Sylvia Lewis was born in York, Pennsylvania.^{[citation needed]} She first performed as a young child in the last days of vaudeville in Baltimore, Maryland. She received her first classical training as a scholarship student at the Peabody Conservatory of Music, studying dance, voice and piano. She went to Hollywood at the age of twelve.^[1]

Lewis began her film career in Singin' in the Rain and Red Garters as a dancer, then in Drums of Tahiti as an actress. Later, she added choreography on her list of credits, which began while she was a regular featured character on the ABC television series Where's Raymond?, in which she played a dancer named Sylvia who partnered series star Ray Bolger. Lewis appeared in the 1961 film The Ladies Man where she danced with star Jerry Lewis.

Lewis was one of several actresses considered for the role of Princess Aouda in Around the World in 80 Days (1956) after Shirley MacLaine rejected it twice. Lewis tested for the role twice, before MacLaine eventually accepted it.^{[citation needed]}

Lewis has choreographed many television shows since the 1950s, including Who's the Boss? and Married... with Children. Guest appearances on shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Beverly Hillbillies and Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C., along with a stage career on both coasts, earned her a reputation as a triple-threat performer.

In 1995 she appeared in the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies as July at age 63.^[2]

• Sylvia Lewis at IMDb
• Sylvia Lewis at the Internet Broadway Database
• Official Sylvia Lewis Website
• Sylvia Lewis Collection at Emerson College Archives