Dark Shadows Discussion Thread

[teplin]

I hope he enjoyed the hell out his life -- I certainly enjoyed his Barnabas.

[DAMfan]

Jonathan Frid, original 'Dark Shadows' star, dies at 87

Just a few weeks before his most famous character was to be reborn, the original Barnabas Collins from Dark Shadows has died.

Jonathan Frid, the Canadian actor who brought the suave bloodsucker to life on the 1966-71 gothic soap opera, passed away from natural causes on April 13 in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, according to MPI Home Video, which releases the Dark Shadows DVDs.

Dark Shadows inspired a generation of boys — Tim Burton and Johnny Depp among them — to become obsessed with a show originally aimed at their mothers. On May 11, Burton and Depp will debut their passion project: a big-screen version of the tale, with Depp taking on the role Frid originated.

Frid’s final screen role was a cameo as a party guest in the upcoming movie. “It’s a sad day,” Burton said in a statement. “I’m glad I had the opportunity to meet Jonathan on the set this past spring. He left an indelible impression. Barnabas lives on!”

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmZ5NWY7H60

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[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX_ilhP1L7A&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8igUD4LaSM&feature=channel&list=UL

[DAMfan]

Dark Shadows TV show was live on tape - all shows were done in one take so the bloopers live on.

Dark Shadows Bloopers #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UeZtYriyFk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

[DRW50]

I love this more than I can say.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTU4FVUBX3Y

[danfling]

Actress Elizabeth Eis, who played three roles on Dark Shadows, died earlier this year.

[DRW50]

That's sad to hear She was Buffie Harrington, who was a big part of 1970 parallel time when most of the actors were away filming House of Dark Shadows. She was the first character to have a TV set. She was a waitress at their version of the Blue Whale. She was tough, had a great voice; even when Barnabas eventually bit her, she still had some personality. I hated that she just vanished.

[DRW50]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tcK4O3i9YE

[edgeofnight]

The following appeared in our local Gannett newspaper, The Journal News:

Dark Shadows,” the 1960s American Gothic soap op­era that filmed some exte­rior shots at the Lynd­hurst castle-like mansion in Tarrytown, returned to the Hudson River setting this weekend for a major fan event. “I have loved the show — forever,” said Cody La-Vada, 20, who came from Gloversville, N.Y., with friend Amanda Young, 21. The two met actress Lara Parker and deemed this introduction a highlight of their weekend here. Park­er, like many of the actors in the supernatural vam­pire event, played numer­ous roles including Ange­lique, Cassandra Collins and Alexis Stokes. “We love her and her characters,” added Young, showing the auto­graph she got on a bro­chure.

The two-day Dark Shadow Festival is spon­sored by Dan Curtis Pro­ductions of Maplewood, N.J. The event was held in a tented area and the sta­ble complex at Lyndhurst, a historic home that was the backdrop for the tele­vision show and two movies, “House of Dark Shadows and “Night of Dark Shadows.” Some festival attend­ees also toured the nearby Sleepy Hollow Cemetery, where other scenes were filmed. Unguided tours of the historic mansion’s in­terior were also available. Lyndhurst, part of the privately-operated Na­tional Trust for Historic Preservation, is known as one of the region’s best ex­amples of Gothic Revival architecture.

Once the home of in­dustrialist Jay Gould, it offers majestic views of the Hudson and draws thousands of visitors an­nually for house and gar­den tours. It also is avail­able for rent for weddings and special events, such as this festival.

Christine Mortell Pla­zas, manager of event planning and sales for the National Trust, was pleased that it drew hun­dreds to Lyndhurst.

“It is wonderful that so many people from differ­ent geographic areas are here and some for the first time,” she said not­ing more than 700 festival tickets had been sold. Actress Marie Wallace, who portrayed Eve, “Cra­zy” Jenny Collins and Megan Todd, said meeting the fans is very exciting.

“I’ve met doctors, law­yers, truck drivers, kids, teens, everyone. And we are all having a good time together. It is not a set group, but more like a whole family,” said the ac­tress, who also published a memoir “On Stage and in Shadows” in 2005. The weekend was ded­icated to Jonathan Frid, who played, Barnabas Collins, the ghoulish star vampire, who died April 14 at the age of 87.

Denise Quimby first watched Dark Shadows on television as a young girl. She and her husband Tom, also a fan, came from Canterbury, N.H., where they run A&B Typesetting and Publish­er.

“It brings your child­hood back,” she said.

[DRW50]

Thanks so much for sharing this with us. Great to see more Lara Parker fans.

[dragonflies]

TVShowsOnDVD.com ‏@TVShowsOnDVD

Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day: "Dark Shadows: Complete Original Series L.E." - $279.99 (53% off); TODAY ONLY! (fixed)

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B007PZ6SYK/tvshowsondvdtwitter-20

[danfling]

Conrad Bain, who appeared on the first episode on Dark Shadows, has recently died.

[Soaplovers]

What I found most interesting about the pre-Barnabas episodes was how different Maggie Evans was in comparison to after Barnabas came on the show. Not only was she blonde, she also had a completely different personality as well. While I think she looked a lot better with longer dark hair, I don't think I liked the drastic change in her personality.

Looking at these early episodes, it is almost like viewing a different character. She started out as a sarcastic, in your face character and evolved into a trembling victim that was afraid of her own shadow. In fact, Maggie and Victoria eventually became identical characters. While this came in handy once Victoria left the show, I noticed that the change happened long before Victoria left the show.

I often wonder if there was a reason for the change in her character. Was it something that the writers' always planned on happening, or did they look at KLS and see that she wasn't up to playing Maggie as originally written?

[Quent]

While I loved Kathryn Leigh Scott, I feel her version of the main victim/heroine was not as good as Alexandra Moltke. It has nothing to do with acting (I actually think KLS is a much better actress). AM just had that vulnerable quality that the camera just loved.