For those who may have grown up in the days when there were only 5 or 6 tv channels, you may have experienced a moment watching a show or movie and asked yourself: who is that woman?

And you could not find the answer.

In the halcyon days of Hollywood only "stars" counted, and those supporting, particularly the Chorines, the Showgirls, the Glamour Girls, the "Specialty" Dancers, were rarely credited.  But to many viewers, they could not help but notice that some of these supporting players & dancers were particularly compelling, a fascinating combination of allure & mystery.  Even if you did not know who they were, you could not forget them.

And while you might have remembered individual moments you watched, sometimes you might not have realized it was the same individual performing.  You might have seen The Conqueror with John Wayne where a dancer clad in the scantiest of costumes danced with such graceful elegance, or watched a comedy like The Lieutenant Wore Skirts and saw a dancer astoundingly swing her hips as "Henrietta Hipslide," and never once have connected the two.

But in the days of the internet you might now detect a pattern: hey, that dancer in The Ladies Man was the same dancer in The Three Stooges Bedlam in Paradise -- and wait a minute - it's the same person who was in Conqueror and Lieutenant.  How can that be?  The same performer?  And who is that woman anyhow?

And the answer is: Sylvia Lewis.

Sylvia Lewis, one of the greatest dancers in the history of Hollywood, a woman of such profound talent & beauty, trained in classical ballet, mastering all forms of popular dance for whatever a film or tv situation called for, ultimately a choreographer who helped shape the highest levels of popular dance as witnessed by millions of viewers in the 20th century, not only recorded on screen and tv, but live in nightclubs and theater shows.

Who is Sylvia?  On these pages, you shall discover...

T. W. James, Webmaster