Beverly D'Angelo makes level-headed wives funny without turning them into scolds. We rate her comic judgement and dramatic restraint; her singing in Coal Miner's Daughter is a reminder not to take that dependable presence for granted.
Fi1m perspective
Beverly D'Angelo makes a sensible wife seem capable of enjoying herself. Her Ellen Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation (1983) is a level-headed foil to Chevy Chase, but there is a bawdy streak in her humour that keeps the part from becoming a lecture. She makes the family feel like people who might belong together. That is useful acting, and easy to overlook when the comedy around her is busy making a mess.
The early films make it harder to mistake that steadiness for the limit of her abilities. In Milos Forman's Hair (1979), she plays Sheila Franklin and sings; in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), she plays Patsy Cline and supplies her own vocals. Her singing helps make Cline credible as a working performer, giving the character something beyond a resemblance to a famous person. Then National Lampoon's Vacation made Ellen her defining part, which she reprised across four sequels through 2015.
American History X (1998) gives us a sterner use for her steadiness, casting her as Doris Vinyard, the mother in a neo-Nazi family drama. We found the film disturbing because Edward Norton's performance gives that family drama a force its blunt writing cannot supply. D'Angelo works more quietly, bringing restraint and depth to a supporting part. Tony Kaye directs with force, but the hurried explanations leave too little time for doubt or gradual change. Her quieter approach is welcome in a film so impatient to explain its people.
That does not mean she repairs the script. Our reservation about American History X is that its changes come too quickly, and a convincing supporting actor cannot supply the missing time. It does suggest why casting her chiefly as the reliable mother is a limited use of what she can do. Her comic assurance and musical work make a case for giving her more than the task of steadying someone else's film. For a reminder, go back to Coal Miner's Daughter.
Biography
Beverly D'Angelo, also credited as Beverly Heather D'Angelo, is an American actress and musician. She was born on 15 November 1951 in Columbus, Ohio.
She is best known for playing Ellen Griswold in the National Lampoon's Vacation films (1983–2015). Other notable film roles include Sheila Franklin in Hair (1979), Patsy Cline in Coal Miner's Daughter (1980), and Doris Vinyard in American History X (1998). She has appeared in over 60 films.
D'Angelo received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Coal Miner's Daughter and Emmy Award nominations for the television film A Streetcar Named Desire (1984).
