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Sylvia
Sylvia Ulback (1881-1975), known as “Sylvia of Hollywood”, was an early Hollywood fitness guru. Between 1926-1932, “Madame Sylvia”, as she was als...view moreSylvia Ulback (1881-1975), known as “Sylvia of Hollywood”, was an early Hollywood fitness guru. Between 1926-1932, “Madame Sylvia”, as she was also known, specialized in keeping movie stars camera-ready through stringent massage, diet and exercise.
Sylvia was born Symnove Johanne Waaler (or Wilhelmsen) in Kristiania, Norway (now Oslo). Her mother, Amelia Wilhelmsen, was an opera singer, and her father, Oscar Waaler, was an artist.
Forbidden to be a doctor by her parents, Sylvia went into nursing at 16. Having studied massage, she opened an office in Bremen, Germany when she was 18 years old. Sylvia and her first husband Andrew Ulback, a lumber dealer, moved to America around 1921, and settled in Hollywood in 1926. Sylvia reduced her weight, meshing dieting knowledge with her massage training, and applied those skills to a growing list of clientele, which included socialites and others in the public eye.
Promoting a three-pronged approach of massage, exercise and diet, Sylvia’s stringent, often painful yet apparently effective techniques were infamous within the ranks of Hollywood. Her name became popularly associated with Hollywood slenderising, particularly in regard to massage, which was then seen as a way to lose weight; her suggestions to stay active, be disciplined and eat wisely are still valid today.
By 1933, she had quit Hollywood entirely to concentrate on New York and a wider audience. 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. Her articles as well as news about her reached local papers across the country. Sylvia wrote three books on health, appearance and beauty: No More Alibis (1934), Pull Yourself Together Baby (1936) and Streamline Your Figure (1939).
Sylvia died in Santa Monica, California on March 2, 1975, aged 93.view less