And the audience loved it. And no sooner did I get back, they called me and said they had another part, would I like to play it? Notes OLeary, Jonathan definitely still had energy. Dark Shadows News Page: David Henesy Checks In. He was born David Thomas Henesy in New Jersey, as one of three children. Some of these happen so quickly it's hard to notice. He also played Andre DuPres in the 1795 storyline. I believe that in this life, if you are around people who are incredibly compatible, and every single day everything works so smoothly, and everything goes like a miracle, and everything is a miracle ah, there must be something special about what you're doing. Episode 937: The Predator. I bet your analysis is correct OP. Said Parker: "Josette represented goodness. I tried to watch the episodes a few years ago, but found it agonizing how slow the story lines moved along. Sorry to hear that as it's then that the series gets campier, with a bit of a true 60s vibe. I didn't have to carry the load that Barnabas or a couple of the other people had to carry. I had only just got to Barnabus's debut when bastard Amazon U.K. pulled the show from Prime and made it a cost-option. I'm doing a tour of classic soaps on Youtube (everything from Santa Barbara to Guiding Light to Knots Landing to The Colbys) but haven't got around to watching Dark Shadows yet. Watched the whole thing. Wallace, too, had a theory on the show's enduring appeal. It was constantly fascinating and surprising to me what I was called upon to do. Today's Netflix . I think lots of the best bits are on youtube. She did away with Frids concerns by pointing out that once they had the tour schedule, they could schedule engagements on the road. "Even though at the time, we didn't think it was very innocent.". If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation. ", But Selby doesn't question the appeal of "Dark Shadows. Clutching a Bible and pointing the finger of guilt, witchhunter Rev. Dr. Julia Hoffman, one of the great woman scientists of all time. Will I see it as high camp now? Are you at a later point in the series? As Carolyn, Barrett got to wear groovy hair and fashions. And speaking of the stars on DS, Laura the Phoenix was played by a "known" B-actress named Diana Millay. ", R93 - when I first saw him on Cagney & Lacey I blurted out "Oh my God, it's Willie Loomis!". I'm watching the entire series for the first time, and I'm up to Tom Jennings' vampiric turn (God he was hot). Roger Davis, who played a string of heroes on the show, has the distinction of being involved in one of the scant few bloopers that was so bad, it had to be reshot. In early 1966, Frid, at that point a resident of New York City, had plans to move to California to become a teacher. The show was at it's peak when it went back into the past the first two times . I watched a few episodes when the revival came out in the early 90's - i was interested in the source material. "It was about three months before the character ever spoke," said Selby. Keith Prentice, who was also in "The Boys in the Band". Cleverly, they brought the show to variousDark Shadowsconventions, which turned out to be a great way to work out the kinks, though there the presentations would include Barnabas-related material, which would ultimately be removed from the show when performed elsewhere. He played Humphrey Bogart in one of the Woody Allen films I think - Jerry Lacey. There is some really entertaining acting (prissy Louis Edmonds as Roger Collins is priceless, and Joan Bennett as his dignified sister Elizabeth Stoddard is very appealing in her role, plus there are various attractive male actors and some pretty good kid actors). I think most of them were done for the Museum of Television. Actor: Dark Shadows. I thought Victoria was a more interesting character than Barnabas and I liked her relationship with Elizabeth. I thought Lara Parker had the greatest presence on the showwhen she was onscreen , your eyes always just stayed on her, even if she wasn't the focus of the scene. I really wish they wouldn't have dropped Victoria's story, because it was somewhat compelling. Diana Millay had such a unique way of speaking (not sure if it was an affectation for the character or just her) that I found her mesmerizing. No matter how you blow your lines you just keep going! I just remember the actress being bricked behind a wall. But I suppose they must've figured no one would ever see the episodes again anyway so it didn't matter. He was riding his bike down Crown Street, when all of a sudden, a tall blonde man jumped out from . If this hasn't already been stated there is a Dark Shadows channel (DS 24/7) on Pluto TV. David Collins (HODS). Not only the impact that the character had on the show, but the impact that the character had on the pop culture and all of horror storytelling going forward., When Jonathan joined the show, he continues, nobody could actually tell him how to play a vampire. So when the end came, I was fully prepared for it. He would only do it over if it looked really bad. I was almost teary-eyed when Quentin confronted Edward about Quentin's children. ', I found it on YouTube as "Dark Shadows: Original Series from 1966 to 1971". "Just as Jonathan (Frid), with his Barnabas thing he must have gotten sick of seeing himself.". Revival Series. Especially that his son had died. That was how we did it. It's really hard to find pics of actor James Hall from that era, but he didn't age bad either. How did the cast and crew learn that the phoenix storyline resonated with viewers? I agree that her mystery was compelling as was the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Paul Stoddard (it was obvious Elizabeth killed him, but not why). I think I did another play. He retired, and moved back to Mississippi and never acted again; died at just 62. I also love the late 60s/early 70s clothes the women wore, especially when they went to color. Initially, he did return to the Broadway stage in 1971 in Murder in the Cathedral and Wait Until Dark. Look! I thought it was genius to name the vampire Barnabas. It does have commercials but not a lot of them and they don't cut into scenes. (Edmonds died in 2001.). David Henesy makes his first ever Dark Shadows related appearance and they all share some interesting stories. R50, I agree. Dawidziak points out that the actor actually did know one thing: He knew how it was going to end, which was with a big piece of lumber sticking out of his chest, because they were going to kill him off. ", As Laura Collins, a reincarnated "phoenix" who returned to life every 100 years, Diana Millay played the first-ever supernatural character on "Dark Shadows.". "We could do that, because she wore Jungle Gardenia (brand) perfume, which is extremely intense. What's missing, R88, is the sense of cliffhanger tension; tradeoff is that watching it now the camp shows through! Few likely consider them blood-thirsty predators who look upon us as nothing more than cattle, which is the way it used to be until the arrival, in 1967, of a perfect storm: actor Jonathan Frid, vampire Barnabas Collins and Dark Shadows, the daytime horror soap opera. One of my favorites to date. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 4/4/2023), Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your Privacy Choices and Rights (updated 1/26/2023). Why did James Hall leave Dark Shadows? It's just old-fashioned storytelling.". You see, the arm inside the box (a prop for a scene) was my arm. Become a contributor - post when you want with no ads. Back then, on the weekends, I would make personal appearances, Frid recalled in an exclusive interview prior to his death. I pay enough for streaming as it is! So he did, among them one written by Stephen King,and even incorporated elements of comedy, which he brought to additional conventions and colleges. They've fixed it. Look! Jonathan Frid was a compelling vampire, but David Selby was sex on a stick. When "Dark Shadows" introduced its version of the Frankenstein monster, Adam, a mate soon followed. But while he was away, the mice played.". I watch two episodes per night. I agree that David Hennessy was a good actor. A lesbian lady dresses as Quentin ( complete with glued on astro turff sideburns) Scolded my ignorance by telling me Louis had once been called back for some pick up dialog dressed only from the waist up. The show's demise is likely attributed to an unfortunate combination of several factors. I think they were just flying by the seat of their pants and the movie crew didnt know what to do with them. I have no interest in that at all. Otherwise it will start at episode 210 (Barnabas's first appearance). At one point, my friend mentioned seeing our hosts photograph on a display at Blockbuster, at which point I inquired for what. "I won't say that we thought we were going to be some legend in our own time, but we felt it, yes," the actress said. So if you want to watch from the beginning you have to type in "the beginning.". I agreed and we biked over to the Village. I was kind of like a dark Santa Claus, he suggested with a laugh. It was hanging off my arm! Diana Millay was compelling to watch. "When that was over I think Quentin killed me on that one some time passed. "Oh, no!" In the first year of the pandemic, I watched the whole series straight through. But I get it, I think the show saw it's highest ratings during that story. He was just going to be like every other vampire predator a threat that had to be eliminated. The whole series was available on Amazon Prime for awhile recently, and I started rewatching it from the first episode. ", Friendly neighborhood vampire: 'Dark Shadows' is the latest movie to de-fang its monster. The end wasnt really a great shock, because the writing on the wall was always there for me, he shared. I'd done a half-dozen Broadway plays and all that kind of stuff. ), but would come to include victims of the humankind. The flip side was "At The Blue Whale" (the waterfront bar in Collinsport) What a little Queen I was. Carolyn was not as interesting to me as, say, Millicent, who had ringlets, which I never in my life had and always wanted. I'd never heard it before Dark Shadows was on. David began his Dark Shadows career at the age of nine debuting in the fourth episode of the series and remaining throughout the duration of the program. The role was originated by Alexandra Moltke on the ABC series from 1966 to 1968. I asked my pal if he had a medical condition or was senile and had just forgotten his pants or pissed them. My journey is beginning. His roles varied, ranging from The Rivals Sir Anthony the Absolute to Father Barrett of The Barretts of Wimpole Street, Dr. Sloper in The Heiress and Richard III among many Shakespeare parts. I dont think Jonathan Frid managed to get through a single episode without flubbing a line. People often complain about it being "too slow" and I've never understood that. I liked your decription as "atmospheric" ! however, i'd be willing to re-watch now that i'm "older.". He looks 40. Then I got the call for Megan Todd.". Everybody was laughing about how often Jonathan Frid would forget his lines. As an actor, the first thing you want to know is, How am I supposed to play this? Well, how do you tell somebody how to play someone whos been locked in a coffin since the 1790s? "The clothes were kind of fun, but even more than that, I liked the 'period' stuff," Barrett said (referring to flashback characters she played such as Millicent Collins in 1795). . He has to kill her, of course, but the great touch is that she actually dies of fright while he has his hand around her throat instead of him strangling her or draining her blood. R84 I bought it too! Daniel Collins (PT) (983-1028) I would laugh every time one of the characters would say how terrifying that dream was. Then I was getting promoted at work and he was getting close to 70, and he said, I think Im going to retire back to Canada. So for the first time ever he bought a house up there and embraced the fact hed always loved gardening., OLeary, whose friendship with Frid lasted until the end of his life, adopted a child and moved to Los Angeles, while he enjoyed a retirement that still allowed him to perform his show in Canada, which is where his last stage role took place in the form of 2000s Mass Appeal. I was forewarned that this would happen, and it did. I don't remember much about the film or the light meal he'd prepared , but I do remember the thirty minute or so conversation about everything but DS, with him asking if I could see about getting his one man show into the town I lived as I knew someone who worked at the Performing Arts Center. Work got sloppy, the writing got sloppy, the discipline got bad and the show burned itself out.. 19 comments 7 shares. The fun begins when Barnabas arrives. He was just going to be like every other vampire predator a threat that had to be eliminated. !, Let Me In!, Let me OUT!!". More importantly, can I change? David became a restaurateur, serving New York-style food at his restaurant, La Posta, in Panama City, Panama. As such, she was supposed to be reborn approximately every 100 years and consumed by fire as an adult every 100 years, but she actually had many lives on the Dark Shadows timeline. The lie came easily to her tongue. Victoria "Vicki" Winters is a fictional character from the television Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and its remakes of the same name. Skip over the one you're up to, and see if the next one is free. It's like the knowing woman and the innocent woman together.". As a child actor on the show, he played several key roles, and was there for the cult serial's . He was born David Thomas Henesy in New Jersey, as one of three children. I never really got into it in elementary school, which was where I was when it came out. It hadnt occurred to me to be a professional until then and a friend of mine was definitely coming to New York after the war to become a professional actor, he recalled. Willie Loomis makes my skin crawl. If I did make a career out of it, I would have to become an honorary member of every occult society in the country and get into vampirism. She was purity. What was really bad was the lie.. The ones with A. Moltke (V. Winters) stand out, along with one with Joan Bennett, and ones with Lara Parker. Entertainment is hard work statistically speaking, its almost impossible to make anything thats not forgotten by the end of the week. He had just returned from a vacation, Florida I think, to his apartment in NYC and as he was about to leave, his phone rang and it was his agent, offering him the Dark Shadows role, so he decided to delay his plan to take a job teaching on the West Coast, and save up some money working on a soap for a few weeks, which turned into years. I do know that later on Laura returns to do battle with Angelique, which should be interesting. Every time the show went up another notch, I figured it was peaking and that it would start to go down. I do the exact opposite of what that asshole recomnends. And with how Barnabas is now, I guess hes just older and a little more tired like me.. Too bad they didn't write her out for the duration of her pregnancy and then bring her back. It's like they found the fountain of youth. Together they operate a . "You know, the show was already going very strong when I joined the cast. Things did reach a point where the network (ABC) was getting ready to cut it off, giving Curtis just six months to turn things around. My family objected to the whole idea of it. Not that that was going to stop him. Campy, with supernatural elements. At the end they used to just point the camera at an empty set and run the credits. I did it for the money and for the ego trip sure, I enjoyed it, but who wouldnt? It's a good thing "Dark Shadows" creator Dan Curtis wasn't in New York when the role of gentleman vampire Barnabas Collins was cast. I remember seeing the re-runs on scifi - where Barnabus just walks through a mirror and everyone is completely different - same actors playing different roles. What they came up with was a concept that would put Frid who always had a tough time memorizing lines on the road armed with a music stand, stool and written material from which he would read/perform. (I mean the original movie from 1970.). Roger often wondered if the boy was really Burke Devlin . In real life, Ford was married to Nancy Barrett for two years during the run of Dark Shadows. Do You Remember The Barnabas Collins Dark Shadows Board Game? The shows ratings skyrocketed, the writers introduced a wide variety of other supernatural beings to torment the Collins family, vast amounts of merchandise were inspired by the show and there were two feature films, House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971). He was alerted about an audition for a soap opera, which would provide him with some extra money to go to the West Coast with. I thought Reverend Trask was the one bricked behind a wall - he was sexy! I think Dan Curtis, the shows producer, had other interests. . 1: 'Dark Sahdows' started its ABC run as a Gothic -- no ghosts, no werewolves, no vampires. 1971. And then the other side, which is the pure side, the virginal side. The first 250 episodes go extremely slowly, so you are advised to start when Barnabas arrives and the show transforms from a gothic soap into a monster mash. The characters purposely lead themselves into trouble and then whine about it. Louis had a place on Long Island where they had some wild parties back in the day way back. So, yes, Trask positively believed that he was doing the right thing.". As OLeary told him, Its your voice and all your facial expressions that bring all these characters from the page to life for the audience.. David Henesy has since walked off the show, and refuses to return until Mark Allen is off the show. He left acting behind and opened successful restaurants in New York and Cartagena, Colombia. And a little girl said, 'Mommy! Astredo may be a straight actor, but he did the part with extra ping! Hello. Yes indeed, we too use "cookies." If you missed a line, you were out of luck.". Of course I was only 10 yo. It seemed like one brick per episode. It seemed random to me. Along the way, I followed a great website called Dark Shadows Every Day by a creative genius named Danny Horn. Don't forget -- the "Willie Loomis" actor, John Karlen, played Mary Beth Lacey's husband in "Cagney and Lacey. our privacy/terms or if you just want to see the damn All told, though, things were pretty quiet. Apparently the show was shot live on tape. I was nervous and under a great strain. He resides in Panama City, Panama, His youngest son, Diego . It's funny how Louis Edmonds was so flaming in real life, but always played the most straight-laced conservative characters. ", "To this day, it's a world that you can escape to," he says. Grid has a masters in directing from an Ivy League university. It never occured to me to ask for an autograph for my brother. That was something the actor playing Barnabas had to remember all the time. [quote] John Karlen who played Willie Loomis was in his mid 30's when he started on the show. Star-Ledger staff writer Mark Voger, who has been pursuing cast interviews since 1990. "My eyes were my gift," said Lara Parker, who played Angelique. Because of the pandemic, she had to give her paper virtually. I watched about 6 or 7 episodes and became bored with it. It was essentially a Gothic novel brought to life, involving a woman (Alexandra Moltkes Victoria Winters) who comes to Collinwood to work as a governess for young David Collins (David Henesy) while trying to uncover secrets of her own past. Dark Shadows and Edge of Night were two of gayest sets in NYC in the 60s and 70s and that is saying a lot. David Henesy (born October 20, 1955) played David Collins, the young Daniel Collins, Jamison Collins, Daniel Collins (PT), and Tad Collins in the original Dark Shadows. I watched the movie for the first time a couple of years ago and enjoyed it. Nevertheless, she was perfectly lit for the camera. R91, Bennett was in some terrific noirs, including The Woman in the Window, Scarlet Street, and the underrated Hollow Triumph. This one, Don Briscoe. There was an instance on a weekend when I was in a tent and there was a mob of people mothers and children waiting to come up and see me.