EastEnders and film legend Sylvia Syms leaves £1.43m in will - including bequest to drama school

Sylvia Syms died aged 89 in January last year, after a long career in film and television. She appeared in classic 1950s films My Teenage Daughter, Woman in a Dressing Gown and Ice Cold in Alex.

Later in life she played Peggy Mitchell’s friend Olive Woodhouse in EastEnders, as well as portraying the Queen Mother in Helen Mirren film The Queen in 2006, and appearing in Doctor Who, Casualty, Holby City and Doctors. She was made an MBE in 2007.

Her career spanned six decades and she appeared in more than 120 film, television and theatre productions. She retired aged 84 in 2019.

Probate documents, The Sun reports, reveal that while she bequeathed most of her estate to her two children Ben and Beatie, she also left £5,000 donations to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art school and £2,000 each to Intermission and Age UK.

Friend Peter Stephens and other people chosen by her family were also offered the chance to pick a painting from her personal collection.

After her death, her children led tributes, writing: “She has lived an amazing life and gave us joy and laughter right up to the end. Just yesterday we were reminiscing together about all our adventures. She will be so very missed.”