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Sylvia Lewis Biography
Sylvia Lewis first performed as a young child in the last days of vaudeville in Baltimore, Maryland...
She received her first classical training as a scholarship student at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, studying dance, voice and piano... 10 years old, at Peabody in Baltimore...
Coming to Hollywood at the age of 12, she continued to study...
At
16 years, with Theo Priour in L.A.'s Chante Claire Opera
"The inscription was to our dance teacher... At that time I was as serious about classical ballet as I ever would be. Ted and I auditioned for Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, and we were both accepted. I had to say no to joining the company because at that time Ballet Russe was very broke and couldn't pay a decent salary to anyone."
When 17, she went down to Mexico City as a principal dancer in "Las Gringas," then stayed on to become a nightclub performer...
"After my dismay over Ballet Russe, I decided against ballet as a career. About 6 months later, someone told me that they were auditioning dancers and singers at the Hollywood Palladium for a show in Mexico City. I did the 8 weeks with "Las Gringas" and then was offered a job as a headliner act at the leading trendy nightclub, El Intimo. I managed to have a couple of costumes whipped up, and found a few orchestra arrangements. By the end of the year, I was fluent in Spanish. Loved the culture. Adored being on my own. The above picture is one of those 'Cuban' costumes." See Sylvia's Nightclub Appearances
Returning to Hollywood, she continued performing in nightclubs, and took up modeling... A "Bernard" Cover for
Art Photography... "I did many modeling jobs for a photog named David Mills. He sold a great many pictures, paid a few bucks and more importantly, provided free pictures for a portfolio. It also meant pretty high visibility in the magazines. Bernard did the same thing, but he was a very high profile photographer. Those modeling gigs are one reason I have so many items for sale on eBay nowadays. Who would have ever thought they'd still be around fifty years later? "
And secured parts in such films as Singin' in the Rain (1952) and Red Garters (1954) as a dancer, then in Drums of Tahiti (1954) as an actress... 
At an Universal Studio dance class in the early 1950s with Mamie Van Doren (c) and Anita Ekberg (far r)...
Later she added choreography on her list of credits, beginning while she was a regular on the TV series "Where's Raymond?" (1953), which starred Ray Bolger and ran for 66 episodes on ABC... From a 1954 magazine article
feature... See Sylvia's Performances with "The Scarecrow"
She married director John Rich, having a daughter, Catherine...
Ray Bolger visits Catherine
& Sylvia
"Four months after my daughter was born, my old friend Dante Di Paolo phoned and said the lead dancer in the new Trop (the hotel had just opened) was leaving the show and asked if I'd like to come to replace her. Having just had a baby, I was a trifle hesitant, but said why not, and my husband at the time, John Rich, said 'sure...do it.' So away I went with baby, nurse and a body that had not seriously danced for six months. Ray Bolger, with whom I'd worked at the Sahara a couple of years earlier, was playing there again. He and his wife came over to spend the afternoon with Cathy, John and me."
In the 1960s she had guest appearances on such popular shows as "The Dick Van Dyke Show," "The Beverly Hillbillies" and "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C."...
Her 50-year career spanned also theater...
She has choreographed many TV shows including "Who's the Boss?" (1984) and "Married... with Children" (1987)... In the 1970s, as she
transitioned to being a full-time choreographer...
Sylvia at 79
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Age
5, in a costume made by her mother...
Promo
for nightclub appearance, age 18...
.JPG)
In
Little Miss Mary Sunshine (1963) at the Music Box (L.A.)...
