Beverly Heather D'Angelo

Interesting, inspirational and never less than interesting -- key adjectives for describing the life of Beverly D'Angelo, which has more than four decades of success. Perhaps deserving better movies than the ones she had to be in, she nevertheless was always an object of interest and was the one to watch...whatever the role. A far cry from the shrinking violet, Hollywood counted on her for her vibrant personality, down-to-earth demeanor and scene-stealing capabilities. Beverly Heather D'Angelo is the daughter of Eugene Constantino "Gene", who was a musician and bassist who was also the manager of a television station. She was born in Columbus, Ohio on November 15th 1951. Howard Dwight Smith was her maternal grandfather, and also the architect of the Ohio ("Horseshoe") Stadium. Her mother was an English, Irish and Scottish-born mother. Her father was Italian. Beverly had attended an American school in Florence, Italy. Beverly began her job as an animator/cartoonist Hanna-Barbera Productions. After moving to Canada, Beverly became a session performer and sang wherever she could, from coffeehouses and topless bars. In one instance, the teen was invited to join up with rockabilly legendary Ronnie Hawkins. Beverly's acting journey began after she quit the Hawkins group and was a part of the Charlottetown Festival repertory company. When she was on tour in Canada, Ophelia was playing the character of Ophelia in "Kronborg 1582" which was a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Colleen Dewhurst saw potential in Beverly and the show. Finally, Gower Champion was hired as the musical director. The show was completely revamped, and it became the musical rock "Rockabye Hamlet". It was able to make it to Broadway in 1976. The show ran for a short time, but Beverly's Ophelia was a hit and received high-profile notices. Soon, she was in the West Coast, with television and film roles. The show never made it back on stage after the show, but she did appear as the main character in Ed Harris' 1995 off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard's "Simpatico, which earned her a Theatre World Award. A role in the TV miniseries Captains and the Kings (1976) was followed by a small part in The Sentinel (1977) and in the Woody Allen classic Annie Hall (1977). First Love (1977), Clint Eastwood's Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and the films adaptations of the counterculture hit musical Hair (1979) were but several of the co-starring roles. Best of all for Beverly was her dazzling featured performance as the one-and-only Patsy Cline in the acclaimed biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). She as well as Sissy Spacek, a friend of fellow country singer Loretta Lynn, each provided their voices with skill.