Sylvia Sidney

Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow, August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American actress of stage, screen and film, with a career spanning over 70 years, who first rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. Sidney later came to be known for her role as Juno, a case worker in the afterlife, in Tim Burton's film Beetlejuice. She won a Saturn Award as Best Supporting Actress for this performance. She also was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973).

Early life

Sidney was born in The Bronx, the daughter of Rebecca (née Saperstein), a Romanian Jew, and Victor Kosow, a Russian Jewish immigrant who worked as a clothing salesman. Her parents divorced by 1915, and she was adopted by her stepfather Sigmund Sidney, a dentist. Her mother became a dressmaker and renamed herself Beatrice Sidney. Now using the surname Sidney, she became an actress at the age of 15 as a way of overcoming shyness. As a student of the Theater Guild's School for Acting, Sidney appeared in several of its productions during the 1920s and earned praise from theater critics. In 1926, she was seen by a Hollywood talent scout and made her first film appearance later that year.

Career

During the Depression, Sidney appeared in a string of films, often playing the girlfriend or the sister of a gangster. She appeared with Gary Cooper, Spencer Tracy, Henry Fonda, Joel McCrea, Fredric March, George Raft and Cary Grant. Among her films from this period were: An American Tragedy, City Streets and Street Scene (all 1931), Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage and Fritz Lang's Fury (both 1936), You Only Live Once, Dead End (both 1937) and The Trail of the Lonesome Pine, an early three-strip Technicolor film. It was during this period that she developed a reputation for being difficult to work with. At the time of making Sabotage with Alfred Hitchcock, Sidney was one of the highest paid actresses in the industry earning $10,000 per week - earning a total of $80,000 for Sabotage.

Personal life

Sidney was married three times. She first married publisher Bennett Cerf on October 1, 1935, but the couple divorced six months later on April 9, 1936. She later married actor and acting teacher Luther Adler in 1938, by whom she had her only child, a son Jacob ("Jody"; 1939–1987), who died of Lou Gehrig's disease while his mother was still alive. Adler and Sidney divorced in 1946.

On March 5, 1947, she married radio producer and announcer Carlton Alsop; they divorced on March 22, 1951.

She published two books on the art of needlepoint as well as raised and showed pug dogs.

Death

Sidney died on July 1, 1999, from oesophageal cancer at the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. She died a month before her 89th birthday. Before her death, she underwent chemotherapy, which proved unsuccessful. Her remains were cremated.