Beverly Heather D'Angelo

Intriguing, inspiring and never less than interesting -- key adjectives when describing the career of Beverly D'Angelo, which has already passed the four-decade mark. Although she was most likely than the roles she played, she was an interesting character to keep an eye on no matter what role. A far cry from the shrinking violet, Hollywood counted on her for her colorful persona, casual manner of speaking and ability to steal scenes. Beverly Heather D'Angelo was the daughter of Eugene Constantino Gene "Gene" D'Angelo and Priscilla Ruth Smith who was a violinist and a bass player, who also had a TV station. Howard Dwight Smith was her maternal grandfather and the architect of the Ohio ("Horseshoe") Stadium. Her mother is from German, Irish, Scottish and German descent, and her father was Italian. Beverly had attended an American school in Florence, Italy. The first time she was attracted to art, Beverly was a cartoonist/animator for Hanna-Barbera Productions before moving to Canada to pursue a career in rock In order to survive, she became a session vocalist and sang everywhere she could- from topless bars to coffeehouses. At one point , the teen was invited to join forces with rockabilly legendary Ronnie Hawkins. Beverly's acting career began after she left Hawkins and joined the Charlottetown Festival. While touring Canada as Ophelia she saw an opportunity to perform in "Kronborg : 1582" which is a musical rock version of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Colleen dewhurst was there and noticed the promise of Beverly. Then, musical director Gower Champion got into the mix and the show was revamped, becoming the musical rock "Rockabye Hamlet", which came to Broadway in the year 1976. The show was a bit short-lived, however Beverly's Ophelia was a hit and received high-profile notices. It was soon clear that she would be on the West Coast and was offered television and film roles. She never returned to the stage again after the show, but she did appear as the main character in Ed Harris' 1995 off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard's "Simpatico, that earned her the Theatre World Award. Parts in The Sentinel (1977), and Annie Hall (1977) were her first TV part. A number of co-starring roles came with First Love (1977), the Clint Eastwood starrer Every Which Way but Loose (1978) and the film version of the popular music video Hair (1979). Beverly's most memorable role was in the role of Patsy Cline, the only coal miner's daughter (1980). She as well as Oscar award-winning Sissy Spacek (as the country singer Loretta Lynn) proficiently performed their own singing.