National Lampoon’s Beverly D’Angelo on Following Her Dreams: ‘I Had Always Harbored a Desire to Sing’

Before she became known around the world as Ellen Griswold, the smarter parent in the National Lampoon’s Vacation series, Beverly D’Angelo was a singer. She got her performing start in Canada as a backup singer for influential roots rocker Ronnie Hawkins. In 1979, she starred in the movie musical Hair. She also enjoyed the opportunity to display her vocal chops in 1980’s Coal Miner’s Daughter with a portrayal of country legend Patsy Cline that earned Beverly a Golden Globe nomination. “I had always harbored a desire to sing,” Beverly, 73, tells Closer exclusively, “but I never thought of it as being something that I could do as a career.”

Recently, her life has come full circle with Patsy Cline: Walkin’ After Midnight, a star-studded tribute concert in which Beverly performs “Too Many Secrets.” This episode of Great Performances, which also contains archival interviews about Patsy’s life and career, is available on PBS Passport.

Beverly D’Angelo Pays Tribute to Patsy Cline's ‘Life and Legacy’ in Concert

Tell us about your early life.

“I grew up in Columbus, Ohio, but I left there very early, right after I got out of high school at 17. I came out to California and I got a job at Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Studios. I’d studied art. I’m sure my parents thought it would just be a summer job, but when I came out in ’69 everything was happening.”

A lot different than Columbus!

“Yes. The choices I was given in Columbus, Ohio were: get married or go to school and major in a subject that you would then teach and then get married and have kids. So, I was really on the cutting edge of that kind of liberation. And singing was kind of a secret dream of mine.”

How did you first become familiar with Patsy Cline?

“I ended up going to Canada as a studio vocalist. Ronnie Hawkins turned me on to singing Patsy Cline songs. I was familiar with who she was, but there were no records out. She hadn’t been on the radio and had been dead for a while. [But I realized she was] more than just a country singer. She crossed over by doing her thing. People listened and wanted to hear more.”

How did you start acting?

“I kind of sang my way into the movies. I joined a small repertory company and starred in [Rockabye] Hamlet. When that Broadway show closed, the doors that opened weren’t from record companies as much as film opportunities.”

One of your earliest roles was a part in Annie Hall. What was that like?

“I was so naive about filmmaking. I didn’t have a TV, I didn’t go to movies, that was not my thing — so I wasn’t the least bit intimidated. I didn’t know at the time that Woody Allen was held in such high regard. He seemed very nice but it was one day. I played the girl in the television series. My path didn’t cross with his again.”

Tell us about your starring role in the movie version of Hair in 1979.

“I met [director] Miloš Forman in the lengthy auditioning process for Hair — that’s when I really was introduced to filmmaking. He was a brilliant man. He loved me. I loved him. It was an entry into a world that I hadn’t really valued. I became an actor because it was an opportunity, but I’ve never been a careerist. I never thought, ‘If I do this, it will lead to that.'”

What Happened to ‘Christmas Vacation' Actress Beverly D'Angelo? 

Did you enjoy working with Treat Williams in the film?

“Treat and I recognized each other as brother and sister from the moment we met in 1977. We went through our first big exposure to the public in Hair and the fame that followed. We both were nominated for Emmys for A Streetcar Named Desire in 1984 and always touched base. We had become particularly close after Treat organized a cast reunion for Hair just before COVID lockdown. This almost 50-year friendship continued up to the day of his abrupt departure. I’m still mourning.”

You also worked with Clint Eastwood on Every Which Way But Loose. How was he?

“He was fantastic. He always worked with the same people. We would shoot and then all go out to dinner. Everyone would be at the same hotel. It was really nice. He was in a transitional period in his life; he was the Dirty Harry guy, and Every Which Way But Loose started his everyman kind of thing.”

What do you recall about making Coal Miner’s Daughter?

“When I look back at that, I was very, very confident about playing Patsy. What I didn’t have confidence about was the machination of filmmaking. I didn’t like that kind of scrutiny. I still don’t. I’m a musician at heart. With music, I can sit at my piano right now and sing if I want to, and it speaks to me.”

Ironically, the films you’re best known for, the National Lampoon’s Vacation series, aren’t musicals. Can you share some favorite memories?

“Working with the cast and the various directors over the span of the five films from 1983 to 2015 was basically a spin on a family reunion each time, albeit with a script. There are countless moments with Chevy [Chase] that I cherish. But in general, it was the unscripted moments that occur because there is great chemistry. He’s really brilliant with aspects of physical comedy.”

How did your life change after the Vacation movies?

“The life-changing aspect is how much the public connected with Ellen Griswold with so much love. I’m so grateful that these films have brought smiles to so many people and that the public has identified with the character — and by proxy has included me in their own lives.”

What’s next for you?

“I’m making a documentary about my getting back to singing where I first began — with me singing Patsy songs. I am going to drive cross country and warm up my voice, stopping in little roadside places and see what it’s like to go into that part of America that everyone ignores and just be someone who wants to sing for people.”