12 Doctor Who Actors Who Died In 2023
6. Sylvia Syms
After being considered for a role in the Fifth Doctor serial Warriors of the Deep, Sylvia Syms appeared in the Seventh Doctor serial Ghost Light, where she played Mrs. Pritchard. This was in 1989, by which point Syms already had an enormous list of credits to her name. She was a verified star of the screen, stage, and television, and also boasted a royal role - portraying the Queen Mother in The Queen.
Born in London, she was evacuated during the War, before losing her mother at a young age. She contemplated suicide in her teens, but her stepmother pushed her to pursue her passions, which led to the beginning of her long career.
In 1961, she acted opposite Dirk Bogard in the film Victim, a movie credited with being the first British film to name homosexuality explicitly and deal with the subject matter sympathetically. This film directly contributed to opening the public's eyes toward homosexuality.
She was a patron of the Stars Foundation For Cerebral Palsy, serving as a member of the board for many years. She died in January 2023, at 89 years of age.