William Sylvester

William Sylvester was born in 1922 in Oakland, California. He was one of three children of a working-class family. After dropping out of high school, he started working as a mechanic and then a truck driver. In 1941, he enlisted in the US Army and served in the Pacific theater. After the war, he moved to England and began to work in British B movies. He quickly became a star, and in 1954 he was top billed in his very first film, House of Blackmail, directed by Maurice Elvey. He also starred in such minor films as The Stranger Came Home (1954, for Hammer), Dublin Nightmare (1958), Offbeat (1960), Information Received (1961), Incident at Midnight, Ring of Spies and Blind Corner (all 1963). In 1967, he starred in You Only Live Twice and, back in the USA after his prominent role for Stanley Kubrick, Busting (1973), The Hindenburg (1975) and Heaven Can Wait (1978). He died in Sacramento, California in 1995, aged 72.