Earl Lawson Sydnor, actor, was born in Wayne, Pennsylvania in 1907, and grew up in Orange, New Jersey. His family moved to Boston where he attended the Dana School for Drama where his acting talent was realized. Two years in succession, Sydnor won the Boston Players Jabberwock Competition until he was asked not to compete for fear that other actors would not run.
Sydnor attended Brookwood College in Katonah, New York on scholarship where he studied labor relations and journalism. He also studied poetry with noted poet and teacher, Robert Hillyer, at Harvard University. Much of his poetry was published in literary magazines such as The Sign, a National Catholic magazine, and The Saturday Evening Quill, the publication of the Saturday Evening Quill Club of black writers in Boston.
In 1941, Earl married his first wife, Virginia Williams. They settled in New York where he pursued his acting and writing careers.
During the Depression, Sydnor performed with the New Jersey Federal Theatre Company (WPA Federal Theatre Project) in the production of The Trial of Dr. Beck. This play, in 1937, ignited his acting career. Soon thereafter, Sydnor landed a part in the first of the then famous Lew Leslie's Blackbirds shows on Broadway. His other Broadway credits include Kiss the Boys Goodbye, Cabin in the Sky with Ethel Waters and Katherine Dunham, The Skin of our Teeth with Tallulah Bankhead, Detective Story, Sweet Bird of Youth with Paul Newman, I Never Sang For My Father, and First Monday in October with Henry Fonda. He performed in repertory theatres at the Boston Arts Festival, Syracuse Stage, The Goodman Theatre in Chicago, and Lincoln Center. Among his off-Broadway and summer stock performances are the plays, The Black Terror, Take a Giant Step with Lou Gossett, The Emperor Jones with James Earl Jones, and The Little Foxes.
Sydnor also appeared in television shows and in films. His television appearances included: The Defenders, the Hallmark Playhouse, The Last of the Belles, The Silence, Abe Lincoln in Illinois, and soap operas As the World Turns, Love of Life, and Young Doctor Malone. His movie credits included Funny Girl, Up the Down Staircase, Requiem for a Heavyweight, The Hustler, and The Suspect. In addition, Sydnor was the commercial advertising representative for Uncle Ben's Rice in France, Greece, and Guadalupe.
Sydnor was called to serve in the armed forces in 1943, where he was a First Sergeant in Army Squadron D (an all black Unit) in the 1504th Army Air Force Base Unit, stationed in Fairfield, California. A trained photographer, Sydnor had developed a specialty in photographing babies, however, while in the service he was assigned to make training pictures for the Army.
In May 1945, Sydnor and his wife, Virginia, were featured in The American Home, a popular decorating magazine of the day. The American Home until then, had never done a feature spread on blacks. The article, "They Put the Difference in War Bonds", detailed the artistic and inventive home of a New York couple on a meager budget who purchased war bonds to help the war effort overseas. It made no mention of the Sydnors' race, however, the article included pictures of the couple in their home. This resulted in a flood of correspondence, both pro and con, from the magazine's readers.
Sydnor met his second wife, the former Lucille Altman in 1963. After starring in many roles in various venues, Earl Sydnor died in New York City on July 9, 1989.