Cleo Sylvestre

Acting

Cleo Sylvestre

Born — Died

1945-04-19 — 2024-09-20

Place of birth

Hitchin, Herts, England, UK

Known for

Acting

Credits

46 titles

Cleopatra Mary Palmer (née Sylvestre; 19 April 1945 – 20 September 2024), known professionally as Cleo Sylvestre, was a British actress. She was the first black woman ever to play a leading role at the National Theatre in London, and the first woman to record with The Rolling Stones. Sylvestre was brought up in Euston, north London, by her mother, Laureen Sylvestre (née Goodare), a cabaret artist at the Shim Sham Club in Wardour Street, who was born in Yorkshire in 1911. Laureen was of mixed English and African' heritage, and married Owen Oscar Sylvestre, from Trinidad, in 1944. Owen was a Flight Sergeant in the Air Force and had been awarded the Distinguished Flying Medal; he and Laureen d…

Known for

Film credits

2010s · 4 titles

Paddington poster
7.1

A young Peruvian bear travels to London in search of a home. Finding himself lost and alone at Paddington Station, he meets the kindly Brown family, who offer him a temporary haven.

Paddington

2014

Sweetness in the Belly poster
6.2

Orphaned in Africa as a child, Lilly escapes to England as a refugee, fleeing civil war in Ethiopia. Lost in this cold new world, Lilly embraces the immigrant community in London, attempting to reunite people with their scattered families. But as her friend Amina discovers, Lilly's mission isn't purely selfless: a passionate lost love affair is revealed.

Sweetness in the Belly

2019

Far from the Madding Crowd poster
NR

Having inherited her father’s farm, a spirited and feisty young woman – Bathsheba Everdene, finds herself playing mistress in a man’s world. She is pursued by three would-be lovers: the constant shepherd, Gabriel Oak; the obsessive landowner, William Boldwood and the reckless Sergeant Troy. But are any of them a match for the wilful Bathsheba? Based upon one of Hardy’s most popular and enduring novels, Far from the Madding Crowd takes us on a theatrical journey through Hardy country, following a passionate young girl propelled into womanhood by her experiences of love and loss.

Far from the Madding Crowd

2010

National Theatre Live: Allelujah! poster
NR

Filmed live at London’s Bridge Theatre during its limited run. The Beth, an old fashioned cradle-to-grave hospital serving a town in Yorkshire, is threatened with closure as part of an efficiency drive. A documentary crew, eager to capture its fight for survival, follows the daily struggle to find beds on the Dusty Springfield Geriatric Ward, and the triumphs of the old people’s choir.

National Theatre Live: Allelujah!

2018

1990s · 3 titles

1980s · 3 titles

Series credits

Coronation Street poster
5.3

The residents of Coronation Street are ordinary, working-class people, and the show follows them through regular social and family interactions at home, in the workplace, and in their local pub, the Rovers Return Inn. Britain's longest-running soap.

Coronation Street

1960

Doctor Who poster
7.9

The adventures of The Doctor, a time-traveling humanoid alien known as a Time Lord. He explores the universe in his TARDIS, a sentient time-traveling spaceship. Its exterior appears as a blue British police box, which was a common sight in Britain in 1963 when the series first aired. Along with a succession of companions, The Doctor faces a variety of foes while working to save civilizations, help ordinary people, and right many wrongs.

Doctor Who

1963

Silent Witness poster
7.6

A team of exceptional forensic pathologists and scientists investigate heinous crimes and use their skills to catch the people responsible.

Silent Witness

1996

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.

The Wednesday Play

1964

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.

The Wednesday Play

1964

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.

The Wednesday Play

1964

The Wednesday Play poster
5.2

An anthology series of television plays which aired on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. The plays were usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured.

The Wednesday Play

1964

Grange Hill poster
6.7

Children's drama series following the lives of students and teachers at Grange Hill comprehensive school.

Grange Hill

1978

Minder poster
7.2

Roguish comedy drama following the misadventures of small-time crook Arthur Daley.

Minder

1979

New Tricks poster
7.3

New Tricks is a British comedy-drama that follows the work of the fictional Unsolved Crime and Open Case Squad of the Metropolitan Police Service. Originally led by Detective Superintendent Sandra Pullman, it is made up of retired police officers who have been recruited to reinvestigate unsolved crimes.

New Tricks

2004

All Creatures Great & Small poster
8.2

The heartwarming and humorous adventures of a young country vet in the Yorkshire Dales in the 1930s. A remake of the 1978 series.

All Creatures Great & Small

2020

Public Eye poster
8.2

Public Eye is a British television drama broadcast from 1965 to 1975 on ITV1. Produced by ABC Television for three series, and Thames Television for a further four, the programme follows the investigations and cases handled by the unglamourous enquiry agent Frank Marker.

Public Eye

1965

The Expert poster
9.0

The Expert is a British television series produced by the BBC between 1968 and 1976. The series starred Marius Goring as Dr. John Hardy, a pathologist working for the Home Office and was essentially a police procedural drama, with Hardy bringing his forensic knowledge to solve various cases. The Expert was created and produced by Gerard Glaister. The series was also one of the first BBC dramas to be made in colour, and throughout its four series had numerous high quality guest appearances by actors such as John Carson, Peter Copley, Rachel Kempson, Peter Vaughan, Clive Swift, Geoffrey Palmer, Peter Barkworth, Jean Marsh, Ray Brooks, George Sewell, Anthony Valentine, Bernard Lee, Lee Montague, Geoffrey Bayldon, Mike Pratt, Edward Fox, André Morell, Brian Blessed, Nigel Stock, Philip Madoc and Warren Clarke.

The Expert

1968

Till Death Us Do Part poster
7.6

This English follows the East End working-class Garnett family, headed by patriarch Alf, a reactionary working-class man who wields racist and anti-Socialist views. His long-suffering wife Else manages to keep things in control... for the most part. Their progressive daughter Rita lives with them, as does her Irish husband Mike, who, with an array of liberal worldviews, often quarrels with his father-in-law. It inspired the American show "All In The Family" and several other international variations on the same theme.

Till Death Us Do Part

1966

The Troubleshooters poster
7.3

The Troubleshooters is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. During its run, the series made the transition from black and white to colour transmissions. The series was based around an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. The first series was mostly concerned with the internal politics within the Mogul organisation, with episodes revolving around industrial espionage, internal fraud and negligence almost leading to an accident on a North Sea oil rig.

The Troubleshooters

1965

The Troubleshooters poster
7.3

The Troubleshooters is a British television series made by the BBC between 1965 and 1972, created by John Elliot. During its run, the series made the transition from black and white to colour transmissions. The series was based around an international oil company – the "Mogul" of the title. The first series was mostly concerned with the internal politics within the Mogul organisation, with episodes revolving around industrial espionage, internal fraud and negligence almost leading to an accident on a North Sea oil rig.

The Troubleshooters

1965

Rockliffe's Babies poster
5.8

Rockliffe's Babies is a British television police procedural devised by Richard O'Keefe, and starring Ian Hogg as maverick Detective Sergeant Alan Rockliffe, who is assigned to train seven young recruits to the CID, all fresh out of uniform. Under his irascible guidance, it is hoped that they will blossom into full-blown detectives. But Rockliffe is human – so human that he makes more mistakes than the 'Babies' he's supposed to be training. A follow-up series, Rockliffe's Folly, follows Rockliffe through his relocation to Wessex, dealing with rural crimes as part of a new team of investigators. The seven episode third series proved to be the last, with many citing a change in the programme's formula for the heavy ratings decline. Many viewers stated that the success of the two Babies series came not from Rockliffe himself, but from the popular ensemble cast.

Rockliffe's Babies

1987

Strange Report poster
7.7

Adam Strange, a retired Home Office criminologist, solves bizarre cases – which have been marked "Open File" by various government departments – with the help of Hamlyn Gynt, Evelyn and Professor Marks. He employs the latest techniques in forensic investigation, which he undertakes in his own laboratory in his flat in Warwick Crescent in the Maida Vale/Little Venice area of Paddington.

Strange Report

1969

Platform 7 poster
6.0

Lisa, after witnessing a cataclysmic event on Platform 7 of a railway station, finds her own fragmented memory jogged to reveal a connection between her own life and that of the event she has just witnessed.

Platform 7

2023

No artwork available
NR

Armchair 30 is an anthology drama series of short plays produced by Thames Television and broadcast in 1973. The series was a spin-off from Armchair Theatre.

Armchair 30

1973

Life Begins at Forty poster
6.7

After 17 years of married life, Chris and Katy Bunting are faced with being parents for the first time. The repercussions are only just starting to become apparent.

Life Begins at Forty

1978

You're Only Young Twice poster
6.4

You're Only Young Twice is a British sitcom produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV. Created and written by Michael Ashton and Pam Valentine, the programme ran for four series from 1977 to 1981, with a total of 31 episodes. At the Paradise Lodge retirement home, Flora Petty and her sidekick Cissie Lupin attempt to thwart the long-suffering staff, led by Miss Milton. The duo are occasionally assisted by former theatrical artiste Dolly Love and the haughty Mildred Fanshaw.

You're Only Young Twice

1977

If You See God, Tell Him poster
7.5

Following a freak accident, Godfrey Spry develops a 30-second attention span, causing him to take ad slogans literally and leading to chaotic behaviour.

If You See God, Tell Him

1993

The Guilty poster
6.7

Lives are torn apart and relationships fractured forever when a young child goes missing. Five years later, DCI Maggie Brand leads a new investigation and puts at risk her own happy family life.

The Guilty

2013

five by five poster
NR

In London, a city of millions, teenager Ash is lost. He wants to be the big man, but reality doesn’t quite deliver. A chance encounter leads him to make a dangerous decision, starting a chain reaction that plays out across these five connected short films.

five by five

2017

The Gemini Factor poster
6.8

A twin brother and sister separated at birth. Two halves forming the Yin and Yang. Two telepathic minds. An ancient clock tower. A mystery to keep the mind alert.

The Gemini Factor

1987