PASSINGS / Linda Dangcil
Linda Dangcil, 67, a versatile actress, singer and dancer whose roles included Sister Ana on the 1960s TV series “The Flying Nun,” died Thursday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after an eight-year battle with tonsillar cancer, her daughter Linda Casto said.
Dangcil’s career began at age 12, when she appeared as an Indian American dancer in the 1954 Broadway production of “Peter Pan” starring Mary Martin. She also danced in the film version of “West Side Story” in 1961 and the national touring production of “A Chorus Line” in 1976.
Starting in the 1960s she had numerous guest parts on TV series, including “Maverick” and “The Rifleman.” In addition to her recurring role on “The Flying Nun,” Dangcil had a lengthy run as Elena on “Villa Alegre,” a bilingual children’s program that aired on public television in the early 1970s. And she had many parts as a voice actor, including as Carmen Alonso in the 1980s animated series “Jem.”
Her last stage appearance was in Stephen Sondheim’s “Follies” with the East West Players in Little Tokyo in 2000.
She was born June 19, 1941, in San Francisco. Her mother was of Mexican, French and Belgian descent and her father was Filipino. As a girl she learned to speak both English and Spanish. The family moved to Los Angeles when she was 9, and she attended Immaculate Heart High School.
Recently, Dangcil helped stage student productions at Immaculate Heart and directed local productions for the National Repertory Theatre Foundation and the Bilingual Foundation of the Arts.
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