Beverly Heather D'Angelo

 Beverly D'Angelo's life has been fascinating, inspiring, and always interesting for the past four decades. Although she might have been in better films than what she was usually in, she was still an interesting character and the one you should keep an eye on no matter what the role. Hardly the shrinking violet type, Hollywood counted on her for her vibrant appearance, affable manner and ability to steal scenes. Beverly Heather D'Angelo was born on the 15th of November 1951 in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of musicians Priscilla Ruth (Smith) who was a violinist and Eugene Constantino "Gene" D'Angelo the bass player who also ran a television station. Her maternal grandfather, Howard Dwight Smith, was the architect who designed the Ohio ("Horseshoe") Stadium at Ohio State University. Her mother was of English, Irish, Scottish, and German heritage, and her father was of Italian descent. Beverly went to an American school in Florence. At first, she was drawn to art. Beverly worked as a animator/cartoonist for 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 everywhere she could- from topless bars to coffeehouses. At one point the teenager was asked to sing with the rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins. Beverly's acting career began when she quit Hawkins and joined Charlottetown Festival. When she was on tour in Canada, Ophelia was playing the part of Ophelia in "Kronborg 1582", a musical rock adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Colleen Dewhurst saw potential in Beverly and the show. In the end, musical director Gower Champion got into the mix and the show was completely revamped, becoming the musical rock "Rockabye Hamlet", which made its way to Broadway in the year 1976. The show was a bit short-lived, but Beverly's Ophelia attracted attention with its fine reviews. It was soon clear that she would be on the West Coast, securing TV and film opportunities. She did not return to the stage following this, however, she was a star in Ed Harris' 1995 off-Broadway production Sam Shepard’s “Simpatico” that earned her the Theatre World Award. The roles of The Sentinel (1977), and Annie Hall (1977) were her first TV role. 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 performance was of Patsy Cline (the one and only) in the biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). SissySpacek, another country singer Loretta Lynn's Oscar winner, also expertly provided their voices.