Biography
Beverly D'Angelo gained widest recognition for her role as the disoriented matriarch alongside Chevy Chase across three National Lampoon Vacation pictures, yet she has consistently interleaved screen work with live vocal showcases at Hollywood's Lucky Seven Club and Johnny Depp's Viper Room. In a late-'90s conversation she remarked, "I never had a burning desire to act. I wanted to sing." Born in Columbus, OH, she passed her teenage years in Florence, Italy, pursuing art studies at the American School. Upon her return to the United States she took an animator post at Hanna-Barbera in Los Angeles, though the relentless tempo soon prompted a longing for quieter surroundings. She therefore moved to Canada, where she refined her vocal abilities through appearances at folk-music coffeehouses and taverns. While based for a time in Toronto she earned respect as a session singer, later noting, "I was one of those doo wop, doo wop girls and I also sang in topless bars."
An invitation to Ronnie Hawkins' backing group the Hawks initially seemed to advance her musical ambitions, yet those hopes collapsed after Hawkins faced drug charges and the ensemble dissolved. Shifting focus to acting, she joined a touring repertory production of Rockabye Hamlet; her performance so impressed two producers that they dismissed the remaining cast and transferred the show to Broadway. Though the production shuttered shortly after opening night, the exposure marked the beginning of her sustained professional path. Not long afterward she received an offer to appear in Woody Allen's Annie Hall.
Her breakthrough screen part arrived in 1979 after she secured a role in Miloš Forman's cinematic adaptation of Hair. Subsequent credits included Every Which Way But Loose and Coal Miner's Daughter, where she depicted country singer Patsy Cline. At the height of her visibility D'Angelo abruptly stepped away from performing, wed, and relocated to Italy, remaining there until 1984. Back in the United States she starred in a television remake of A Streetcar Named Desire and, in 1994, returned to the stage in Sam Shepard's Simpatico. She was formerly married to Duke Lorenzo Salviati and has also been romantically associated with actor Al Pacino.
An invitation to Ronnie Hawkins' backing group the Hawks initially seemed to advance her musical ambitions, yet those hopes collapsed after Hawkins faced drug charges and the ensemble dissolved. Shifting focus to acting, she joined a touring repertory production of Rockabye Hamlet; her performance so impressed two producers that they dismissed the remaining cast and transferred the show to Broadway. Though the production shuttered shortly after opening night, the exposure marked the beginning of her sustained professional path. Not long afterward she received an offer to appear in Woody Allen's Annie Hall.
Her breakthrough screen part arrived in 1979 after she secured a role in Miloš Forman's cinematic adaptation of Hair. Subsequent credits included Every Which Way But Loose and Coal Miner's Daughter, where she depicted country singer Patsy Cline. At the height of her visibility D'Angelo abruptly stepped away from performing, wed, and relocated to Italy, remaining there until 1984. Back in the United States she starred in a television remake of A Streetcar Named Desire and, in 1994, returned to the stage in Sam Shepard's Simpatico. She was formerly married to Duke Lorenzo Salviati and has also been romantically associated with actor Al Pacino.