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Anna Chappell

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Anna Chappell
Born
Anna Oksanen

(1925-09-15)September 15, 1925
Finland
DiedJuly 31, 2005(2005-07-31) (aged 79)
Appleton, Wisconsin, U.S.
OccupationActress
Spouse
Harry Chappell
​
​
(m. 1946; died 1981)​
Children2[1]

Anna Chappell (née Oksanen; September 15, 1925 – July 31, 2005) was a Canadian-American actress. She appeared in two feature films: Mountaintop Motel Massacre (1983) and The Man in the Moon (1991), and was a longtime resident of Shreveport, Louisiana, where she was a prolific theater actress.

Biography

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Chappell was born Anna Oksanen[1][2] in 1925 to Finnish parents Carl and Aino Oksanen.[1][2] Although born in Finland, Chappell relocated to Toronto, Canada in her early childhood.[3] Both her parents were actors.[1] Chappell was raised in Toronto, where she became interested in theater at a young age.[3] As a child, she sang with the Canadian Navy entertainment corps.[1]

She met her husband, American musician Harry Chappell, while working as a singer.[4] The couple married in Binghamton, New York in 1946,[5] and relocated to Shreveport, Louisiana in the mid-1950s; there, Chappell became active in local theater.[4] She appeared as Lady Thiang in a production of The King and I, which toured in Corning, New York in 1959.[6] In 1970, Chappell earned critical acclaim[7] for her performance in Mame at the Marjorie Lyons Playhouse in Shreveport.[8] For her performance, she was awarded a Best Actress award from The Shreveport Times.[9]

Chappell's husband, Harry, who ran a music store in Shreveport, died on March 31, 1981.[10] In 1983, she starred as Mme. Danzard in a production of My Sister in this House at the Kennedy Center, directed by Robert Buseick.[3] The same year, she made her feature film debut in the slasher film Mountaintop Motel Massacre, playing an unhinged woman who begins murdering guests in the hotel she operates.[11] Terry Lawson of the Dayton Daily News praised her performance as being handled with "a comic intensity."[11] She later had a supporting role in Robert Mulligan's drama film The Man in the Moon (1991).[12]

Death

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In the spring of 2005, Chappell relocated from Shreveport to live with her daughter in Appleton, Wisconsin.[2][13] She died two months later in Appleton on July 31, 2005.[2][3] A memorial service for Chappell was arranged in Shreveport.[2][3]

Filmography

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Year Title Role Notes Ref.
1983 Mountaintop Motel Massacre Evelyn [14]
1991 The Man in the Moon Mrs. Taylor [14]

Select stage credits

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e "Anna Chappell". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. August 7, 2005. p. 24 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e "Anna Chappell". The Post-Crescent. Appleton, WI. August 2, 2005. p. 17. Retrieved September 29, 2022 – via Newspapers.com. Open access icon
  3. ^ a b c d e Flowers, Jennifer (August 2, 2005). "Leading lady in local theater Anna Chappell dies at 79". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ a b Leydon, Joe (December 7, 1978). "Local actress holds on by letting go". The Times. p. 46 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Harry Chappell Takes Bride". Press & Sun-Bulletin. Binghamton, New York. October 17, 1946. p. 18 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ a b "Anna Chappell Signed For 'King and I' in N.Y." The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. May 15, 1959. p. 36 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Anna: Actress moves on to next chapter". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. May 30, 2005. p. 26 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "'Mame' Opens Wednesday". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. August 2, 1970. p. 19-F – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ Montgomery, Jim (June 13, 1971). "Times Drama Awards". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. p. 18-F – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Harry Howard Chappell". The Times. April 1, 1981. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ a b Lawson, Terry (March 15, 1986). "In 'Mountaintop Motel Massacre,' it's all downhill after the title". Dayton Daily News. Dayton, Ohio – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "The Man in the Moon". TV Guide. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  13. ^ Flowers, Jennifer (May 30, 2005). "So long, Anna". The Times. p. 25 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ a b "Anna Chappell". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on June 2, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  15. ^ "Ugg-A-Wugg Pow Wow". The Times. Shreveport, Louisiana. July 17, 1960. p. 7-F – via Newspapers.com.
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