Sylvia Kauders

Kauders was born Sylvia Wolinsky to Russian immigrants, Morris and Sadie (née Pincus) Wolinsky, in Philadelphia, and grew up in Upper Darby Township, Pennsylvania. When her father died while she was only ten, Kauders' mother ran a grocery store. Kauders attended Upper Darby High School and in 1942 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania.

Kauders worked in a variety of roles before committing in her 60s to a career in acting. Following college graduation she worked in radio and television. She produced and moderated the television program Under Billy Penn's Hat. She later accepted a job as special events director with the City of Philadelphia and worked with five different mayors, organizing events and hosting celebrities and dignitaries.

Following her public sector work, and her retirement, from the City of Philadelphia, she started her own public relations firm. For her Wednesday Is for Women campaign, which brought more women to work at City Hall, she became the first woman inducted into the Philadelphia Public Relations Association Hall of Fame.

In 1977, aged 55, she decided to seriously pursue an acting career and establish herself in New York City.

Her Broadway debut took place in 1982 in Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song Trilogy as Mrs. Beckoff, the role originated by Estelle Getty. With her role in Jewish Repertory Theater's production of Crossing Delancey, she became known as an "entirely lovable Bubbie ... a peppery lady whose charm is a mask for a determination to carry out her schemes", according to New York Times theater critic, Richard F. Shepard.

Her film credits include roles in American Splendor; Analyze That (2002); Predator 2 (1990), City Hall (1996). Woody Allen tapped her for two of his films, Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989) and Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993). Also in 1993, she appeared in My Life (as Diane Keaton's character's aunt). Her last films were Inside Llewyn Davis (2013) and Love the Coopers (2015).

Kauders appeared in such television shows as including Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and in the HBO series The Sopranos, in the final season, as a foul-mouthed old neighborhood lady, who seeks Tony's help with "fixing the neighborhood."

Her husband, Randle Morgan Kauders, predeceased her after 48 years of marriage. The couple had no children. She died on May 5, 2016, of a heart attack at the age of 94.