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Andrew Alcott Hallett was an only child. He stood at 6 foot 2 inches tall and was from the Cape Cod village of Osterville, Massachusetts, which is part of the town of Barnstable. He attended Barnstable High School and then Assumption College in Worcester. Always shy, he didn't begin singing until Patti LaBelle invited him onstage at a concert. After moving to Los Angeles he worked as a runner for an agency and then as a property manager and personal assistant.
When Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon saw Hallett singing in a Universal City Blues revue, Whedon conceived the character of The Host, an anagogic demon who reads people as they sing in his karaoke bar. Hallett was invited to try out and got the part, his first job ever as an actor; he acquired agent Pat Brady only after she spotted him singing and acting in the second season premiere episode "Judgement."
Hallett was featured in over forty episodes before appearing in the title sequence as a regular character. The character's demonic visage involved extensive prosthetic makeup and coloring, leading to early morning calls and long days for the actor.
He used his singing talents often on the show, performed two songs on the series soundtrack Angel: Live Fast, Die Never, and was known to help his fellow castmates out with their own karaoke singing.
According to a 2005 interview, about a month after filming the last episode of Angel Hallett suffered a tooth infection which led to a case of cardiomyopathy, for which he spent five days in the hospital. He did not return to acting afterward (except for a voice acting part in Geppetto's Secret), but pursued his music career and frequently appeared at "Angel" or science fiction/fantasy-related conventions.
After a five-year battle with heart disease and at least three additional hospitalizations, Hallett died on March 29, 2009 at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles, with his father Dave Hallett by his side.
