American-born actor William Sylvester relocated to England just after World War II. For the next quarter of a century, Sylvester was a fixture in British radio, TV and films, graduating from roles of the two-bit hood variety to full-leading man status. His most famous movie assignments included the lead in the ventriloquist-controlled-by-dummy yarn The Devil Doll (1964), and the crucial expository role of Dr.
Heywood Floyd in Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Returning to the U.S. in the late 1970s, William Sylvester continued essaying secondary character parts in films, and was seen as Dr. Leonard Driscoll on the 1976 TVer Gemini Man. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide. 