by Nathaniel R
Two time Best Supporting Actress Oscar nominee and party fixture Sylvia Miles died yesterday, three months shy of her 95th birthday. The NYC native rose to fame as a cult figure, a pioneer of Off Broadway plays, part of the Studio 54 scene, and a rather daring actress. She was often seen with Andy Warhol (eventually starring for him in Heat, his randy 1972 picture, with Joe Dallesandro) never quite going mainstream. Both of her Oscar nominations, for example, came from very brief gritty performances, at least in Oscar terms...
in Midnight Cowboy (1969)
Andy Warhol's Heat (1972) with Joe Dallessandro
Farewell My Lovely (1975) with Robert Mitchum
As a matchmaker in Crossing Delancey (1988) starring Amy Irving
As Meryl Streep's mother in She-Devil (1989)
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (2010) her last completed picture
That said, Midnight Cowboy (which we just discussed!) was mainstream enough in its success to pick up the Best Picture prize in Oscar's most daring decade. It was the first and only X rated movie to do so; In today's terms it's just an "R" picture, but back then it must have been at least a small shock to the system. Her second Oscar nomination came from a cameo in the crime drama Farewell My Lovely (which you can stream on Amazon Prime) as an alcoholic trading info for bourbon.
You can stream both of Sylvia's Oscar-nominated performances on Amazon Prime right now: Midnight Cowboy and Farewell, My Lovely.
Highly recommended reading:
Michael Musto's Tribute is funny and filled with great anecdotes since they were friends in real life. We didn't actually know that she was the target of thestill famous now more generically applied celebrity-insult 'she'd go to the opening of an envelope' was first uttered.