Trailblazing actress Cleo Sylvestre dies

Performer Cleo Sylvestre MBE has died aged 79, she appeared in several top rating series including Coronation Street and Crossroads…

Cleo first stepped into showbiz with a brief singing career, releasing a version of To Know Him is to Love Him in 1964, which had The Rolling Stones provide the backing vocals to the track. The rockers had become friends with Cleo following a meeting at a blues night in Soho.

After a brief stint in Granada Television’s gritty twice weekly serial drama Coronation Street she became the first black actress to play a leading role at the National Theatre and went on to have a leading role in ATV’s daily soap Crossroads. Something that was brought about by producer Reg Watson (Neighbours, Prisoner: Cell Block H) who wanted to show everyday people in everyday situations – no matter what their race, religion or country of origin.

Her character, Melanie Harper, was Meg’s adopted daughter who, until then – some 1200 episodes in – had never been mentioned. Melanie arrived from France, where she had been studying.

Cleo Sylvestre and Susan Hanson – Crossroads 1970 / ATV

Speaking to Stephen Bourne in 2001 she recalled:

“My agent had a phone call from Reg Watson, who was producing Crossroads. He invited me to Birmingham, took me around the studios, and asked if I’d like to join Crossroads.

“Enoch Powell had been making those terrible ‘Rivers of Blood’ speeches, which resulted in a lot of racial tension up and down the country, especially in cities like Birmingham. Reg must have picked up on this, and decided to create one of the first regular black characters in a British soap. Reg asked me questions about my background, and I told him I’d studied French, so that’s how Melanie came to be a student in France before she turned up at the motel.”

Melanie was the shows first regular black character and was front and centre of several big storylines during her time in the serial which, despite being shown in daytime on ITV, could pull in ‘primetime ratings’ of up to 15 million regularly five days a week.

Cleo noted that Crossroads gave her a lot of TV experience, and despite its factory-style production, did a lot of good.

“The series was ridiculed by some critics but, as far as I am concerned, it did a tremendous amount of good just having an ordinary person in there that happened to be black. I played a character that lots of viewers identified with at a sensitive time for race relations in this country.

“Yes, there were times when actors forgot their lines, but we were working under terrific pressure. When I joined they made five episodes a week. The turnaround was very fast. We’d finish one show and then get our bunch of scripts for the next shows, and be off doing it. It was like that in weekly rep… for an actor, it was a great training ground for television, learning the technique of television acting. David Jason hasn’t done too badly out of it!”

In 2023 Cleo’s character of Melanie was re-imaged by Russell T Davies for the ITV drama Nolly which looked at the life of Crossroads performer and TV pioneer Noele Gordon – who was brought to life by Helena Bonham Carter for the project. In the award-winning three-part drama Bethany Antonia features as Poppy.

As well as a respected career in the theatre Cleo also starred in films such as Ken Loach’s, Poor Cow, Up the Junction and Cathy Come Home. On television there were also roles in BBC Children’s drama Grange Hill,  Thames TV’s cop show The Bill, medical saga Doctors for BBC daytime and the recent Channel 5 reboot of All Creatures Great and Small. She also featured in a storylinein sci-fi drama Doctor Who.

Sylvestre was most recently seen acting in ITV1’s Platform 7 and as herself on the BBC One valuation series The Antiques Roadshow.

ITVX/ITV1 drama Nolly. Bethany Antonia features as Poppy, a reimaged version of Cleo’s character Melanie

Agent Fulcrum Talent told BBC News Sylvestre would be “sorely missed by so many”. The BBC note that Cleo was ‘Born in April 1945, Sylvestre grew up and was educated in Camden, north London. She pursued a career in acting and made her West End debut at Wyndham’s Theatre in 1967’s Wise Child, written by Simon Gray.’

The actress became the first black woman to lead a National Theatre production with her role in Peter Nichols’ satire, The National Health, in 1969. Following her performance in Some Women, a BBC Two dramatisation of stories from incarcerated women, she caught the attention of television producer Reg Watson, who then cast her in ITV’s Crossroads. She remained a member of its official fan club until her death.

“Long after I had left the series, I was walking the kids to school and some workmen on a building site started humming the [Crossroads] theme tune as we passed by. It was hysterical. I looked around and shouted “You lot have a good memory!” and they laughed.”

Sylvestre was made an MBE in the 2023 New Year Honours for services to drama and charity. One of her last public appearances was on July 9th at the unveiling of blues singer Adelaide Hall’s Blue Plaque in Kensington, London. She also over the years continued to work as a musician with her blues band – Honey B Mama & Friends.