Sylvia Miles (born September 9, 1932) is a two-time Academy Award-nominated American actress.
Miles was born Sylvia Reuben Lee in New York City to Reuben Lee, a furniture maker, and Belle Fellman. Miles played the role of "Sally" in the pilot episode of what would become The Dick Van Dyke Show, which was later taken by Rose Marie for the series. She also appeared in an episode of Naked City as a lovely barfly attempting to communicate with a psychotic Jack Warden.
She is perhaps best known for her role in the movie Midnight Cowboy as a hooker on a busman's holiday with Jon Voight, which earned her an Oscar nomination, despite the role's brevity (it was the shortest performance ever nominated). She received a second Oscar nomination for best supporting actress for her role in Farewell, My Lovely.
Over the years, the very active Miles has become a cult figure known for her ties to the avant-garde (Andy Warhol, Morrissey, etc.) and her increasingly bizarre appearance over the years and her willingness to attend any public function. Michael Musto remarked that Miles "would attend the opening of an envelope". She gained some notoriety for an incident in a New York restaurant, when she publicly dumped a plate of spaghetti and tomato sauce onto critic John Simon as revenge for his comments about her in a review.
Her most recent acting appearances include roles on Sex and the City, One Life to Live, and the film Go Go Tales.
Her first Oscar nomination (as Best Supporting Actress for Midnight Cowboy (1969)) is the third shortest performance ever nominated for an Oscar. The other two performances are Judi Dench's in Shakespeare in Love (1998) and 'Beatrice straight''s in Network (1976). Dench and Straight both won "Best Supporting Actress" for their performances.
Was once married to former New York City radio personality Ted Brown.
Portrayed Sally Rogers in the Carl Reiner 1959 television pilot "Head of the Family" which eventually became the basis for "The Dick Van Dyke Show."
As a revue comedy performer, she made her first TV appearance on a Bob Hope NBC show in 1950.
Second husband Gerald Price was a NY stage actor and was instrumental in prompting Sylvia to take an avid interest in developing a stage career in the mid-50s.
Married for the first time at age 16.
Measurements: 38C-24-35 (in her own words), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
Infamous for dumping a plate of pasta on the head of dyspeptic theater critic John Simon of New York magazine in The Ginger Man, a New York City restaurant, after he gave her a nasty, scathing review in a 1973 play.
Has one sister living in Las Vegas. Parents were divorced. Father Reuben Lee was a New York City furniture maker. Mother was Belle Fellman-Lee.
