Grange Hill star Cleo Sylvestre dies aged 79 as tributes paid to trailblazing actress

20 September 2024, 19:14

"Trailblazing" actress Cleo Sylvestre has died aged 79, her agent has confirmed.

Sylvestre, also known as Cleopatra Palmer, had been a feature of film, stage, television and music since the 1960s.

She was the first black actress to play a leading role at the National Theatre, and to have a regular leading role in a UK soap opera, playing Melanie Harper in ITV’s Crossroads.

Crossroads had about 15 million viewers at the time, and brought Sylvestre to a national audience.

Her film roles have ranged from the 2014 film Paddington and 1993's The Punk, while her TV appearances include The Bill, New Tricks, Till Death Do Us Part, Grange Hill, Doctor Who and Coronation Street.

A statement from Fulcrum Talent on Friday said: "It is with deep regret that I have to announce the sad news that Cleo Sylvestre MBE died this morning.

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"Much loved and admired by her peers, she will be remembered as a trailblazer and a true friend. She will be sorely missed by so many.

"We ask that you respect the privacy of her family at this difficult time."

Sylvestre also sang as Cleo with the Rolling Stones backing her on a cover of To Know Him Is To Love Him in 1964 and continued to be a musician with her blues band Honey B Mama And Friends.

In 2023, she was at Buckingham Palace as she was made an MBE for services to drama and charity.

Her most recent screen roles included ITV thriller Platform 7, and Channel 5's revamp of All Creatures Great And Small.

Playwright and author Bonnie Greer paid tribute to Sylvestre on Twitter.

"The actor #CleoSylvestreMBE has crossed over," Greer wrote. "She was one of the reasons that - from my vantage point in NYC - I thought that this country has the best anglophone theatre, and the best place to be a black woman in it. I still think that. Thank you, Cleo!"