Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In addition to serving as co-creator and co-writer on their TV series during the 1960s and early 1970s, Anderson's primary contribution was character development and

costume design Costume design is the process of selecting or creating clothing for a performers. A costume may be designed from scratch or may be designed by combining existing garments. "Costume" may also refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a ...

. She regularly directed the fortnightly voice recording sessions, and provided the voices of many female and child characters. She also helped develop the shows and characters, in particular creating the iconic characters of Lady Penelope and Parker in '' Thunderbirds''.

Early life

Anderson was born in

Camberwell Camberwell ( ) is an List of areas of London, area of South London, England, in the London Borough of Southwark, southeast of Charing Cross. Camberwell was first a village associated with the church of St Giles' Church, Camberwell, St Giles ...

, London, England on 25 March 1927. Her father, Sidney Thomas, was a champion boxer, and her mother, Beatrice (), a dressmaker. After graduating from the

London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...

with a degree in sociology and political science, she became a social worker. She emigrated to the United States to live with her first husband, Jack Brooks, an American golfer. While in America she worked as a journalist.

Career

Anderson returned to the United Kingdom in 1955 with her daughter. She joined the newly founded and short-lived Polytechnic Films as an office assistant in 1957. There, she met Gerry Anderson, an editor and director. That year, when Anderson and Arthur Provis created AP Films following Polytechnic's collapse, she joined them on the board of directors of the new company, alongside their colleagues John Read and Reg Hill.

Collaboration with Gerry Anderson

In 1957 AP Films was commissioned by writer Roberta Leigh to produce films based on her children's stories, including '' The Adventures of Twizzle'' and '' Torchy the Battery Boy''. Sylvia Anderson worked on these projects as a production assistant. In late 1960 the couple married, and she developed a wider role in production duties. The couple worked together as a team, co-writing and co-creating the first episode of a series then sharing the work according to their strengths. Gerry tended to specialise in special effects and hardware, and Sylvia in character, voices, costume, dialogue and plotlines. In this way, Anderson contributed plot development and voice work for a series of half-hour shows including ''

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'', ''

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'' and '' Fireball XL5''. The ''Supercar'' end titles credit her (as Sylvia Thamm) as the dialogue director, a task which she would also handle in other projects. However, she felt the half-hour format was insufficient to fully develop characters and stories, and she persuaded the team's TV producer

Lew Grade Lew Grade, Baron Grade, (born Lev Winogradsky; 25 December 1906 – 13 December 1998) was a Ukrainian-born British media proprietor and impresario. Originally a dancer, and later a talent agent, Grade's interest in television production ...

to extend their shows to a full hour. In the early 1960s, the Andersons co-created the series '' Thunderbirds'', and Sylvia created the characters. She was aware that Grade intended to sell the show to American TV networks and wanted to make the show appealing to American audiences, hence she introduced the "British aristocrat" character of Lady Penelope, and Parker her "Cockney chauffeur". Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward, an aristocratic fashionista who was an undercover agent, was to become one of her most popular characters; Anderson both created the character and provided her voice. AP Films puppet designer Mary Turner used Anderson as the template for the creation of the Lady Penelope puppets, a decision of which Anderson was not immediately aware. Interviewed by the ''Daily Mirror'' in 1968, Turner commented: "we wanted a glamorous blonde and ndersonwas the obvious choice." In 1966 and 1968, Anderson produced two feature-length films based on the ''Thunderbirds'' story, '' Thunderbirds Are Go'' and '' Thunderbird 6''. She was co-creator with Gerry Anderson for the series '' UFO'' (1969–1970) on which she co-produced, was responsible for fashions on the show and did the majority of the casting. The Andersons' creative partnership ended when their marriage broke down during the production of the

first series First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of '' Space: 1999'' in 1975. Gerry announced his intention to separate on the evening of the wrap party, following which Sylvia ceased her involvement with the company, which by this time had twice been renamed and was now called Group Three.

Talent scout and writing

In 1983 she published a novel titled ''Love and Hisses'' and in 1994 she reprised her voice role as Lady Penelope for an episode of '' Absolutely Fabulous''. She worked as a London-based talent scout for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

for 30 years. Her autobiography, ''Yes M'Lady'', was first published in 1991; in 2007, it was re-published as ''My FAB Years'' with new material to bring it up to date with the latest developments in her life, such as her role as a production consultant for the 2004 live-action film adaptation of '' Thunderbirds''. Of the film, Anderson commented, "I'm personally thrilled that the production team have paid us the great compliment of bringing to life our original concept for the big screen. If we had made it ourselves (and we have had over 30 years to do it!) we could not have improved on this new version. It is a great tribute to the original creative team who inspired the movie all those years ago. It was a personal thrill for me to see my characters come to life on the big screen." ''My FAB Years'' was re-released as a spoken CD, narrated by Anderson, in 2010.

Late career and charity work

In 2013, Anderson worked with her daughter Dee, a

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singer, on a concept for a new TV series named ''The Last Station''. In 2015, Anderson briefly returned to the ''Thunderbirds'' universe, when she guest-starred in an episode of the reboot TV series, '' Thunderbirds Are Go'', as Great Aunt Sylvia, a relative of Lady Penelope. Anderson was also known for her charity work, particularly in support of Breast Cancer Care and Barnardo's.

Recognition

In 1966, ''Thunderbirds'' received the

Royal Television Society The Royal Television Society (RTS) is a British-based educational charity for the discussion, and analysis of television in all its forms, past, present, and future. It is the oldest television society in the world. It currently has fourteen r ...

Silver Medal. In 2015, Anderson travelled to Italy to receive a Pulcinella Award in recognition of her career in television production.

Personal life

In 1946, Anderson married Jack Brooks, with whom she had a daughter, Dee. The marriage ended in divorce and in 1952 she married George Thamm, this marriage also ending in divorce. Her third marriage, in 1960, was to Gerry Anderson, with whom she had a son, Dr. Gerry Anderson Jr. (1967–2023), before divorcing Anderson in 1981. Anderson died from an intracerebral haemorrhage at Wexham Park Hospital in

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on 15 March 2016, aged 88.

Television

AP Films

* '' The Adventures of Twizzle'' (1957–59) – production assistant * '' Torchy the Battery Boy'' (

) (1960) – production assistant * '' Four Feather Falls'' (1960) – production assistant * ''

'' (1961–62) – dialogue director, voice artist * '' Fireball XL5'' (1962–63) – voice artist * ''

'' (1964–65) – production assistant, voice artist * '' Thunderbirds'' (1965–66) – character development, voice artist

Century 21

* ''

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', often shortened to ''Captain Scarlet'', is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry Anderson, Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company AP Films#Century 21, Centu ...

'' (1967–68) – character development, voice artist * '' Joe 90'' (1968–69) – character development, voice artist * '' The Secret Service'' (1969) – character development, voice artist * '' UFO'' (1970–71) – costume designer

Group Three

* '' The Protectors'' (1972–74) – writer * '' Space: 1999'' (1975–77) – producer (" Year One")

ITV Studios and Pukeko Pictures

* '' Thunderbirds Are Go'' (2015) – voice artist (as Great Aunt Sylvia)

Filmography

* '' Crossroads to Crime'' (1960) – production assistant, uncredited acting role * '' Thunderbirds Are Go'' (1966) – co-writer, co-producer, voice artist * '' Thunderbird 6'' (1968) – co-writer, co-producer, voice artist * ''

Doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

'' (1969) a.k.a. ''Journey to the Far Side of the Sun'' (US title) – co-writer, co-producer * '' Thunderbirds'' (2004) – production consultant

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Sylvia 1927 births 2016 deaths 20th-century English actresses 20th-century English businesspeople 20th-century English businesswomen 20th-century English novelists 20th-century English women writers 21st-century English women writers Actors from the London Borough of Southwark Actresses from London Alumni of the London School of Economics Gerry Anderson Audiobook narrators British media executives Businesspeople from the London Borough of Southwark English autobiographers English company founders English costume designers English expatriate actresses in the United States English women screenwriters English talent agents English television writers English voice actresses English voice directors English women autobiographers English women non-fiction writers English women novelists English women television producers English women television writers Film producers from London HBO people Novelists from London People from Bray, Berkshire People from Camberwell Television producers from London British television show creators Writers from the London Borough of Southwark