Beverly Heather D'Angelo

Intriguing, inspiring as well as always intriguing -- are the main adjectives for describing the life of Beverly D'Angelo, which has well passed the four-decade mark. Although she was most likely in the roles she played, she was still a fascinating character and one to watch no matter what role she played. Hollywood was awed by her bright persona, relaxed manner of speaking, and ability to get scenes to steal. Beverly Heather D'Angelo was born on November 15, 1951 in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of the musicians Priscilla Ruth (Smith) who was a violinist as well as Eugene Constantino "Gene" D'Angelo as a bass player. She also managed a TV station. Her maternal grandfather, Howard Dwight Smith, was the architect responsible for the design of the Ohio ("Horseshoe") Stadium at Ohio State University. Her mother was of English, Irish, Scottish and German ancestry, and her father was of Italian descent. Beverly was educated in an American school in Florence, Italy. Initially drawn to art, Beverly worked as an animator/cartoonist at Hanna-Barbera Productions before moving to Canada to pursue a rock singing career to make ends meet. she worked as an accompanist for sessions and sang anywhere she could, from coffeehouses to topless bars. At one point the teenager was invited to join up with the rockabilly legendary Ronnie Hawkins. Beverly's acting journey began when she left the Hawkins band and became part of the Charlottetown Festival repertory company. She was touring Canada as Ophelia in "Kronborg: 1582" which was a musical rock adaptation of Shakespeare's "Hamlet" when the renowned Colleen Dewhurst stumbled across a show and saw promise in both Beverly and the production. In the end, musical director Gower Champion was added to the mix and the show was transformed, becoming the rock musical "Rockabye Hamlet" which eventually went to Broadway in the year 1976. Although the production was short-lived the character of Beverly's Ophelia attracted fine notices and soon she found herself in the West coast with film and TV opportunities. She didn't return to the stage after her departure, but she was an actor in Ed Harris' 1995 off-Broadway production, Sam Shepard's "Simpatico that earned her an Theatre World Award. She was a part of the TV miniseries Captains and the Kings (1976), and later played only a small part in The Sentinel (1977), and Annie Hall (1977), both Woody Allen classics. A sequence of co-starring parts were followed by First Love (1977), the Clint Eastwood starrer Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and the film adaptation of the popular music video Hair (1979). The most memorable thing for Beverly was her explosive role as the singular Patsy Cline in the acclaimed biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). SissySpacek, another country singer Loretta Lynn's Oscar winner, also provided their voices.