Above, Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins.Tomorrow will mark 40 years since the daytime ABC-TV spook-opera, Dark Shadows aired its last first-run episode.
It was on April 2, 1971 that the Dan Curtis production ended its run. It has since been revived in re-runs, VHS and DVD sets, a 1991 revival with Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins (the Gulf War killed the show's chance for success) and currently, a theatrical motion picture starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas is in production.
The show also lives on in annual fan conventions.
Left, Jonathan Frid at the 1984 Dark Shadows Festival. Photo by Armand Vaquer.
Canadian Jonathan Frid originated the Barnabas role. Barnabas, a guilt-ridden vampire, was originally supposed to hover around a few weeks. But he became so popular that he became the star of the show. Frid eventually shared star billing with Joan Bennett, who played matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard.
I remember it was a week or so before that ABC-TV aired ads announcing that the game show, Password with Alan Ludden was returning, but in Dark Shadows' time slot.
Thousands of fans bombarded ABC with protest letters (including mine). But it was to no avail. The show simply ran out of gas and the actors were, by then, ready to move on.
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