Barnabas Collins finally rests in peace

Jonathan Frid, a Shakespearian actor from Hamilton, Ontario who spent several years in the middle and late 'Sixties as an unlikely teenage heartthrob in the phenomenal Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, is dead at age 87.

Frid played much put-upon and essentially good-hearted vampire Barnabas Collins in the classic ABC show,  which brought high school kids of my era racing home every weekday afternoon in breathless anticipation of Frid's adventures decades before it became fashionable for romantic vampires to be sexually ambiguous.

The series riffed on every classic horror story in sight during its five-year run at the top of the daytime ratings, from Frankenstein and Dracula to the Cthulhu Mythos to "The Monkey's Paw." It was shot daily on a live-to-tape basis, usually in one take, and its frequent on-screen mishaps and line-blowing which characterized it was part of its charm. Like the early Dr. Who, it was one of those rare shows whose somewhat seedy production values actually made for better entertainment. Who can ever forget that cheesy bat puppet that fluttered at the window whenever Barnabas went visiting?

Frid's vampire- cursed by his wife, a witch called Angelique, and always pining for his tragically lost true love, Josette- was one of the first sympathetic vampires. Always more sinned against than sinning, Barnabas became the show's main character despite the intentions of producer Dan Curtis and the show's writers. The character was just so popular that Barnabas effectively became the show.

Frid's death comes only weeks before the premier of a new movie version of Dark Shadows, starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas. Depp- like yours truly- was a fanatical fan of the TV show.

Ben Cross starred in the role in a brief, unsuccessful attempt to revive the series as a weekly prime-time drama in 1991. Alec Newman was cast in the role in a 2004 version by WB whose pilot was shot, but the series was never picked up. Not even the pilot was ever broadcast, although it appears regularly at Dark Shadows conventions; even after all these years, the original show has retained a cult following.

But Jonathan Frid will always be the real Barnabas Collins, and this is a sad day for this child of the 'Sixties. At least now Barnabas can at last rest in peace.