Dark Shadows' Jonathan Frid has died

[Mr. Adventure]

Back when Buffy was still in production I had hoped he would do a cameo appearance.

That would've been pretty nifty.

 

[Klaus]

I used to run home in 2nd and 3rd grade to watch it after school, though it'd scare me so much sometimes I'd flip back and forth to another channel to lessen the fear.

 

[Daneel]

While Dark Shadows was a bit before my time, its importance to pop culture in the 60s and 70s is quite obvious -- and it seems Mr. Frid made quite an impression too. May he rest in peace.

And hey, he and I share the same hometown... neat.

 

[23skidoo]

I just found out a bit of trivia I didn't know. Anyone picking up that 1200-epsiode box set is actually in for a long wait before Barnabas turns up in the series - 210 episodes to be exact! Apparently he was the Seven of Nine for Dark Shadows - a hail Mary character dropped into the show in a last-ditch attempt to prevent cancellation (as Seven was for Voyager). Obviously it worked as it kept the show going for about 1000 episodes!

Alex

 

[Jan]

Dark Shadows was one of only three Capital-F fandoms in my life.

Just out of curiousity, what were the other 2?

The original Star Trek and Babylon 5. But Dark Shadows was first and I had all the trading cards and the Barnabas ring and the music box and all the novels and most especially the music LP.

Jan

 

[RJDiogenes]

(my mother forbid me to watch it, but Uncle Mike would let me watch at his place)..

Hah! It was my Aunt Margaret who hooked me on the show!

Thank goodness for aunts and uncles.

 

[Dream]

Johnny Depp speaks about Jonathan Frid

In a statement Thursday, Johnny Depp, who stars as Collins in the movie, said: "Jonathan Frid was the reason I used to run home from school to watch Dark Shadows. His elegance and grace was an inspiration then and will continue to remain one forever more. When I had the honor to finally meet him, as he so generously passed the torch of Barnabas to me, he was as elegant and magical as i had always imagined. My deepest condolences to his family and friends. The world has lost a true original."

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20588621,00.html

 

[Jan]

Some loving posts from Jonathan Frid's former co-stars:
From Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie/Josette): http://networkedblogs.com/wC485

From Lara Parker (Angelique): http://laraparkersite.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/jonathan-frid.html

From David Selby (Quentin): http://www.davidselby.com/blog/2012/04/19/a-letter-to-jonathan/

 

[Sindatur]

I never saw it back in the day, but, I was aware of it. I did catch it on SyFy (Might've still been SciFi Channel at the time) for about 8 months or so, so, I did see a few storylines, and Frid was great as Barnabas (Quentin was cool, too, but, Barnabas was THE MAN)

RIP Mr. Frid

 

[23skidoo]

I just found out that Big Finish was able to get Frid to return as Barnabas for one of their Dark Shadows audio dramas in 2010 (more of an audio book than a play, though there are other actors involved). Fans might want to check this out:

http://www.bigfinish.com/news/Jonathan-Frid-RIP
http://www.bigfinish.com/12-Dark-Shadows-The-Night-Whispers-Audiobook

Alex