Sylvia Lewis 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.
[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 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.