Beverly D’Angelo, now 74, built a career that spans decades across film, television, and music, becoming a familiar face to audiences in the 1970s and 1980s.
From Ohio Roots to Hollywood Recognition
Born in Columbus, Ohio, D’Angelo attended Upper Arlington High School in Upper Arlington before beginning her professional life as a singer. She worked as a backup vocalist for the rockabilly group The Hawks, led by Rompin’ Ronnie Hawkins. After the band separated from Hawkins, the group became known as The Band.
She has continued performing musically over the years, including a benefit concert in Beverly Hills last December where she performed live.
D’Angelo transitioned to the stage in the mid-1970s. In 1976, she appeared in the Broadway musical Rockabye Hamlet, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. That same year, she appeared in the television miniseries Captains and the Kings, marking an early move into screen acting.
Her film debut came in 1977 with a small role in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall. She later appeared in several notable productions, including Every Which Way But Loose, Hair, and Coal Miner’s Daughter.
Beverly D’Angelo’s breakthrough arrived in 1983 when she starred as Ellen Griswold opposite Chevy Chase in National Lampoon’s Vacation. She returned to the role in four sequels: National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), Vegas Vacation (1997), and Vacation (2015).
During the 1980s, she also appeared in films such as Maid to Order (1987) and High Spirits (1988). In 1998, she portrayed Doris Vinyard, the mother of Edward Norton’s character, in the crime drama American History X.
Her television work has included a range of projects. She appeared in TV movies including Slow Burn (1986), Hands of a Stranger (1987), Judgment Day: The John List Story (1993), Menendez: A Killing in Beverly Hills (1994), and Sweet Temptation (1996).
In the 2000s, D’Angelo had a recurring role as attorney Rebecca Balthus on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit. She also voiced Lurleen Lumpkin on The Simpsons and portrayed agent Barbara “Babs” Miller on HBO’s Entourage from 2005 to 2011.
Her later film credits include Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (2008), The House Bunny (2008), and Black Water Transit (2009). In 2014, she reunited with Chevy Chase for Chev & Bev, a project about a retired couple that did not move forward as a series. In 2022, she appeared as Gertrude in the Christmas action-comedy Violent Night, starring David Harbour.
D’Angelo’s personal life has also drawn attention over the years, including her relationship with Al Pacino from 1997 to 2003. The pair welcomed twins, a son and a daughter, conceived through IVF and born in January 2001.
Earlier in her life, she dated director Milos Forman, who directed her in Hair (1979). In 1981, she married Don Lorenzo Salviati, the only son and heir of Don Forese Salviati, 5th Duke Salviati, and Maria Grazia Gawronska.
She later entered a relationship with production designer Anton Furst, an Academy Award winner, who died by suicide in 1991.
Last month, D’Angelo was seen in Los Angeles alongside Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, marking a rare public sighting. More than four decades after her rise to fame, Beverly D’Angelo remains closely associated with the roles that defined her career, particularly her long-running portrayal of Ellen Griswold.
