973, Miles publicly dumped a plate of food onto critic John Simon's head for his negative comments about her in a review of a play she starred in.[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=100587126 NPR website referencing John Simon-Sylvia Miles altercation], NPR; retrieved October 8, 2014.

Wayland Flowers and his puppet Madame first uttered the widely quoted line, "Sylvia Miles and Andy Warhol would attend the opening of an envelope". In 1976, People magazine repeated the joke in the article "What Would a Manhattan Party Be Without the Ubiquitous Sylvia Miles?" without citing a source.Judy Kessler. [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20067000,00.html "What Would a Manhattan Party Be Without the Ubiquitous Sylvia Miles?"], People Magazine, October 18, 1976, Vol. 6 No. 16{{cite web|last=Gaines|first=Steven|url=https://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/65741|title=The Envelope Please|website=nymag.com|date=May 20, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626213845/http://nymag.com/news/intelligencer/65741|archive-date=June 26, 2015|access-date=August 22, 2015}}

In 1948, Miles married William Myers, but the couple divorced two years later. From 1952 to 1958, she was married to Gerald Price. From 1963 to 1970, she was married to radio disc jockey Ted Brown. Brown cited Miles' lack of desire to have children as the main cause for their divorce.

Miles dated Rudolf Martinus, a model more than 20 years her junior, in the 1970s.{{Cite news |last=Chase |first=Chris |date=1971-10-31 |title=Movies |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/31/archives/who-is-sylvia-im-a-big-star.html |access-date=2025-02-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

In the 1960s and the 1970s she often played chess at a competitive level and was a member of the Manhattan Chess Club.{{Cite news |last=Reif |first=Rita |date=1972-08-16 |title=The Women of Chess—So Far It Hasn't Been Their Move |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/08/16/archives/the-women-of-chess-so-far-it-hasnt-been-their-move.html |access-date=2024-08-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Gates |first=Anita |date=2019-06-12 |title=Sylvia Miles, Actress With a Flair for the Flamboyant, Dies at 94 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/movies/sylvia-miles-death.html |access-date=2024-08-19 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULAgWYty3Kk&t=4935 |title=FM Asa Hoffman, NYC Local Chess Legend, recounts his Blitz battles + shares Bobby Fischer stories |date=2021-11-04 |last=Perpetual Chess Podcast |access-date=2024-08-19 |via=YouTube}}

Miles died on June 12, 2019, while en route to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan at the age of 94.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/12/movies/sylvia-miles-dead.html|title=Sylvia Miles, Actress With a Flair for the Flamboyant, Dies at 94|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 12, 2019|access-date=June 13, 2019}}{{Cite news|title=Sylvia Miles, flamboyant scene-stealer with two Oscar nominations, dies at 94|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/sylvia-miles-flamboyant-scene-stealer-with-two-oscar-nominations-dies-at-94/2019/06/13/6060797a-8de6-11e9-adf3-f70f78c156e8_story.html|access-date=2021-07-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615025936/https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/sylvia-miles-flamboyant-scene-stealer-with-two-oscar-nominations-dies-at-94/2019/06/13/6060797a-8de6-11e9-adf3-f70f78c156e8_story.html|archive-date=2019-06-15|issn=0190-8286}} She had been in declining health in recent years and was in nursing home care in her final months. During Miles' final years she was suffering from anemia and respiratory issues.{{cite news|url=https://www.tmz.com/2019/06/12/sylvia-miles-midnight-cowboy-actress-dead-dies-94/|title='Midnight Cowboy' Actress Sylvia Miles Dead at 94|work=TMZ|date=June 12, 2019}}

::Sources:

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• {{AFI person | 143959-Sylvia-Miles }}
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• [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;cc=wiarchives;type=simple;rgn=Entire%20Finding%20Aid;q1=Sylvia%20Miles;view=reslist;subview=detail;sort=freq;didno=uw-whs-tape00339a Sylvia Miles] at the University of Wisconsin's [https://web.archive.org/web/20131004223020/http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi/f/findaid/findaid-idx?c=wiarchives;view=reslist;subview=standard;didno=uw-whs-tape00339a;focusrgn=summaryinfo;cc=wiarchives;byte=50771135 Actors Studio audio collection]

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Category:1924 births

Category:2019 deaths

Category:20th-century American actresses

Category:21st-century American actresses

Category:Actresses from Manhattan

Category:American film actresses

Category:American stage actresses

Category:American television actresses

Category:Jewish American actresses

Category:People from Greenwich Village

Category:Washington Irving High School (New York City) alumni

Category:20th-century American Jews

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