A striking and sultry blue-eyed blonde performer, Beverly D’Angelo could be a household name, if only she cared to be. Multi-talented, she first gravitated to art, working in the animation department of Hanna-Barbera before moving to Canada to pursue her singing career, most notably with rockabilly legend Ronnie Hawkins. It was there that Gower Champion spotted her and cast her as Ophelia in his Canadian production of “Rockabye, Hamlet” (1975), which moved the next year to Broadway for a short run. After smaller roles in Woody Allen’s “Annie Hall” and Michael Winner’s “The Sentinel” (both 1977), D’Angelo gained wide attention as the rebellious debutante Sheila in Milos Forman’s highly acclaimed film version of “Hair” (1979). She secured her reputation with a compelling portrayal of Patsy Cline in Michael Apted’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter” (1980), singing with style and accuracy the Patsy Cline songs for a soundtrack album which went gold.
D’Angelo first played Ellen Griswold, the role audiences most identify with her, in “National Lampoon’s Vacation” (1983) and then reprised the part opposite screen husband Chevy Chase in three equally light-weight sequels (1985, 1989 and 1997) which did well at the box office and made her a bunch of money. Though she has done her best by such forgettable misfires as “High Spirits” (1988) and “Man Trouble” (1992), D’Angelo made a memorably beautiful movie with then-boyfriend Irish director Neil Jordan, “The Miracle” (1991), just before breaking up with him. On TV, she won raves for her luminous Stella Kowalski in the 1984 TV remake of “A Streetcar Named Desire” (ABC) opposite Treat Williams and Ann-Margret. D’Angelo also starred as crime victim Mary Heard in the CBS miniseries “Hands of a Stranger” (1987), portrayed Kitty Menendez in the 1994 miniseries “Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills” (NET) and appeared with Bruce Davison and MacKenzie Astin in the HBO murder mystery movie “Widow’s Kiss” (1996).
D’Angelo returned to the New York stage in 1994 to star opposite Ed Harris in Sam Shepard’s play “Simpatico”, earning a Theatre World Award for her efforts. She sang eight songs for the soundtrack and acted in “Daddy’s Dyin’ . . . Who’s Got the Will” (1991) and also performed “Lovin’ You” for “Vegas Vacation” (1997). Her jazz band Blue Martini (which includes bassist brother Jeff) has afforded her the chance to display her singing talent, however, good friend John Schlesinger (who directed her in three movies) lamented, “She should be singing more. She should have a much wider audience.” Perhaps her wicked bedroom voice could make her a household name, but she would have to pursue the old Protestant work ethic more tenaciously than she has to date. The romantic in D’Angelo has often concentrated on her relationships at the expense of her career, but if the four movies she wrapped in 1997 (including Tony Kaye’s “American History X” 1998) are any indication, that may be a thing of the past.
- Born:
on 11/15/51 in Columbus, Ohio
- Job Titles:
Actor, Producer, Singer, Animator, Sold vacuum cleaners by phone
Family
- Brother: Jeff D’Angelo. in Blue Martini jazz band with sister
- Daughter: Olivia Pacino. born on January 25, 2001; fraternal twin of Anton; father, Al Pacino
- Father: played tuba with Tony Pastor and Rosemary Clooney
- Mother: amateur violinist
- Son: Anton Pacino. born on January 25, 2001; fraternal twin of Olivia; father, Al Pacino
Significant Others
- Husband: Lorenzo Salviati. Italian duke, descendant of Lorenzo de’ Medici; married 1981; separated 1984; filed for divorce 1995
- Companion: Al Pacino. together from c. 1997
- Companion: Anton Furst. worked on “Batman” and “Full Metal Jacket”; committed suicide soon after their breakup
- Companion: Milos Foreman. met during filming of “Hair”
- Companion: Neil Jordan. together c. 1985 to 1991; directed D’Angelo in “The Miracle”
- Companion: Scott Baio. born in 1961; dated briefly in the 1990s; broke up over age difference
Education
- American School, Florence, Italy
Milestones
- 1970 Moved to Hollywood
- 1976 Broadway debut as Ophelia in “Rockabye, Hamlet”
- 1976 TV debut in NBC miniseries “Captains and the Kings”
- 1977 Screen acting debut in “The Sentinel” (shot after “Annie Hall”, in which D’Angelo also appeared, but released earlier in the year)
- 1980 Played Patsy Cline in Michael Apted’s “Coal Miner’s Daughter”; did her own vocals to Cline’s songs in movie
- 1981 First of three movies with director John Schlesinger, “Honky Tonk Freeway”
- 1983 Portrayed Ellen Griswold opposite Chevy Chase’s Clark Griswold in “National Lampoon’s Vacation”, the first of four “Vacation” movies with Chase
- 1984 Portrayed Stella in ABC TV remake of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire”, starring Ann-Margret and Treat Williams
- 1985 Acted in John Cassavetes’ “Big Trouble”
- 1990 Sang eight songs for soundtrack and acted in “Daddy’s Dyin’ . . . Who’s Got the Will?”
- 1991 Played mysterious woman in Neil Jordan’s “The Miracle”
- 1994 Portrayed Kitty Menendez in miniseries “Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills” (CBS)
- 1994 Starred opposite Ed Harris in Off-Broadway production of Sam Shepard’s “Simpatico”
- 1996 Picked up associate producer credit for “Pterodactyl Woman from Beverly Hills” (also starred)
- 1997 Reprised Ellen Griswold role for fourth vacation movie with Chase, “Vegas Vacation”; sang “Lovin’ You”
- 1998 Appeared in Tony Kaye’s “American History X”
- 1999 Co-starred opposite Donal McCann in “Illuminata”, playing husband and wife theater managers at the turn of the 20th Century
- 1999 Delivered a delicious cameo as a wealthy former call girl in “Sugar Town”
- 1999 Played recurring role as a predatory film producer in the Showtime comedy series “Rude Awakening”
- 2000 Co-starred with Kyra Sedgwick in the short-lived ABC sitcom “Talk to Me”
- Discovered by Gower Champion who cast her in “Rockabye, Hamlet” for small Canadian repertory company
- Performed with rock band Elephant
- Worked as cartoonist with Hanna-Barbera Studios drawing puffs of smoke in the background of “The Flintstones”, among other cartoons
