Shirley Ann Angelo

Born Shirley Ann Richards in Sydney, Australia, in 1917, to an American father and New Zealander mother, Ms. Richards acted on stage before becoming one of Australia’s first, and most accomplished stars appearing in a string of hit films under noted producer-director Ken Hall. Among these were It Isn’t Done (1937), Tall Timber (1938), Dad and Dave Come to Town (1939) and Come Up Smiling (1940). She then went to Hollywood in 1941, departing only days after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Over the next decade, she appeared in close to 20 movies with notable roles in major films as The Searching Wind with Robert Young; American Romance with Brian Donlevy; and Sorry, Wrong Number with Barbara Stanwyck. But perhaps her most memorable role was a supporting one, that of the enigmatic Dilly in William Dieterle’s enormously popular melodrama Love Letters. Soft-spoken and sincere, she was at her best when conveying depths of wisdom, with a suggestion of passion stoically controlled. Ms. Richards retired in 1949 upon marrying Edmond Angelo, an aerospace executive and formerly, a successful Broadway producer. For many years following, they lived on DeMille Drive in the Los Feliz area of the Hollywood Hills. In 1984, she briefly came out of retirement to appear as herself (billed as Shirley Ann Richards) in Don’t Call Me Girlie, a major documentary about women in the Australian film industry.