Harold Sylvester

Familiar to television audiences from his starring role on “Married…With Children”, Harold Sylvester is a veteran actor whose credits include 17 feature films and more than 400 television shows.

Born and raised in New Orleans, La., Sylvester majored in theater and Psychology at Tulane University. With college stage experience under his belt, he landed supporting roles in productions shooting on location in New Orleans, including the acclaimed television movie “The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman”.

Sylvester landed his big break while still in Louisiana when he was cast in the lead in “Part 2 Sounder”, a sequel to the groundbreaking film “Sounder”, which starred Paul Winfield and Cicely Tyson. The sequel launched Sylvester’s career and he moved to Los Angeles in 1975. Since then he has starred in many high profile feature films, including “An Officer and a Gentleman” with Richard Gere and Louis Gossett, Jr.; the basketball comedy “Fast Break”; “Innerspace” with Martin Short; the Vietnam drama “Uncommon Valor”; Richard Donner’s “Inside Moves” and Corrina, Corrina with Whoopi Goldberg.

On television, Sylvester spent three seasons as Griff, a shoe salesman working with Al Bundy (Ed O’Neil) at Gary’s Shoe Emporium, on “Married…With Children”. Over the past twenty years, he has been a familiar face on television, starring and guest starring in literally hundreds of shows, including recurring roles on “Hill Street Blues”, “NYPD Blue” and “A Different World”. In 1978 he starred in the highly successful 10 part miniseries “Wheels”, the story of boardroom intrigue in the automobile industry, based on the best selling novel by Arthur Hailey.

Also a successful screenwriter, Sylvester has sold several screenplays: “Passing Glory”, a “TNT Original Movie”, about a high school basketball game between a black high school and a white high school based on a true story; “Fast Girls”, about a girls track team; and “The Muhammad Ali Story”. He was a Producer on the CBS medical drama “City of Angels” and has written for the ABC police drama NYPD Blue.

Harold has served on various Boards of Directors including The John Anson Ford Theatre Foundation, the Urban League, and currently serves as a member of Tulane University’s President’s council. Harold is a member of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences and President of Blue Bayou Productions, Inc.

Harold Sylvester and Marie Devautour met at Tulane University when he was directing his feature NOLA in 2005.