CLEVELAND, Ohio -- 'Dark Shadows' became a 1960s pop-culture phenomenon with its supernatural storytelling and the innovation of a vampire with a conscience, Barnabas Collins. But there was no vampire on the ABC soap opera when it premiered on June 27, 1966. Indeed, there was nothing supernatural about the show when it debuted.
And although it would have an enormous influence on horror in general and vampire stories in particular, 'Dark Shadows' was on its way to cancellation . . . until the day Shakespearean actor Jonathan Frid showed up as the deeply conflicted Barnabas.
The show's success set off a tremendous merchandising boom and created generations of fans, many of whom are gathered this weekend for the annual Dark Shadows Festival in Tarrytown, New York.
Here are 50 fun facts about the series that set the vampire free to be more than simply a predator, paving the way for Anne Rice's 'Interview With the Vampire,' increasingly humanized portrayals of Dracula, 'Angel,' 'Twilight,' 'True Blood' and 'The Vampire Diaries.'
'Dark Shadows' began its monstrously good run 50 years ago
By Mark Dawidziak, The Plain Dealer
Jonathan Frid as the vampire with a conscience, Barnabas Collins. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
ABC debuts 'Dark Shadows' on June 27, 1966
Fact No. 1: 'Dark Sahdows' started its ABC run as a Gothic -- no ghosts, no werewolves, no vampires. The focus was on Victoria Winters (Alexandra Moltke), who takes a job as governess to a young boy at a gloomy mansion in Collinsport, Maine. Victoria, right, is pictured just after her arrival in town, with waitress Maggie Evans (Kathyrn Leigh Scott). (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
A touch of Hollywood stardom on 'Dark Shadows'
Fact No. 2: The top-billed 'Dark Shadows' star was Joan Bennett, pictured here with co-star Louis Edmonds. Cast as matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, Bennett had co-starred in Hollywood films with the likes of Spencer Tracy, Humphrey Bogart, Cary Grant, Bing Crosby and Edward G. Robinson. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
The man behind 'Dark Shadows'
Fact No. 3: Dan Curtis, then known for producing gold programming at the networks, said the idea for 'Dark Shadows' came to him in a dream. After the soap opera ended its run in 1971, Curtis produced 'The Night Stalker,' which set the ratings record for TV movies. Greater acclaim was ahead as the producer and director of the landmark miniseries 'The Winds of War' and its sequel, 'War and Remembrance.' (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
A vampire to the rescue
Fact No. 4: Facing cancellation, Curtis rolled the dice and took his daughters' suggestion to make the show spooky. He added a ghost, then a phoenix. Then, in April 1967, Barnabas Collins came knocking at the front door of the family mansion, Collinwood. He claimed to be a descendant of the original Barnabas Collins, who supposedly went to England in the 1790s. He was, of course, the original . . . and a vampire. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
How do you play a vampire?
Fact No. 5: Jonathan Frid didn't know how to play a vampire, and nobody could tell him. A trained Shakespearean actor, he decided to play the conflict and unease of a character adjusting to a new century. Pretty soon, the vampire was getting fan mail. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
A three-month contract for Barnabas
Fact No. 6: Jonathan Frid may not have known how to go about playing a vampire, but he did know how long he would be on the show. He had a three-month contract. And he knew how it would end. After 90 days, it would end with a piece of lumber sticking out of his chest. Barnabas would be staked and off the show. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
A dilemma for Dan
Fact No. 7: Soon, the vampire was on his way to becoming the most popular character on the show, and producer Dan Curtis couldn't kill off Barnabas as planned. So the writers started following Jonathan Frid's lead, exploring the conflicts within Barnabas. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
The vampire as Hamlet
Fact No. 8: Barnabas turned into the first vampire to question and battle his own nature, a theme that would become increasingly popular in vampire stories. A vampire with a conscience, he was dubbed 'the reluctant vampire' and 'the vampire as Hamlet.' 'Dark Shadows' was on its way to becoming a sensation, attracting not just soap opera viewers but horror fans, teenagers and young adults. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
'Dark Shadows' jumps to color
Fact No. 9: 'Dark Shadows' was taped and broadcast in black-and-white for the first year of its run. The jump to color was made on Aug. 1, 1967. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
The cast in 1967
Fact No. 10: The 'Dark Shadows' cast was a mix of young players and stage veterans. Posing for a cast shot in 1967 are, left to right: David Henesy, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Sharon Smyth, Anthony George, Robert Gerringer, Nancy Barrett, Dennis Patrick, Alexandra Moltke, John Karlen, Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Clairce Blackburn, Dana Elcar, Louis Edmonds and Joan Bennett. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
Angelique
Fact No. 11: Fan interest in Barnabas inspired questions about how he became a vampire. The answer was Angelique, played by Lara Parker as a witch, then a vampire, then a witch again. She became one of the show's most popular characters. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
Quentin Collins
Fact No. 12: 'Dark Shadows' received yet another boost in popularity with the introduction of Quentin Collins, played by David Selby as a ghost, a zombie, a werewolf and finally in a 'Picture of Dorian Gray' phase. Selby wore fake muttonchop sideburns for his earliest appearances as Quentin, then grew his own. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
'Dark Shadows' cards
Fact No 13: The popularity of 'Dark Shadows' ignited a merchandising boom, with all kinds of products licensed through Dan Curtis Productions. They included two series of trading cards (five to a pack with a stick of gum), the first known as the pink series. These four show Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins, Kathryn Leigh Scott as Maggie Evans, Lara Parker as Angelique and Humbert Allen Astredo as the warlock Nicholas Blair.
More 'Dark Shadows" cards
Fact No. 14: The succcess of the pink cards led to a second series, the green cards, which focused on the 1890s storyline featuring Barnabas (Joanthan Frid) and Quentin (David Selby).
'Dark Shadows' board game
Fact No. 15: From Milton Bradley, it came complete with a complimentary set of vampire fangs.
'Dark Shadows' View-master reels
Fact No. 16: The View-master set included 21 three-dimensional color pictures.
'Dark Shadows' record album
Fact No. 19: The show's music was issued as an LP with recitations by Jonathan Frid and David Selby. The 'Dark Shadows' music was composed by Robert Cobert, who would work on many of Dan Curtis' subsequent productions, including 'Winds of War' and 'War and Remembrance.'
'Dark Shadows' novels
Fact No. 18: There eventually would be 33 'Dark Shadows' novels published under the name of Marilyn Ross. The actual author was Daniel Ross, a prolific writer who used his wife's name for the 'Dark Shadows' books (the publisher believed women would be more inclined to buy the books if they believed the author was a woman).
'Dark Shadows' joke book
Fact No. 19: Yes, the merchandising wave even included a joke book.
'Dark Shadows' comic book
Fact No. 20: Knowing kids were a big part of the 'Dark Shadows' audience, running home from school to catch the afternoon soap opera, Gold Key Comics began publishing a 'Dark Shadows' comic book in 1969.
The Gold Key 'Dark Shadows'
Fact No. 21: There would be 35 'Dark Shadows' comic books published by Gold Key, the last one appearing in 1976, five years after the show ended its ABC run.
'Dark Shadows' comic strip
Fact No. 22: In 1971, a syndicated 'Dark Shadows' comic strip drawn by artist Kenneth Bruce Blad began appearing in newspapers across the country. The daily strip (color on Sundays) only ran for a year, and like the Marilyn Ross novels and the Gold Key comics, it did not follow the show's storylines.
'Dark Shadows' meets Famous Monsters
Fact No. 23: 'Dark Shadows' officially arrived in the horror realm when the reigning monster magazine, Famous Monsters of Filmland, put it on the cover for the October 1968 issue.
Barnabas Collins -- cover boy
Fact No. 24: Seven issues after his first appearance on the cover of Famous Monsters of Filmland, Barnabas Collins was back, this time drawn by legendary horror artist Basil Gogos.
The ring and the cane
Fact No. 25: Cheap and expensive versions of the Barnabas Collins black onyx ring and silver wolf's-head cane have been available since the show first aired.
Incredibly ambiitous for its time
Fact No. 26: Although often remembered for the many on-camera goofs, 'Dark Shadows' was incredibly ambitious for a soap opera of its time, using special effects, fire, complex storylines, extensive makeup and an incredible number of sets (including rooms for two mansions, a cemetery, a crypt and woods). In a given year, 'Dark Shadows' used 100 different sets. The average soap opera used about 30. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
Collinwood was in Rhode Island
Fact No. 27: Although 'Dark Shadows' was set in Maine, the mansion used for exterior shots of Collinwood was Seaview Terrace in Newport, Rhode Island. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
The Old House was in New York
Fact No. 28: The older mansion on the Collins family's estate, the Old House, was supposed to be walking distance from the main house, Collinwood. But the house used for exterior shots of the Old House was in Tarrytown, New York. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
The goofs, flubs and mistakes
Fact No. 29: 'Dark Shadows' was done 'live on tape.' It was taped on 2-inch videotape, an expensive process that meant retakes were done only under the most disastrous conditions. The many mistakes that got through were only noticed when episodes started repeating on PBS stations in the early1980s, then were released on VHS in the late 1980s, then aired on the Sci-Fi Channel in the 1990s, then were released on DVD by MPI Home Video. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
Julian or Julia?
Fact No. 30: A rehearsal shot from 1968 with Jonathan Frid, Grayson Hall, Louis Edmonds and Humbert Allen Astredo. Like Frid's Barnabas, Hall's character, Dr. Julia Hoffman, was destined to die after three months. And she was supposed to be a he. The character was written as Dr. Julian Hoffman, but it was misread by a producer. Julia also became one of the show's most popular characters. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
'House of Dark Shadows'
Fact No. 31: With 'Dark Shadows' a full-fledged phenomenon, producer Dan Curtis took most of his cast to upstate New York to work on a film version, released in 1970 as 'House of Dark Shadows.' It was much darker than the series, playing more like a Hammer horror film.
Same basic story, very different tone
Fact No. 32: Although it used many of the basic story elements from 'Dark Shadows,' 'House of Dark Shadows' was far bloodier and darker than many fans expected. Weather delayed filming and kept many favrorite characters off the show, which was being carried during this time by two stars not in the film: Lara Parker and David Selby. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
Goodbye, Maggie
Fact No. 33: Kathryn Leigh Scott, who had played Maggie Evans in the series and first 'Dark Shadows' film, left the show in September 1970. Already in decline, the supernatural soap opera only had a few more months to run. Scott also had the distinction of playing the first supernatural being on 'Dark Shadows': the ghost of Josette (later revealed to be the true love of Barnabas Collins). (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
Play it again, Jerry
Fact No. 34: Jerry Lacy, pictured here with Joan Bennett and David Henesy, played a few characters on 'Dark Shadows,' including the Rev. Gregory Trask in the 1890s storyline. During the show's run, he played Humphrey Bogart in the original Broadway production of Woody Allen's 'Play It Again, Sam' (a role he repeated in the film). (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
When the fur needed to fly
Fact No. 35: Whenever 'Dark Shadows' needed a werewolf, the fellow under all that fur was stunt coordinator Alex Stevens. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
The importance of being Barnabas
Fact No. 36: Jonathan Frid, shown here with Kathryn Leigh Scott, was in 594 episodes of 'Dark Shadows,' far more than any other series regular. He was well ahead of second-place Grayson Hall (with 475 episodes) and Nancy Barrett (405). And Frid wasn't even on the show for its first eight months. (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
Winding down
Fact No. 37: Time was running out for 'Dark Shadows.' The ratings were down. The series ended its run on April 2, 1971, after 1,225 episodes. Jonathan Frid did not appear in the second film, 'Night of Dark Shadows,' which was released in August 1971. (Photo: Dan Curtis Production)
The show that wouldn't die
Fact No. 38: Although canceled in 1971, 'Dark Shadows,' living up to is vampiric roots, kept coming back. Episodes were released in syndication in the 1970s, then played on PBS stations in the early 1980s. By the end of the 1980s, MPI Home Video started offering the series on VHS and fans had started gathering with the show's stars for annual conventions.
'Dark Shadows' goes prime time
Fact No. 39: After the success of 'Winds of War' and 'War and Remembrance,' Dan Curtis agreed to revive 'Dark Shadows' as a prime-time NBC series. It was given a January 1991 premiere date. This promotional card was sent out in November 1990 to intrigue critics.
A new Barnabas
Fact No. 40: British actor Ben Cross ('Chariots of Fire') was cast as the new Barnabas Collins. His co-stars included Lysette Anthony, Joanna Going, Jean Simmons, Roy Thinnes, Barbara Steele and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. (Photo: NBC)
Interest in 'Dark Shadows,' new and old
Fact No. 41: 1991 began with fan interest running high in both the old and new versions of 'Dark Shadows.'
Never Cross a vampire?
Fact No. 42: Although the 1991 revival was stylish and atmospheric, it premiered just when the Gulf War broke out. It never recovered from the lack of attention in those first few weeks and it was canceled after just 12 episodes. (Photo: NBC)
You can't keep a good vampire down
Fact No. 43: Despite the cancellation of the NBC revival, the original show continued to win new fans as it ran twice a day on the Sci-Fi Channel and then started appearing on DVD, with loads of extras, thanks to MPI Home Video.
The stars and the fans
Fact No. 44: After 'Dark Shadows,' several of its stars appeared in prime-time shows, including David Selby on 'Falcon Crest,' Kate Jackson on 'Charlie's Angels,' Roger Davis on 'Alias Smith and Jones' and John Karlen winning an Emmy as Harvey Lacey on 'Cagney & Lacey.' Kathryn Leigh Scott, pictured, continued acting and started Pomegranate Press, publishing many books about 'Dark Shadows.' (Photo: Dan Curtis Productions)
Keeping the show alive
Fact No. 45: With the show airing on cable and new fans joining the fold, Kathryn Leigh Scott regularly published books about all aspects of 'Dark Shadows.' The 'Almanac' was published in 1995, in anticipation of the 30th anniversary. (Photo: Pomegranate Press)
Barnabas bobblehead
Fact No. 46: Continued interest in 'Dark Shadows' has inspired new merchandising, including a series of bobblehead dolls.
Johnny Depp steps into the 'Shadows'
Fact No. 47: In 2004, the WB ordered a pilot episode for a prime-time 'Dark Shadows' series starring Alec Newman as Barnabas. It didn't go to series, but, in 2012, Johnny Depp played Barnabas in film directed by Tim Burton. (Photo: Warner Bros.)
Old meets new
Fact No. 48: Four of the original show's stars (left to right, Lara Parker, Jonathan Frid, David Selby and Kathryn Leigh Scott) made a joint cameo appearance in the 2012 film with Depp. Fried, 87, died in April 2012. (Photo: Warner Bros.)
Depp 'Shadows'
Fact No. 49: Going the comedic route, to the surprise of many fans, the 2012 film opened to mixed reviews and a disappointing box office. (Photo: Warner Bros.)
Celebrating 50 years of Barnabas and 'Dark Shadows'
Fact No. 50: The 50th anniversary 'Dark Shadows' Festival (June 24-26 in Tarrytown, New York) finds the latest Pomegranate book on the series and the fans gathering with 15 of the show's surviving stars: David Selby, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Lara Parker, John Karlen, Nancy Barrett, Marie Wallace, Roger Davis, Jerry Lacy, Mitchell Ryan, Kathleen Cody, Donna McKechnie, Sharon Smyth, James Storm, Christopher Pennock and Donna Wandrey.
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