Heather Angel | |
|---|---|
 Angel in 1934 | |
| Born | Heather Grace Angel (1909-02-09)9 February 1909 Oxford, England |
| Died | 13 December 1986(1986-12-13) (aged 77) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1931–1979 |
| Known for | |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 1 |
| Awards | Hollywood Walk of Fame |
Heather Grace Angel (9 February 1909 – 13 December 1986) was a British actress. She was known for providing the voice of Mrs. Darling, Wendy's mother inPeter Pan (1953) and Alice's sister inAlice in Wonderland (1951).
Angel was born 9 February 1909 inOxford, England.[1][2] She was the daughter of Mary Letitia Stock andAndrea Angel, an Oxford University chemistry lecturer and initially a don atBrasenose College and later atChrist Church. They were married in 1904 and, after the wedding, they moved toBanbury Road.[3] Andrea Angel's maternal grandfather was an Italian refugee, and Andrea was named after his uncleAndrea Rabagliati.[citation needed]
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 theSilvertown explosion in January 1917, and posthumously awarded theEdward Medal (First Class).[4] In his will, he left his wife £374[5] and shortly thereafter, his wife moved to London with the two daughters.[6] By 1929, when Heather was 19, she was already appearing with an overseas touring theatre company managed by Charles Bradbury-Ingles.[7] The same record shows that she was living at 20 Queen Anne's Grove, London W4, when she left.
Angel began her stage career at theOld Vic in 1926 and later appeared with touring companies. HerBroadway debut came in December 1937 inLove of Women at theGolden Theatre.[8] She also appeared inThe Wookey (1941–42).[9]
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Angel appeared in many British films. She made her first screen appearance inCity of Song. She later had a leading role inNight in Montmartre (1931), and followed this success withThe Hound of the Baskervilles (1932). She then decided to move to Hollywood. She sailed on theMajestic to New York on 21 December 1932 with her mother.[7] Over the next few years, she played strong roles in such films asThe Mystery of Edwin Drood (1935),The Three Musketeers (1935),The Informer (1935) andThe Last of the Mohicans (1936).
In 1937 she made the first of five appearances as Phyllis Clavering in the popularBulldog Drummond series.[10] She was cast asKitty Bennet inPride and Prejudice (1940) and as the maid, Ethel, inSuspicion (1941). Angel was also theleading lady in the first screen version ofRaymond Chandler'sThe High Window, released in 1942 asTime to Kill. She was one of the passengers ofAlfred Hitchcock'sLifeboat (1944).[10] Her film appearances in the following years were few, but she returned to Hollywood to provide voices for theWalt Disney animated filmsAlice in Wonderland (1951) andPeter Pan (1953). From 1964 until 1965, she played a continuing role in the television soap operaPeyton Place.[10] After that role, she played Miss Faversham, ananny and female friend ofSebastian Cabot's character of Giles French in the situation comedyFamily Affair.[citation needed]
Angel married actorRalph Forbes inArizona in 1934, a union that lasted less than ten years. Angel had acted withHenry Wilcoxon inSelf 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 ofWill Rogers and later taught him horseback riding. They acted together in two other films:The Last of the Mohicans (1936) andLady Hamilton (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 inColdwater Canyon.[11]
Angel marriedRobert B. Sinclair (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 a pistol when arrested.[12] The incident is believed to have been a failed burglary. Angel had one son with Sinclair in 1947.
On 13 December 1986, Angel died ofcancer in Los Angeles.[13] She wascremated atSanta Barbara Cemetery.[14]
Angel has amotion pictures star on theHollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to the film industry. Her star is located at 6301Hollywood Boulevard.[15]
