Heather Grace Angel (9 February 1909 – 13 December 1986) was a British actress. She has been known for providing the voice of Mrs. Darling, Wendy's mother in ''
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
'' (1953) and Alice's sister in ''
Alice in Wonderland'' (1951).
Early life
Angel was born 9 February 1909 in
Headington
Headington is an eastern suburb of Oxford, England. It is at the top of Headington Hill overlooking the city in the Thames valley below, and bordering Marston to the north-west, Cowley to the south, and Barton and Risinghurst to the east. Th ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, England.
She was the daughter of Mary Letitia Stock and Andrea Angel, an Oxford University chemistry lecturer and initially a don at
Brasenose College
Brasenose College (BNC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. It began as Brasenose Hall in the 13th century, before being founded as a college in 1509. The library and chapel were added in the m ...
and later at
Christ Church. They were married in 1904 and, after the wedding, they moved to the Banbury Road. Andrea Angel's maternal grandfather was an Italian refugee and he was named after his uncle
Andrea Rabagliati.
In the 1911 UK Census, the family is shown as living at 17 Banbury Road, Oxford along with three servants. She was the younger of two sisters.
Andrea Angel was killed in the
Silvertown explosion
The Silvertown explosion occurred in Silvertown in West Ham, Essex (now part of the London Borough of Newham, in Greater London) on Friday, 19 January 1917 at 6:52 pm. The blast occurred at a munitions factory that was manufacturing explos ...
in January 1917, and posthumously awarded the
Edward Medal
The Edward Medal was a British civilian decoration which was instituted by royal warrant on 13 July 1907 to recognise acts of bravery of miners and quarrymen in endangering their lives to rescue their fellow workers. The medal was named in hono ...
(First Class). In his will, he left his wife £374 and shortly thereafter, his wife moved to London with the two daughters. By 1929, when Heather was 19, she was already appearing with an overseas touring theatre company managed by Charles Bradbury-Ingles.
[Ancestry.com. UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890–1960] The same record shows that she was living at 20 Queen Anne's Grove, London W4, when she left.
Career
Stage
Angel began her stage career at the
Old Vic
Old or OLD may refer to:
Places
*Old, Baranya, Hungary
* Old, Northamptonshire, England
*Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD)
*OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...
in 1926 and later appeared with touring companies. Her
Broadway
Broadway may refer to:
Theatre
* Broadway Theatre (disambiguation)
* Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S.
** Broadway (Manhattan), the street
**Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...
debut came in December 1937 in ''Love of Women'' at the
Golden Theatre
The John Golden Theatre, formerly the Theatre Masque and Masque Theater, is a Broadway theater at 252 West 45th Street (George Abbott Way) in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. Opened in 1927, the Golden Theatre was d ...
. She also appeared in ''The Wookey'' (1941–42).
Film
![Lifeboat (1944) 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lifeboat_%281944%29_1.jpg)
Angel appeared in many British films. She made her first screen appearance in ''
City of Song
''City of Song'', also known as ''Farewell to Love'', is a 1931 British/German romance film directed by Carmine Gallone and starring Jan Kiepura, Betty Stockfeld and Hugh Wakefield. It was shot at Wembley Studios.Wood p.69 The film's sets were ...
''. She later had a leading role in ''
Night in Montmartre'' (1931), and followed this success with ''
The Hound of the Baskervilles
''The Hound of the Baskervilles'' is the third of the four crime novels by British writer Arthur Conan Doyle featuring the detective Sherlock Holmes. Originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' from August 1901 to April 1902, it is set i ...
'' (1932). She then decided to move to Hollywood. She sailed on the Majestic to New York on 21 December 1932 with her mother.
Over the next few years, she played strong roles in such films as ''
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
''The Mystery of Edwin Drood'' is the final novel by Charles Dickens, originally published in 1870.
Though the novel is named after the character Edwin Drood, it focuses more on Drood's uncle, John Jasper, a precentor, choirmaster and opium ...
'' (1935), ''
The Three Musketeers
''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight ...
'' (1935), ''
The Informer'' (1935) and ''
The Last of the Mohicans
''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is a historical romance written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826.
It is the second book of the ''Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder ...
'' (1936).
In 1937 she made the first of five appearances as Phyllis Clavering in the popular
Bulldog Drummond
Hugh "Bulldog" Drummond is a fictional character, created by H. C. McNeile and published under his pen name "Sapper". Following McNeile's death in 1937, the novels were continued by Gerard Fairlie. Drummond is a First World War veteran who, ...
series.
She was cast as Kitty Bennett in ''
Pride and Prejudice
''Pride and Prejudice'' is an 1813 novel of manners by Jane Austen. The novel follows the character development of Elizabeth Bennet, the dynamic protagonist of the book who learns about the repercussions of hasty judgments and comes to appreci ...
'' (1940) and as the maid, Ethel, in ''
Suspicion
Suspicion is a feeling of mistrust.
Suspicion(s), The Suspicion, or Suspicious may also refer to:
Film and television Film
* ''Suspicion'' (1918 film), an American silent film directed by John M. Stahl
* ''Suspicion'' (1941 film), an American ...
'' (1941). Angel was also the
leading lady
A leading actor, leading actress, or simply lead (), plays the role of the protagonist of a film, television show or play. The word ''lead'' may also refer to the largest role in the piece, and ''leading actor'' may refer to a person who typica ...
in the first screen version of
Raymond Chandler's ''
The High Window
''The High Window'' is a 1942 novel written by Raymond Chandler. It is his third novel featuring the Los Angeles private detective Philip Marlowe.
Plot
Private investigator Philip Marlowe is hired by wealthy widow Elizabeth Bright Murdock to rec ...
'', released in 1942 as ''
Time to Kill''. She was one of the passengers of
Alfred Hitchcock
Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock (13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980) was an English filmmaker. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of cinema. In a career spanning six decades, he directed over 50 featur ...
's ''
Lifeboat
Lifeboat may refer to:
Rescue vessels
* Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape
* Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues
* Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen
...
'' (1944).
Her film appearances in the following years were few, but she returned to Hollywood to provide voices for the
Walt Disney
Walter Elias Disney (; December 5, 1901December 15, 1966) was an American animator, film producer and entrepreneur. A pioneer of the American animation industry, he introduced several developments in the production of cartoons. As a film p ...
animated films ''
Alice in Wonderland'' (1951) and ''
Peter Pan
Peter Pan is a fictional character created by List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and Puer aeternus, never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending ...
'' (1953). From 1964 until 1965, she played a continuing role in the television soap opera ''
Peyton Place''.
After that role, she played Miss Faversham, a
nanny
A nanny is a person who provides child care. Typically, this care is given within the children's family setting. Throughout history, nannies were usually servants in large households and reported directly to the lady of the house. Today, modern ...
and female friend of
Sebastian Cabot's character of Giles French in the situation comedy ''
Family Affair
''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempte ...
''.
Personal life
Angel married actor
Ralph Forbes
Ralph Forbes (born Ralph Forbes Taylor; 30 September 1904 – 31 March 1951) was an English film and stage actor active in Britain and the United States.
Early life
Forbes was born in Wandsworth, London, the son of Ernest John "E.J." and Eth ...
in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
in 1934, a union that lasted less than ten years. Angel had acted with
Henry Wilcoxon
Harry Frederick Wilcoxon (8 September 1905 – 6 March 1984), known as Henry Wilcoxon, was an actor born in Roseau, Dominica, British West Indies, and who was a leading man in many of Cecil B. DeMille's films, also serving as DeMille's associ ...
in ''
Self Made Lady'' (1932) when they were both in Britain. When she heard Wilcoxon was also in Hollywood, she contacted him. She invited him to polo matches at the home of
Will Rogers and later taught him horseback riding. They acted together in two other films: ''
The Last of the Mohicans
''The Last of the Mohicans: A Narrative of 1757'' is a historical romance written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1826.
It is the second book of the ''Leatherstocking Tales'' pentalogy and the best known to contemporary audiences. '' The Pathfinder ...
'' (1936) and ''
Lady Hamilton
Dame Emma Hamilton (born Amy Lyon; 26 April 176515 January 1815), generally known as Lady Hamilton, was an English maid, model, dancer and actress. She began her career in London's demi-monde, becoming the mistress of a series of wealthy me ...
'' (1941). Though they remained lifelong friends, they never married. Heather and her husband were both present at the wedding of Wilcoxon to his first wife. They had intended to host the wedding at their house in
Coldwater Canyon
Coldwater Canyon is a canyon running perpendicular to and over the central Santa Monica Mountains, in Los Angeles County, California, United States.
A section of the canyon south of Mulholland Drive is also a neighborhood in the Beverly Crest Nei ...
.
Angel married
Robert B. Sinclair
Robert Bruce Sinclair (May 24, 1905 – January 3, 1970) was an American director who worked in film, Theatre, theater and Television show, television.
Early years
Robert Bruce Sinclair was born in Toledo, Ohio, the son of an insurance agent. ...
(1905–1970), a film and television director, in 1944. On 4 January 1970, an intruder, Billy McCoy Hunter, broke into their home. When Sinclair attempted to protect Angel, Hunter killed him in her presence, then fled. He was allegedly found with a knife and pistol when arrested. The incident is believed to have been a failed burglary. Angel had one son with Sinclair in 1947.
Death
In 1986, Angel died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
in Los Angeles. She was cremated at Santa Barbara Cemetery.
Recognition
Angel has a
motion pictures star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a historic landmark which consists of more than 2,700 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, Californ ...
for her contributions to the film industry. Her star is located at 6301
Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard is a major east–west street in Los Angeles, California. It begins in the east at Sunset Boulevard in the Los Feliz district and proceeds to the west as a major thoroughfare through Little Armenia and Thai Town, Hollywoo ...
.
Filmography
References
Bibliography
*
External links
*
*
*
*
Photographs and literature*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Angel, Heather
1909 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American actresses
20th-century English actresses
Actresses from Oxfordshire
Actors from Oxford
American stage actresses
American film actresses
American soap opera actresses
American television actresses
American voice actresses
British emigrants to the United States
Burials at Santa Barbara Cemetery
Deaths from cancer in California
English film actresses
English stage actresses
English voice actresses
English people of Italian descent