Sylvia Sidney

Sylvia Sidney

1910-08-09 The Bronx, New York, USA 74 Credits

Biography

Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow, August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen and film actress whose career spanned over 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She later gained attention for her role as Juno, a case worker in the afterlife, in Tim Burton's film Beetlejuice, for which she won a Saturn Award as Best Supporting Actress. She also was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Summer Wishes, W...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Mars Attacks!

Mars Attacks!

1996

as Grandma Norris

6.4
Acting

A fleet of Martian spacecraft surrounds the world's major cities and all of humanity waits to see if the extraterrestrial visitors have, as they claim...

Used People

Used People

1992

as Becky

5.5
Acting

At her husband's funeral, Pearl, Jewish mother of two divorced and antagonistic daughters, meets an old Italian friend of her husband, whose advice ye...

Night of 100 Stars III

Night of 100 Stars III

1990

as Self

4.0
Acting

A celebrity benefit for The Actors' Fund of America, featuring music, songs, dance and comedy.

Andre's Mother

Andre's Mother

1990

as Mrs. Downes

Acting

Written by Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winner Terrence McNally, Andre's Mother is the story of Katherine Gerard (Sada Thompson) who has lost her son...

Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre

1989

as Self

Acting

A study of the Group Theatre, a company that changed the face of American drama. The Group was founded in 1931 by Cheryl Crawford, Harold Clurman and ...

Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man

Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man

1988

as Self (archive footage)

7.0
Acting

A retrospective of the life and career of actor Cary Grant, including clips from his films and interviews with his friends and co-workers.

Beetlejuice

Beetlejuice

1988

as Juno

7.4
Acting

A newly dead New England couple seeks help from a deranged demon exorcist to scare an affluent New York family out of their home.

The Witching of Ben Wagner

The Witching of Ben Wagner

1987

as Grammy (Regina's Grandmother)

5.6
Acting

A new family moves into town and their son, Ben, meets a mysterious girl named Regina, who is rumoured to be a witch.

Pals

Pals

1987

as Fern Stobbs

3.7
Acting

Two retired fishing buddies stumble on an unmarked suitcase filled with three million dollars in cash. Then the fun starts flying as fast as bullets.

An Early Frost

An Early Frost

1985

as Beatrice McKenna

6.0
Acting

Successful lawyer Michael Pierson is gay, but he has always hidden this part of his life from his mother, Katherine, father, Nick, and grandmother Bea...

Finnegan Begin Again

Finnegan Begin Again

1985

as Margaret

6.3
Acting

A schoolteacher in her early 40s, involved in a dead-end love affair with a married mortician, drifts into a relationship with an aging newspaperman.

Going Hollywood: The '30s

Going Hollywood: The '30s

1984

as (archive footage)

10.0
Acting

Robert Preston hosts this documentary that shows what people of the 1930s were watching as they were battling the Depression as well as eventually get...

Copkiller

Copkiller

1983

as Margaret Smith

5.8
Acting

A NYPD officer imprisons and tortures an admitted cop-killer, but finds the tables turned when his victim refuses to break and in fact urges more puni...

The Brass Ring

The Brass Ring

1983

as Grandmother

7.0
Acting

A mother afflicted with depression comes into conflict with own mother and children when she refuses to seek professional health care.

Having It All

Having It All

1982

as Marney

5.0
Acting

Thera Baylin is a fashion designer with a husband in New York and another one in California.

Hammett

Hammett

1982

as Donaldina Cameron

6.2
Acting

Chinatown, San Francisco, 1928. Former private detective Dashiell Hammett, a compulsive drinker with tuberculosis who writes pulp fiction for a living...

Night of 100 Stars

Night of 100 Stars

1982

as Self

6.7
Acting

The most glittering, expensive, and exhausting videotaping session in television history took place Friday February 19, 1982 at New York's Radio City ...

Come Along with Me

Come Along with Me

1982

as Mrs. Flanner

6.0
Acting

Newly-widowed Mabel Lederer, who has psychic and mediumistic abilities, sells her house and belongings, changes her name, and moves to a new town. The...

A Small Killing

A Small Killing

1981

as Sadie Ross

8.0
Acting

A college professor is recruited by an undercover cop to pose as a bag lady to track down a drug connection following the brutal killing of a skid row...

The Shadow Box

The Shadow Box

1980

as Felicity

5.2
Acting

Over the course of a day in a California hospice, three terminally ill patients are observed with their families reflecting on life and death.

F.D.R.: The Last Year

F.D.R.: The Last Year

1980

as Cousin Polly

5.8
Acting

Though visibly frail and weary, President Franklin D. Roosevelt runs for a precedent-setting fourth term. He also oversees plans for the D-Day Invasio...

The Gossip Columnist

The Gossip Columnist

1980

as Alma Lewellyn

7.5
Acting

New Tinseltown gossip columnist Dina Moran helps faded movie star Georgia O'Hanlon dig up dirt on amoral characters.

Damien - Omen II

Damien - Omen II

1978

as Aunt Marion

6.4
Acting

Since the sudden and suspicious deaths of his parents, young Damien has been in the charge of his wealthy aunt and uncle and enrolled in a military sc...

Siege

Siege

1978

as Lillian Gordon

6.2
Acting

A drama about a community of senior citizens who are terrorized by a ruthless neighborhood gang. After learning that the police are stymied because th...

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

1977

as Miss Coral

6.0
Acting

A disturbed and institutionalized 16-year-old girl struggles between fantasy and reality.

Snowbeast

Snowbeast

1977

as Mrs. Carrie Rill

4.2
Acting

A skier and his wife visit a friend's ski resort during a man beast's rampage, and must hide from the impending danger.

Raid on Entebbe

Raid on Entebbe

1976

as Dora Bloch

6.0
Acting

Based on a true operation by Israeli commandos. An Air France flight is hijacked by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. The airplane la...

God Told Me To

God Told Me To

1976

as Elizabeth Mullin

5.9
Acting

Devout Catholic detective Peter Nicholas investigates a series of murders around New York City, perpetrated by men who claim that God told them to do ...

Death at Love House

Death at Love House

1976

as Clara Josephs

4.7
Acting

Donna and Joel Gregory are staying at the estate of Lorna Love while researching a book about the long dead Hollywood goddess. Joel, whose father had ...

Winner Take All

Winner Take All

1975

as Anne Barclay

7.0
Acting

The chronicle of an average American housewife who just happens to be addicted to gambling.

The Secret Night Caller

The Secret Night Caller

1975

as Kitty

6.5
Acting

A man who is the pillar of his community has a secret - he has a compulsion to make obscene telephone calls.

Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams

Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams

1973

as Mrs. Pritchard - Rita's Mother

5.6
Acting

Rita, a middle aged New York City homemaker, finds herself in an emotional crisis which forces her to re-examine her life, as well as her relationship...

Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate

Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate

1971

as Elizabeth Gibson

5.9
Acting

Four elderly ladies with a lot of time on their hands get the idea to create a fictional "girl" for a computer dating service. However, things take a ...

No Time at All

No Time at All

1958

as Mrs. Kramer

Acting

An airliner flying nonstop at night from Miami to New York fails to check in, then disappears from radar. We see how its disappearance affects people ...

The Helen Morgan Story

The Helen Morgan Story

1957

as Lulu Morgan

Acting

Broadway legend Helen Morgan 's life as told by her mother, from her early start in second rate speakeasies to star of top rated shows and owning her ...

Behind the High Wall

Behind the High Wall

1956

as Hilda Carmichael

5.1
Acting

A group prison breakout goes from bad to worse when the desperate warden tries to steal the gang's dough.

Man on the Ledge

Man on the Ledge

1955

as Mrs. Cosick

Acting

Beat cop Bragan is about to go off duty when he discovers a man standing on the ledge of a hotel more than a dozen stories up. Bragan tries to talk th...

Violent Saturday

Violent Saturday

1955

as Elsie Braden

6.8
Acting

Three men case a small town very carefully, with plans to rob the bank on the upcoming Saturday, which turns violent and deadly.

Les Miserables

Les Miserables

1952

as Fantine

5.4
Acting

In 19th century France, Jean Valjean, a man imprisoned for stealing bread, must flee a relentless policeman named Javert. The pursuit consumes both me...

Screen Snapshots 1860: Howdy, Podner

1949

as Sylvia Sidney

Acting

This entry of Screen Snapshots travels to Las Vegas, Nevada, and Ralph Staub visits and talks to many Hollywood notables as they arrive at the famed g...

Love from a Stranger

Love from a Stranger

1947

as Cecily Harrington

5.7
Acting

Cecily Harrington, struggling along on a small allowance, wins a fortune in a lottery. She decides to travel rather than marrying her fiance Nigel Law...

The Searching Wind

The Searching Wind

1946

as Cassie Bowman

Acting

Always the diplomat, Alex Hazen is slow to take sides in Europe of the 1920s and 1930s. Cassie Bowman wants him to be more decisive and leaves him in ...

Mr. Ace

Mr. Ace

1946

as Margaret Wyndham Chase

5.6
Acting

A rich society woman uses a gangster to win a congressional election.

Blood on the Sun

Blood on the Sun

1945

as Iris Hilliard

5.8
Acting

Nick Condon, an American journalist in 20s Tokyo, publishes the Japanese master plan for world domination. Reaction from the understandably upset Japa...

Breakdowns of 1941

Breakdowns of 1941

1941

as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)

7.0
Acting

Flubs and bloopers that occurred on the set of some of the major Warner Bros. pictures of 1941.

The Wagons Roll at Night

The Wagons Roll at Night

1941

as Flo Lorraine

6.5
Acting

An escaped circus lion provides the impetus for the meeting of carnival owner Nick Coster and Matt Varney, a small-town man who suddenly becomes a lio...

One Third of a Nation

One Third of a Nation

1939

as Mary Rogers

5.8
Acting

The negligent owner of a tenement slum becomes romantically involved with one of the building's residents.

You and Me

You and Me

1938

as Helen Roberts

6.7
Acting

Mr. Morris, the owner of a large metropolitan department store, gives jobs to paroled ex-convicts in an effort to help them reform and go straight. Am...

Dead End

Dead End

1937

as Drina Gordon

7.0
Acting

Mobster "Baby Face" Martin returns home to visit the New York neighborhood where he grew up, dropping in on his mother, who rejects him because of his...

You Only Live Once

You Only Live Once

1937

as Joan Graham

7.1
Acting

Based partially on the story of Bonnie and Clyde, Eddie Taylor is an ex-convict who cannot get a break after being released from prison. When he is fr...

Sabotage

Sabotage

1937

as Mrs. Verloc

6.7
Acting

Karl Anton Verloc and his wife own a small cinema in a quiet London suburb where they live seemingly happily. But Mrs. Verloc does not know that her h...

Fury

Fury

1936

as Katherine Grant

7.4
Acting

Joe, who owns a gas station along with his brothers and is about to marry Katherine, travels to the small town where she lives to visit her, but is wr...

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine

1936

as June Tolliver

6.4
Acting

A well-established tale of a long-running feud between two mountain clans.

Mary Burns, Fugitive

Mary Burns, Fugitive

1935

as Mary Burns

Acting

A young woman who owns a coffee shop falls for a handsome young customer, unaware that he is a gangster.

Accent on Youth

Accent on Youth

1935

as Linda Brown

5.5
Acting

A young secretary falls in love with her boss, a middle-aged playwright. Complications ensue when her boss' son falls for her.

Behold My Wife!

Behold My Wife!

1934

as Tonita Storm Cloud

7.0
Acting

After Michael Carter's fiancée commits suicide, Michael vows to seek revenge on his wealthy family, who sabotaged their marriage. He drives across the...

Thirty Day Princess

Thirty Day Princess

1934

as Nancy Lane / Princess Catterina

6.8
Acting

A European princess arrives in New York City to secure a much-needed loan for her country. She contracts the mumps, and an actress who looks exactly l...

Good Dame

Good Dame

1934

as Lillie Taylor

5.5
Acting

A chorus girl gets stranded in a small midwestern town. Against her better judgement, she hooks up with a smooth-talking con artist who says he can he...

Jennie Gerhardt

Jennie Gerhardt

1933

as Jennie Gerhardt

4.0
Acting

This turn-of-the-century tragedy chronicles the sorrowful travails of a woman who endures a series of devastating losses.

Pick-up

Pick-up

1933

as Mary Richards

4.8
Acting

The scheme of a pair of married con artists goes awry when their victim dies, and they are both caught and imprisoned. When she gets out of prison, sh...

Madame Butterfly

Madame Butterfly

1932

as Cho-Cho San

5.5
Acting

Pinkerton marries Cho-Cho San in Japan, whilst on shore leave. When he leaves, she keeps his Japanese home as he left it. He returns three years later...

Make Me a Star

Make Me a Star

1932

as Sylvia Sidney (uncredited)

5.5
Acting

A grocery clerk, longing to become a cowboy actor, goes to Hollywood in search of fame and fortune. Unfortunately, his acting ability is non-existent.

Merrily We Go to Hell

Merrily We Go to Hell

1932

as Joan Prentice

6.4
Acting

A drunken newspaperman, Jerry Corbett, is rescued from his alcoholic haze by an heiress, Joan Prentice, whose love sobers him up and encourages him to...

The Miracle Man

The Miracle Man

1932

as Helen Smith aka Helen Vail

5.7
Acting

A gang of crooks evade the police by moving their operations to a small town. There the gang's leader, John Madison, encounters a faith healer and use...

Ladies of the Big House

Ladies of the Big House

1931

as Kathleen Storm McNeil

6.0
Acting

A woman tries to save her husband from the electric chair after both are sent to prison for a murder they didn't commit.

Street Scene

Street Scene

1931

as Rose Maurrant

6.8
Acting

The setting is a city block during a sweltering summer, where the residents serve as representatives of the not-very-idealized American melting pot. T...

An American Tragedy

An American Tragedy

1931

as Roberta 'Bert' Alden

6.1
Acting

A social climber charms a debutante, seduces a factory worker and commits murder.

Confessions of a Co-Ed

Confessions of a Co-Ed

1931

as Patricia Harper

5.8
Acting

A young college student gets pregnant by the man she loves, but circumstances prevent their marrying, so she marries a classmate she doesn't love. Soo...

The House That Shadows Built

The House That Shadows Built

1931

as (archive footage)

7.0
Acting

The House That Shadows Built (1931) is a short feature, roughly 48 minutes long, from Paramount Pictures made to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the...

City Streets

City Streets

1931

as Nan Cooley

6.2
Acting

A mobster's daughter leads her boyfriend from the circus into bootlegging.

Five Minutes from the Station

Five Minutes from the Station

1930

as Carrie Adams

6.0
Acting

When Bert Adams brings his boss, Mr. Mason, home for dinner, he and his wife Carrie hope Mason will take the opportunity to announce that Bert will be...

Thru Different Eyes

Thru Different Eyes

1929

as Valerie Briand

Acting

Harvey Manning is placed on trial for the murder of Jack Winfield, his closest friend, whose body was found in the Manning home. During the trial, the...

Broadway Nights

Broadway Nights

1927

as Performer

6.0
Acting

Fannie joins Johnny to perform a music-hall act which becomes a success, until two Broadway producers catch the act and offer Fannie a job on their la...

The Sorrows of Satan

The Sorrows of Satan

1926

as Bridesmaid (uncredited)

6.7
Acting

Geoffrey is desperately in love with Mavis, who lives at his boardinghouse and is also pursuing a writing career. Unable to marry her because of his p...