Biography
William Sylvester (also credited as William R. Sylvester) was an American actor. He was born in Oakland, California, on 31 January 1922 and died in Sacramento, California, on 25 January 1995.
After the Second World War he moved to England and trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He became a regular in British B-movies and West End theatre during the 1950s and 1960s, appearing in films such as Gorgo (1961) and several Hammer and horror productions. He was married for a time to the British actress Veronica Hurst.
Sylvester gained wider recognition for his role as Dr. Heywood Floyd in Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Later credits included You Only Live Twice (1967), The Hindenburg (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978), together with numerous television appearances.
