The Biography

Angela Paton was an American stage, film, and television actress and theatre director. She was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1930. Described as a "natural comic" and one of the "legends of the local stage" of San Francisco, she was a veteran of the American Conservatory Theater (A.C.T.) and one of A.C.T.'s leading actresses in its first few seasons. After leaving A.C.T. in the early 1970s, Paton and her husband founded and ran the Berkeley Stage Company for a number of years. She appeared in 38 films and over 50 TV series. Some of her notable film roles include Mrs. Lancaster, the innkeeper, in Groundhog Day (1993) and Grandma in American Wedding (2003). She also had recurring roles on the television shows Thirtysomething (1987-1991), My Name is Earl (2005-2009), and The War at Home (2005-2007). Paton was a respected figure in the Bay Area theater community, and she was awarded the Bay Area Theater Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 1987 for her performance in the play "The Beauty Queen of Leenane." She was also a member of the Actors' Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild. Paton died in Oakland, California, in 2016, at the age of 86.