Sam Sylvia is one of the main characters of GLOW, portrayed by Marc Maron.
Biography[]
Sam is the creator and director of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling. A B-movie director best known for the film Blood Disco, Sam now works to create an elaborate mythology of characters and storylines. This bring him into conflict with his producer and wealthy financier Sebastian Howard, who simply wants a female wrestling show, but without any complicated storyline.
He has a teenage daughter, Justine Biagi, who joins GLOW simply to meet him. Prior to her doing so, he had no idea that he had a daughter.
When he believes that the funding for the GLOW program on K-DTV has fallen through, he leaves to wallow in his misery, causing Ruth Wilder to end up overseeing the program despite not being the director. ("Money's in the Chase") This causes resentment when he later returns but she continues to act in this capacity, leading him to believe that his position is in danger. When Reggie Walsh speaks up for her, he fires Reggie. ("Viking Funeral") Together with Bash Howard, he implements a new plan in which only the most creative acts each week end up on the program. He resents it when Debbie Eagan uses her star power to negotiate a producer role on the project, but begins to warm to her when he sees her genuine interest in improving the program. Despite a lingering resentment towards Ruth, he is forced to concede to Bash and Debbie that Ruth and Yolanda Rivas's break-dancing act should be a part of the week's program. ("Candy of the Year")
When GLOW moves to the Fan-Tan Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, he is left with much time to spend working on his personal screenplay project. However, he takes over the role of referee in the program after Keith Bang walks out on Cherry. Meanwhile, he begins developing feelings for Ruth Wilder, but she is reluctant to return them, being in a relationship with Russell Barroso and uncertain about how she really feels about him.
When his daughter shows him her own personal screenplay project, he finds it to be excellent, much better than his own. He decides to help her by shopping the project to various studios. Although they are successful, the stress of his job and his lifestyle of alcohol and cigarettes catches up with him, causing him to have a heart attack. He hides this from Justine.
He encourages Justine to invite Ruth to audition for a role in her screenplay. Though Ruth auditions well, Justine ultimately feels that Ruth is not right for the role. This creates a rift between Sam and Ruth, as she feels he should have fought harder for her and was leading her on.
As a Christmas gift, he presents Justine with adoption papers. Although he is biologically her father, it's not legal because he isn't on her birth certificate. He explains that by adopting her, he can leave an inheritance. She happily accepts and signs the papers.
Behind the scenes[]
Marc Maron's character, Sam Sylvia was based on the actual creator of Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, Matt Cimber. Cimber is an Italian-American director with a long and pretty successful career as a director. He did mostly blaxploitation films, which Samuel L. Jackson has called some of his favorites. Quentin Tarantino also said that Cimber's films were some of his favorite movies. Cimber was married a few times, including to Jayne Mansfield.