From Mick Jagger to Crossroads: the pioneering career of Cleo Sylvestre

Despite sharing a name with a character from a Shakespeare play, Cleopatra Sylvestre, who goes by Cleo in both her personal and professional life, only got the chance to portray one of Shakespeare's female characters much later in her extensive career. Last year, she was selected to play Audrey in "As You Like It" at Stratford-upon-Avon. The production was particularly poignant, featuring older actors revisiting a Royal Shakespeare Company show they had performed in many years ago.

The program mentioned that this performance marked Sylvestre's first appearance with the RSC, who has now passed away at the age of 79, which made it evident that the setup was not genuine. Considering the skill and achievements of an actress who started her West End career at just 19, the late recognition of a role like this highlights the challenges that actors of color have historically encountered in the UK.

The contrasts in Sylvestre's journey are even more pronounced considering that her career seemed to be on an accelerated path at the beginning. As the daughter of a dancer from Yorkshire, she transformed her family's kitchen table in north London into a makeshift stage, performing there as a child. She also joined the Italia Conti juvenile theatre school. At just 16, she skipped out on her double biology class to record a song with the Rolling Stones. The track, a rendition of "To Know Him Is to Love Him," was released in 1964 under the name Cleo. While this marked a rocky start for her artistic career, Sir Mick Jagger expressed his deep sorrow over the passing of his "old friend," noting that she holds a unique place in pop music history as the first woman to record with the Stones.

There were several notable early accomplishments as well. In 1967, at just 19 years old, she shared the stage with Sir Alec Guinness in the London West End production of Wise Child, which was Simon Gray's debut play. A couple of years later, she made history by becoming the first black woman to take on a leading role at the National Theatre, appearing in Peter Nichols’ comedy The National Health. Around the same time, she reached a similar milestone in television, landing a recurring role in the popular ATV soap opera Crossroads.

In a letter to The Guardian from 2015, following the passing of the show's creator, Hazel Adair, Sylvestre reflected on the context in which the series was made. He noted that it was shortly after Enoch Powell's infamous "rivers of blood" speech during a period of significant racial unrest, particularly in Birmingham, where the show was set. He emphasized that adding a prominent black character to the series was groundbreaking and a courageous choice, especially for a soap opera that faced its fair share of criticism.

Despite her talent, a lot of criticism was directed at her other projects. In "Wise Child," Guinness portrayed a criminal who is coerced into acting as the mother of a young man. Gray, who often wrote about his own failed theatrical endeavors, mentioned that some audience members asked for refunds during intermission because they felt Guinness was barely present in the performance. One couple, upon realizing that he was actually playing the main female character, exclaimed, "Sir Alec, how could you?" as they left the theater.

Despite portraying a character that the playwright considered to be “a simple-minded Cockney West Indian,” Sylvestre made a significant impression, earning a nomination for an acting award. She also received a visit in her dressing room from Sir Laurence Olivier, the artistic director of the National Theatre. In a fond memory, she recalls him exclaiming, in a spot-on imitation of his charming manner that many actors of her time could replicate: “Oh, Miss Sylvestre, I just want to congratulate you on your truly marvelous performance.”

Two years later, she appeared at the National Theatre in Nichols' comedy about the NHS. In both "The National Health" and "Crossroads," Sylvestre portrayed nurses. Today, this might be viewed as a stereotype, despite it highlighting a significant impact of immigration on the UK. However, it’s worth noting that during that period, such roles were predominantly being created for white actors.

In her interviews, Sylvestre repeatedly expressed her appreciation to Olivier for the opportunity he gave her. However, it’s unclear whether she was aware of a troubling aspect of his support. According to "The National Theatre Story," the official history published in 2013, a disturbing comment from Olivier was recounted in Nichols' "Diaries 1969-1977" (2000). Using language that would have shocked many at the time and is entirely unacceptable today, Olivier reportedly remarked after the debut of "The National Health": “While I admire the African races, I’m not particularly impressed by their acting skills… Do you think the regular actresses in the troupe should paint their faces black?”

These attitudes might shed light on why Sylvestre didn't maintain the same level of success in theater that her early achievements hinted at, even though she received better support from later leadership at the National Theatre. In 2021, she shone in a stage adaptation of Dylan Thomas’s *Under Milk Wood*, and in 2018, former NT director Sir Nicholas Hytner cast her in Alan Bennett’s play *Allelujah*, set in a hospital, at his Bridge Theatre, where her role transitioned from nurse to patient.

On television, Sylvestre was frequently sought after for various roles, starting with Z Cars in 1967, continuing through Grange Hill in 1979, and including shows like Platform 7 and All Creatures Great and Small, which he appeared in as recently as last year.

During a late-career interview, she was asked what advice she would give to aspiring professionals in her field. She responded, "My advice to young actors is that they need to have a genuine passion for acting. There will be setbacks and times of rejection, but that 'dream job' is just around the corner."

It was a remarkably generous reply from someone who, because of the slow pace of cultural change in British entertainment, encountered a lot of rejection and was turned down for many of the dream roles that her trailblazing success has opened up for those who come after her.