Actress Sylvia Miles died on Wednesday in Manhattan. She was 94.
Sylvia was an American film, stage, and television actress. She was twice nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Sylvia's brief, scene-stealing appearance in Midnight Cowboy earned her an Academy Award nomination even though it was only six minutes long. In the scene Sylvia played an Upper East Side hooker trying to out-hustle Voight's character, an aspiring gigolo.
On rehearsing with Jon Voight: "We rehearsed our scene alone for 10 days." "Jon would come to my apartment on Central Park South dressed in cowboy hat, jeans and boots. My neighbors thought I had this cowboy toyboy. If only.” – In a 2006 interview with The Scotsman.
Sylvia died in an ambulance in New York on the way to a hospital after complaining to a home health care worker that she was not feeling well, her friend, fashion-industry publicist Mauricio Padilha, who confirmed her death.
Born and raised in Greenwich Village, New York City where her father worked as a furniture maker. Sylvia was known as a fixture of the legendary 'New York scene' for many years. Attending various red carpet events in quirky hats and exuberant outfits. Variety reports that the saying “She would attend the opening of an envelope” was said to have been originated by puppeteer Wayland Flowers to describe both her and Andy Warhol, and she famously dumped a plate of food onto critic John Simon’s head after a negative review.
The cause of her passing has not been disclosed as yet.