Beverly Heather D'Angelo

 Exciting, fascinating as well as always interesting -- key adjectives in describing the career of Beverly D'Angelo, which has been well past the four-decade mark. Although she might have been more suited for the roles she performed, she was an interesting character to be watched no matter the role. Hollywood loved her lively character, casual manner of life and her 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, as well as bass player. She also owned a television station. Howard Dwight Smith, her maternal grandfather, was the Ohio ("Horseshoe") Stadium architect at Ohio State University. Her mother was from German, Irish, Scottish and German descent, while her father was Italian. Beverly was a student at an American school in Florence, Italy. Beverly was initially drawn to art and was employed as an animator/cartoonist for Hanna-Barbera Productions. She then relocated to Canada to pursue an opportunity in rock singing. To make ends work, she sang anywhere she could anywhere from topless bars to cafes. The young singer was asked to join Ronnie Hawkins, a rockabilly legend. Beverly's acting career took off when she left the Hawkins group and joined the Charlottetown Festival repertory company. While traveling Canada as Ophelia She was given the chance to be in "Kronborg  1582" that is a rock musical rendition of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Colleen dewhurst was there and saw the potential in Beverly. Then musical director Gower Champion was added to the mix and the show was completely revamped, becoming the rock musical "Rockabye Hamlet" that eventually was able to make its way to Broadway in the year 1976. The show was a bit short-lived, however Beverly's Ophelia received acclaim. The show soon found her in the West Coast, with opportunities in television and film. She never returned to the stage following her time on stage, but she did appear alongside Ed Harris in 1995's 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 starring role in Every Which Way but Loose (78) and the film version of the hit Counterculture Hair (1979) were just a few of her co-starring roles. The most memorable thing for Beverly was her dazzling character as the only Patsy Cline in the acclaimed biopic Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). Both she and Oscar award-winning Sissy Spacek (as co-country singer Loretta Lynn) effortlessly sung their own vocals.