Sylvia of Hollywood
[1] Between 1926 and 1932, "Madame Sylvia", as she was also known, specialized in keeping movie stars camera-ready[2][3][4] through stringent massage, diet and exercise.
Sylvia was born Synnøve Johanne Waaler (or Wilhelmsen)[5][6] in Kristiania, Norway (now Oslo).
[citation needed] In 1926, Sylvia, her husband and two sons relocated to Hollywood, ostensibly for Andrew's health.
[8][6] (She eschewed the use of her married name [Ulback or Ullback], hence its various spelling in contemporary references as Ulbeck,[9][10][11] and Ulvert [12]) Sylvia stated that in 1921 she weighed in at 157 lbs at 5 feet tall and looked like a dutiful Norwegian wife.
Seeing her husband, Andrew, flirting with his slender stenographer caused Sylvia to study reducing methods.
Promoting a three-pronged approach of massage, exercise and diet, Sylvia's stringent, often painful yet apparently effective techniques - said to 'squeeze off fat' - were infamous within the ranks of Hollywood.
Her overall methods are risible to modern readers[20][21][22] yet her suggestions to stay active, be disciplined and eat wisely are still valid.
[28] In that same year, she was hired by Joseph Kennedy for his mistress Gloria Swanson, who enthused over the miracles Sylvia worked on her body.
[31][32] Although said to be penned by Sylvia's secretary, the playful book, full of gossip and contemporary vernacular, was ghostwritten by newspaper reporter and screenwriter James Whittaker,[33] the first husband of Ina Claire.
[34][35][36] Hollywood Undressed revealed intimate details of Sylvia's famous Hollywood clientele which included Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler,[37] Mae Murray, Alice White, Bebe Daniels, Mary Duncan, Ramón Novarro, Ruth Chatterton, Ann Harding, Norma Talmadge, Grace Moore, Constance Bennett, Gloria Swanson, Nella Webb, F.W.
Murnau, Elsie Janis, Ernest Torrence, Lawrence Tibbett, Laura Hope Crews, Ronald Colman, Constance Cummings, Ina Claire, John Gilbert, Carmel Myers, Helen Twelvetrees, Carole Lombard, Ilka Chase, Dorothy Mackaill, Pepi Lederer, Marion Davies, Neil Hamilton, Alan Hale Sr and Vivienne Segal.
[47] From New York, where she pursued her publishing career, she was able to reach a wide audience that spanned from the east to the west coast and everywhere in between.
Sylvia wrote three books[48] on health, appearance and beauty: No More Alibis (1934) Photoplay Publishing, Chicago, Pull Yourself Together Baby with cartoons by Paki (1936) Macfadden, New York.
[58] By 1935, Sylvia was broadcast Wednesday nights at 10:15pm EST on stations WJZ, WBAL, WMAL, WBZ, WBZA, WSYR, WHAM, LDLA, WGAR, WENR, KWCR, KSO, KWK, KOIL, WREN, WTMJ, WIBA, WJR, KSTP, WEBC, KOA, KDYL, KPO, KFI, KGW, KOMO, KHQ and WCKY.
[60] According to Martin Lewis in Radio Guide (1935),[61] Sylvia was on the air less than one minute for each of her shows: she knitted while she waited.
On 1 July 1932, Sylvia married Edward Leiter (born 7 September 1903 in San Francisco), during a thunderstorm in Egremont, Massachusetts.
[12] A graduate of the University of Southern California, he had performed in various stage productions[85][86] and had studied in Budapest and Vienna.
