Sylvia Sidney (born Sophia Kosow, August 8, 1910 – July 1, 1999) was an American stage, screen and film actress whose career spanned over 70 years. She rose to prominence in dozens of leading roles in the 1930s. She later gained attention for her role as Juno, a case worker in the afterlife, in Tim Burton's film Beetlejuice, for which she won a Saturn Award as Best Supporting Actress. She also was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams (1973).
Golden Globe Awards
Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
Known For
Beetlejuice
(1988)
Juno
Mars Attacks!
(1996)
Grandma Norris
Damien: Omen II
(1978)
Aunt Marion
Dead End
(1937)
Drina Gordon
Sabotage
(1937)
Mrs. Verloc
Fury
(1936)
Katherine Grant
Raid on Entebbe
(1976)
Dora Bloch
You Only Live Once
(1937)
Joan Graham
Violent Saturday
(1955)
Elsie Braden
God Told Me To
(1976)
Elizabeth Mullin
Snowbeast
(1977)
Mrs. Carrie Rill
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
(1977)
Miss Coral
Night of 100 Stars III
(1990)
Self
Les Miserables
(1952)
Fantine
Full Filmography
Acting
Broadway Nights
(1927)
Performer
Thru Different Eyes
(1929)
Valerie Briand
Five Minutes from the Station
(1930)
Carrie Adams
City Streets
(1931)
Nan Cooley
An American Tragedy
(1931)
Roberta 'Bert' Alden
Street Scene
(1931)
Rose Maurrant
Confessions of a Co-Ed
(1931)
Patricia Harper
Ladies of the Big House
(1931)
Kathleen Storm McNeil
The House That Shadows Built
(1931)
(archive footage)
Merrily We Go to Hell
(1932)
Joan Prentice
Madame Butterfly
(1932)
Cho-Cho San
The Miracle Man
(1932)
Helen Smith aka Helen Vail
Make Me a Star
(1932)
Sylvia Sidney (uncredited)
Pick-up
(1933)
Mary Richards
Jennie Gerhardt
(1933)
Jennie Gerhardt
Thirty Day Princess
(1934)
Nancy Lane / Princess Catterina
Behold My Wife!
(1934)
Tonita Storm Cloud
Good Dame
(1934)
Lillie Taylor
Mary Burns, Fugitive
(1935)
Mary Burns
Accent on Youth
(1935)
Linda Brown
Fury
(1936)
Katherine Grant
The Trail of the Lonesome Pine
(1936)
June Tolliver
Sabotage
(1937)
Mrs. Verloc
Dead End
(1937)
Drina Gordon
You Only Live Once
(1937)
Joan Graham
You and Me
(1938)
Helen
One Third of a Nation
(1939)
Mary Rogers
The Wagons Roll at Night
(1941)
Flo Lorraine
Breakdowns of 1941
(1941)
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Blood on the Sun
(1945)
Iris Hilliard
The Searching Wind
(1946)
Cassie Bowwman
Mr. Ace
(1946)
Margaret Wyndham Chase
Love from a Stranger
(1947)
Cecily Harrington
Screen Snapshots 1860: Howdy, Podner
(1949)
Sylvia Sidney
Les Miserables
(1952)
Fantine
Violent Saturday
(1955)
Elsie Braden
Man on the Ledge
(1955)
Mrs. Cosick
Behind the High Wall
(1956)
Hilda Carmichael
The Helen Morgan Story
(1957)
Lulu Morgan
No Time at All
(1958)
Mrs. Kramer
Do Not Fold, Spindle, or Mutilate
(1971)
Elizabeth Gibson
Summer Wishes, Winter Dreams
(1973)
Mrs. Pritchard - Rita's Mother
The Secret Night Caller
(1975)
Kitty
Winner Take All
(1975)
Anne Barclay
God Told Me To
(1976)
Elizabeth Mullin
Raid on Entebbe
(1976)
Dora Bloch
Death at Love House
(1976)
Clara Josephs
Snowbeast
(1977)
Mrs. Carrie Rill
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden
(1977)
Miss Coral
Damien: Omen II
(1978)
Aunt Marion
Siege
(1978)
Lillian Gordon
The Shadow Box
(1980)
Felicity
The Gossip Columnist
(1980)
Alma Lewellyn
F.D.R.: The Last Year
(1980)
Cousin Polly
A Small Killing
(1981)
Sadie Ross
Hammett
(1982)
Donaldina Cameron
Having It All
(1982)
Marney
Come Along with Me
(1982)
Mrs. Flanner
Night of 100 Stars
(1982)
Self
The Brass Ring
(1983)
Grandmother
Copkiller
(1983)
Margaret Smith
Going Hollywood: The '30s
(1984)
(archive footage)
An Early Frost
(1985)
Beatrice McKenna
Finnegan Begin Again
(1985)
Margaret
Pals
(1987)
Fern Stobbs
The Witching of Ben Wagner
(1987)
Grammy (Regina's Grandmother)
Beetlejuice
(1988)
Juno
Cary Grant: A Celebration of a Leading Man
(1988)
Self (archive footage)
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
(1989)
Self
Andre's Mother
(1990)
Mrs. Downes
Night of 100 Stars III
(1990)
Self
Used People
(1992)
Becky
Mars Attacks!
(1996)
Grandma Norris