Sylvia Miles

Sylvia Miles (née Scheinwald; September 9, 1924 – June 12, 2019) was an American actress. She was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances in Midnight Cowboy and Farewell, My Lovely (1975).

Miles was a fixture in New York City society, having lived there her entire life. She performed in many Off-Broadway shows, including starring in a one-woman musical based on her life, titled It's Me, Sylvia! in 1981.

Early life 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. She was educated at Washington Irving High School and the Actors Studio. 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.

Miles was cast in the film Midnight Cowboy (1969) as a middle-aged 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. appearing in a lingering nude scene with Joe Dallesandro. She had a role in the Indian suspense film Shalimar (1978). She appeared in Evil Under the Sun (1982), the film version of Agatha Christie's novel of the same name, portraying a Broadway producer. 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).

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. 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 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.

Wayland Flowers and his puppet Madame first uttered the widely quoted line, "Sylvia Miles and Andy Warhol would attend the opening of an envelope".

Personal life In 1948, Miles married William Myers, but the couple divorced two years later.

In the 1960s and the 1970s she often played chess at a competitive level and was a member of the Manhattan Chess Club.

Death Miles died on June 12, 2019, while en route to Mount Sinai Hospital in Manhattan at the age of 94. She had been in declining health in recent years and was in nursing home care in her final months.

Filmography Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 1970 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson Herself 3 episodes 1971-1974 The Mike Douglas Show Herself 5 episodes 1985 Miami Vice Muriel Goldman 1 episode 1986 The Equalizer Mother Episode: "Out of the Past"2002One Life to LiveStella Sex and the City Joan 1 episode

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