Beverly D'Angelo: Biography

Onscreen, versatile, multi-talented Beverly D'Angelo is best remembered for playing Ellen Griswold in the National Lampoon "vacation" series of films but she has appeared in over 50 films and also performs on television and the stage. The daughter of successful musicians, D'Angelo was educated in Europe and studied fine arts but left school at age 17 to become an artist at Hanna-Barbera Studios. For a time she was a folk singer and performed in Canadian coffee houses. She later sang rock & roll with the group Elephant. She tried acting in regional theater and during the early '70s appeared frequently on Broadway, making her debut playing Ophelia in the rock musical Rockabye Hamlet. D'Angelo made her film debut playing a bit in the Sentinel (1976). Her most highly regarded film role was that of singer Patsy Cline playing opposite Sissy Spacek's Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980). D'Angelo's excellent portrayal won considerable critical acclaim that seemed to portend a bright future in films for her. She has worked steadily in features, most of them light romances, comedies, or musicals, and in television movies; although she does remind audiences of her dramatic abilities in The Miracle (1991), and has worked with many big-name directors, including John Schlesinger, Richard Lester, and John Cassavetes, she has yet to become a big-name star. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide