Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, star of the original Dark Shadows, has died at the age of 87. He passed away Friday in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario.
Frid was best known as the benign vampire Barnabas Collins on ABC’s gothic soap opera from 1967-71 and in the 1970 movie House Of Dark Shadows.
Jonathan Frid also has a cameo in Warner Bros’ upcoming Dark Shadows reboot, directed by the great Tim Burton, as an older version of Barnabas.
He meets up with the younger version of himself, played by Johnny Depp.
While Frid wasn’t in Dark Shadows during its 1966 debut, his elegantly fiendish Barnabas quickly became the star when he joined several months later.
After the series ended, Frid returned to theater, performing Edgar Allen Poe, William Shakespeare and a long run on Broadway in Arsenic And Old Lace.
A Yale graduate, he appeared in several films including Oliver Stone’s 1974 directorial debut Seizure. He attended fan conventions well into old age.
You can see him in Dark Shadows with Depp on May 11.