A behind-the-scenes shot of Jonathan Frid as vampire Barnabas Collins from ‘Dark Shadows.’ (courtesy Dan Curtis Productions)įrid would graduate from Hamilton’s McMaster University in 1948, enrolling the next year at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. My family objected to the whole idea of it.” Not that that was going to stop him. So 1940 was my first inclination and 1945 I figured that if my friend could do it, I could do it. The first play I was in at prep school, where I astounded myself, my family and my friends, was when I was a ‘budding actor’ in 1938 or 1940.

“The fact that I had a friend who was going to be an actor gave me the same incentive to be a professional actor. “It hadn’t 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.

Enter Jonathan Frid Actor Jonathan Frid plays vampire Barnabas Collins on ‘Dark Shadows.’ (courtesy Dan Curtis Productions)īorn John Herbert Frid on Decemin Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, he served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, which is where the idea of acting first came to him. On the surface, he seemed like this charming gentleman who had lived his life in England, but beneath that, there was indeed the need for blood, which was initially quenched by cows(!), but would come to include victims of the humankind. The idea was that this vampire - Barnabas Collins - would be inadvertently freed from his chained coffin and pass himself off as a distant relative of the family. Deciding he had nothing left to lose, he figured he’d go for broke and threw a vampire into the mix. 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. The real mystery is how Dark Shadows managed to survive on the air for more than a couple of months given its anemic ratings. RELATED: Do You Remember The Barnabas Collins ‘Dark Shadows’ Board Game? It Was Pretty Disgusting!

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