Jonathan Frid | |
|---|---|
 Publicity photo of Frid onDark Shadows, c. 1968 | |
| Born | John Herbert Frid (1924-12-02)December 2, 1924 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | April 14, 2012(2012-04-14) (aged 87) Hamilton, Ontario, Canada |
| Education | McMaster University (BA) Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (PGDip) Yale University (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1946–2012 |
| Known for | Barnabas Collins |
| Television | Dark Shadows |
Jonathan Frid (December 2, 1924 – April 14, 2012)[1] was a Canadian actor, best known for his role asvampireBarnabas Collins on thegothic television soap operaDark Shadows.[2] The introduction in 1967 of Frid's reluctant, guilt-ridden vampire caused the floundering daytime drama to soar to 20 million daily viewers.[3] His watershed portrayal has been cited as a key influence on contemporary genre film and television series such asTwilight,True Blood andThe Vampire Diaries.[4][5]
Frid was born of Scottish[6] and English ancestry inHamilton, Ontario, Canada. His birth name wasJohn Herbert Frid.[2] He was the youngest son of Isabel Flora (née McGregor) and Herbert Percival "H.P." Frid, a construction executive.[1][7]
As a boy Frid had a natural shyness and struggled academically due todyslexia, which was not properly understood at that time.[8] His passion for acting began at the age of 16 when he appeared in a production of Sheridan'sThe Rivals at Hillfield School.[9] The following year he joined the local community theatre, The Players' Guild of Hamilton.[10] The theatre's leading director, American actress Gladys Gillan recognized and encouraged the young man's talent.[11]
Frid's first years of study atMcMaster University in Hamilton were interrupted when in 1944 he enlisted in theRoyal Canadian Navy duringWorld War II, and served on the destroyerHMCS Algonquin (R17).[12] When the war ended, he returned to McMaster to complete his bachelor's degree.[13][14] During the second half of his tenure he was President of the Drama Club, received accolades for his performances inThe Royal Family andThe Barretts of Wimpole Street,[15][16][17] and graduated in 1948 with the university's Honor Society Award for Drama.[18]
In 1949 Frid was accepted at the prestigiousRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.[19] After two terms, Frid left and became a leading actor in repertory in Cornwall and Kent for two seasons and toured the country in the West End thriller,The Third Visitor.[20][21] Returning to Canada he ventured to Toronto where he became a featured player for three consecutive seasons in the Toronto Shakespeare Festival, produced and directed by Earle Grey.[22][23] He studied voice at theLorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts,[24][25] and in 1952 appeared inCrime of Passion at the Jupiter Theatre founded by Greene.[26] He applied his training to radio spots[27] and a few appearances on television for theCanadian Broadcasting Corporation,[19] including an unusual role as a native in20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.[28]
In the Fall of 1954 Frid became a graduate student at theYale School of Drama in New Haven, Connecticut. He would earn hisMaster of Fine Arts (MFA) in Directing,[19] however as one of the most experienced actors in the school, Frid was continually in demand for acting roles in mainstage and student productions including Caesar inCaesar and Cleopatra, and starring in the premiere ofWilliam Snyder's playA True and Special Friend.[29][28][30]
In the summer of 1955 fresh from completing the first year of his Master's program, Frid was chosen by Director Nikos Psacharopoulos to play a pivotal role in the inaugural season of the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Frid performed leading roles in six of the ten productions includingThe Crucible,Time of the Cuckoo,Light up the Sky, andThe Rainmaker opposite leading ladyCynthia Harris.[31][32]
After receiving high praise in his second year at Yale for his portrayal of Tullus Aufidius in Shakespeare'sCoriolanus, Frid was invited to join theAmerican Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut. For two consecutive summer seasons, under the direction ofJohn Houseman, Frid performed with such distinguished actors as Alfred Drake, Earle Hyman, Fritz Weaver, Sada Thompson, and Katharine Hepburn.[33][34][35]
After earning his MFA in 1957, Frid joined Hepburn and other members of the American Shakespeare Festival on a national tour ofMuch Ado About Nothing.[36] When the tour concluded Frid moved to New York City, where he made his off-Broadway debut inThe Golem directed byRobert Kalfin.[37] In 1961 he began using the stage name Jonathan Frid, first seen in the program forThe Moon in The Yellow River.[38] He continued to appear in many off-Broadway productions and in regional theatres across the United States.[39][40] Among them were Front Street Theater in Memphis; Pittsburgh Playhouse; and theOld Globe Theatre in San Diego.[41][42][43] His most celebrated Shakespearean performance was the title role of Richard III at the 1965 Summer Festival of Professional Theatre at Pennsylvania State University.[44][45]
Frid made hisBroadway debut as an understudy, and appeared, in the 1964 playRoar Like a Dove, directed by Cyril Ritchard and starringBetsy Palmer.[46][47][48][49][50]
Frid's United States television appearances began in 1960 with his role as the Earl of Worcester in Shakespeare'sHenry IV Part I as part of Play of the Week.[51] This was followed by an episode of CBS-TV'sLook Up and Live,The Picture of Dorian Gray,[52] and several episodes as a psychiatrist on the CBS-TV soap operaAs The World Turns.[53][54]
Frid is widely known for the role of vampire Barnabas Collins in the originalgothic serialDark Shadows, which ran from 1966 to 1971.
In early March 1967 Frid was arriving at his Manhattan apartment following the completion of a National Tour ofHostile Witness withRay Milland when he received the phone call from his agent that would change his life: a request to audition for a 13-week role as a vampire. Although planning to move to the West Coast to pursue a teaching position at a Southern California university, Frid appeased his agent by auditioning for the role that, if he got the part, would help finance his move west. He won the role of Barnabas Collins, a vampire released from a chained coffin after 175 years, on the gothic daytime serialDark Shadows.[55][56] Before taping began the producers asked the actor and the writers, includingRon Sproat, a fellow Yale alumnus, to discuss the character's development. Collaborating with the writers, Frid explained that when he played villains he invested them with an emotional life.[57][58][59] The result was a new interpretation of a vampire: a monster depending upon blood to survive yet fighting to regain his humanity.[60] Frid's compelling portrayal of the sympathetic vampire was so popular with audiences that his short-term contract stretched into four years and Frid scrapped his plans to move to the West Coast.[61][62]
Frid appeared onThe Merv Griffin Show,[63]The Mike Douglas Show,The Dick Cavett Show, andThe Tonight Show, and was even a special mystery guest onWhat's My Line?[64] The iconic image of Frid as Barnabas Collins adorned comic books, paperback gothic novels, bubble gum cards and even a board game, complete with coffin. Screaming teenagers thronged to his personal appearances like he was one of the Beatles.[65][66]
The Dark Shadows ABC Studios in Manhattan became inundated with fan mail for Frid, at its peak reaching upwards of 5,000 letters per week.[67]
In 1970Dark Shadows became the first soap opera to be converted into a feature-length movie. Frid made his American feature film debut portraying his famous television character in MGM'sHouse of Dark Shadows. While the movie script kept the same characters as the TV series, it was a bloodier, more violent story.[68]
During the run ofDark Shadows, and particularly with the release ofHouse of Dark Shadows, Frid was made aware of speculation he could be typecast.[69] Both during and immediately afterDark Shadows, he worked to broaden his acting identity with theatre roles very different from television's Barnabas Collins. In 1969 he took a four-week hiatus from the show to star in the Frederick Knott playDial M for Murder at the legendaryThe Little Theatre on the Square in Sullivan, Illinois.[70]
With the announcement of the cancellation ofDark Shadows in March 1971, Frid returned to performing on stage with the role of Thomas Becket in the Off-Broadway playMurder in the Cathedral, followed by Harry Roat inWait Until Dark at the Windmill Dinner Theaters in Fort Worth and Houston.[71] In 1973, Frid performed a supporting role in the TV movieThe Devil's Daughter starringShelley Winters, and in 1974 starred inOliver Stone's directorial debut,Seizure.[72]
Frid found the role of Barnabas Collins to have many facets with a demanding range of emotions to play. Even so, the heavily promoted image of Barnabas baring his fangs left industry people, who may never have seen the show, with only a caricature of what he actually played.[73] Frid became very conflicted about the commercial career his talent agency was offering. He did not want to become the modern-day version ofBela Lugosi, so he stepped away.[74][75] For a few years he travelled, lived in Mexico for a while, and enjoyed quiet time out of the spotlight of fame.[76]
Returning to New York, Frid began his journey back to the boards.[10] In 1977 he accepted an invitation from Penn State College to appear in the role of Tony Cavendish in the comedyThe Royal Family for their Professional Summer Series Festival.[77] This was followed by his participation in stage readings of new plays.[78] Enjoying the low-key, independent nature of this work, he searched for other outlets and discovered one from a very unexpected source.[28]
Dark Shadows, which featured an undead character, was a show that refused to die.[79] It was being shown in various markets around the country and internationally - the first soap opera ever to have been syndicated.[80] Committed fans of the series were working to keep the show 'alive' through fan conventions and special events.[81] Frid overcame his reluctance and appeared in 1982 at an event called Shadowcon VI in Los Angeles.[82][83]
In addition to question-and-answer sessions Frid read poems and prose, and received an enthusiastic response from the fans. For a new fan event dubbed the Dark Shadows Festival, he created a special program entitledGenesis of Evil: Part I was cuttings from classic plays Frid had performed in his career; and Part II was poems and prose fans had written about Barnabas over the years.[84][85][86]
In 1985 Frid was invited to do a fundraising television special by the New Jersey Network during which he performed Edgar Allan Poe'sThe Tell-Tale Heart and a soliloquy fromRichard III.[87][76] Following the broadcast Jonathan met his business partnerMary O'Leary. Together they formed the theatrical production company Clunes Associates to develop a one-man show, inspired byGenesis of Evil.[88]Jonathan Frid's Fools & Fiends had its debut at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island in October 1986.[89]
Two months later, Frid succeeded Abe Vigoda, also a Dark Shadows alumnus, as Jonathan Brewster in the highly successful 1986–87 Broadway revival ofArsenic and Old Lace,[90] Frid toured the country for almost a year with co-starsJean Stapleton,Marion Ross,Larry Storch andGary Sandy.[91] After completing the tour ofArsenic and Old Lace, he completely focused on his one-man showJonathan Frid's Fools & Fiends, eventually creating two more shows:Jonathan Frid's Fridiculousness andJonathan Frid's Shakespearean Odyssey. Discovering that Reader's Theater was his favorite form of acting, he toured for the next eight years performing at numerous colleges, universities, libraries, performing arts centers and private events across the United States and some locations in Canada.[92][93] While on campuses, he also conducted acting workshops with students and seminars on Shakespeare with educators, fulfilling his deep-rooted desire to teach.[94]
In 1993 Frid welcomed an invitation from Georgia College and State University to directThe Lion in Winter. While Frid had been directing himself for years in his one-man shows, this was first time he would be directing a company of players since his days at Yale more than a quarter of a century earlier. He selected his formerDark Shadows colleagueMarie Wallace to portray Eleanor of Aquitaine.[95]
At the age of seventy, Frid moved back to Canada, where he bought his first house in Ancaster, Ontario.[1] He was a regular visitor at theRoyal Botanical Gardens (Ontario), became a member of the Richard III Society of Canada,[96] and in 1997 was the Narrator in a production ofPeter and the Wolf at the Central Presbyterian Church of Hamilton.[97] From 1998 to 2002 under the banner of Charity Associates he occasionally performed his one-man shows for charities in Canada and the United States.[98] In 2000, he starred as Father Tim Farley in the two-character playMass Appeal, which enjoyed a successful, limited run in Hamilton and at the Stirling Festival Theatre inStirling, Ontario.[99][100]
In 2007 Frid returned, after more than a decade, to the Dark Shadows Festivals to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his first appearance as Barnabas Collins.[101] Subsequently, he attended the annual festival for the next four years.[102] In 2010 he returned to the role of Barnabas for the first time in thirty-nine years in Big Finish Productions'Dark Shadows audio dramaThe Night Whispers.[103]
Along with formerDark Shadows castmatesLara Parker,David Selby, andKathryn Leigh Scott, he spent three days atPinewood Studios in June 2011 filming acameo appearance as a guest in the "happening" scene for the 2012Tim BurtonDark Shadows film,[104] which became his final film appearance. The film's starJohnny Depp told the Los Angeles Times “Jonathan Frid was the reason I used to run home to watch Dark Shadows. His elegance and grace was an inspiration then and will continue to remain one. When I had the honor to finally meet him…he was elegant and magical as I had always imagined.”[105][106]
At his 1998 induction as a McMaster University Alumni Honoree, Frid said he wanted to be remembered for "creating illusion through body language and the spoken word".[107]
Frid died atJuravinski Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, of pneumonia[1] and complications after a fall.[2] While some sources at the time variously reported the date of his death as April 13[105][108] or April 14,[2][109][110] Frid's relative, David Howitt, confirmed that Frid died in the early hours of April 14, 2012. Howitt added that whileFriday the 13th "makes for good press...it's good to get it right".[1]
Throughout his life Frid had always made himself available to support charities.[111] He donated the bulk of his estate to the Hamilton Community Foundation, co-founded by his father H.P. Frid in 1954.[102][112]
A biographical filmDark Shadows and Beyond – The Jonathan Frid Story was released in October 2021 by MPI Media Group.[113][114] Film critic Dann Gire of the Daily Herald-Chicago wrote, "Dark Shadows and Beyond – The Jonathan Frid Story is directed with economy and panache by Mary O'Leary...Her biography of the popular actor evolves into a love letter for the performing arts, exemplified by a man whose devotion to his craft became the driving force in his life".[115]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | House of Dark Shadows | Barnabas Collins | |
| 1973 | The Devil's Daughter | Mr. Howard | |
| 1974 | Seizure | Edmund Blackstone | |
| 2012 | Dark Shadows | Guest #1 | (final film role) |
Jonathan Frid, a Shakespearean actor who found unexpected — and by his own account unwanted — celebrity as the vampire Barnabas Collins on the sanguinary soap opera 'Dark Shadows', died last Saturday, April 14, in Hamilton, Ontario. He was 87. ...
Twenty million people saw the show at its peak in 1969...It had a huge pop culture impact.
One of the most significant portrayals of a vampire in history: Jonathan Frid as Barnabas Collins…he played what was the first sympathetic, angst-driven vampire, paving the way for the likes of Lestatt, Angel, Nick Night, and Edward Cullin, among many others.
The documentary mentions a detail which hadn't been publicly mentioned before, that Frid struggled with dyslexia and found learning lines at the rate necessary stressful.
But it wasn't until he was 16 and in prep school that Frid made any attempt to take up the stage. He landed the part of Sir Anthony Absolute in his school's production ofThe Rivals...
Gillan was one of Frid's major influences...Gillan also helped him prepare for an audition at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts...
Frid...was president of the Dramatic Society at Hamilton's McMaster University (among other roles Father Barrett inThe Barretts of Wimpole Street).
The most significant event of M.D.S. history took place...with the presentation of...The Royal Family...John Frid delighted the audience with his performance..."
Outstanding was the performance of John Frid in the role of Edward-Mouton Barrett.
In the early '50s he was a member of the Earle Grey Players, a Toronto semi-professional theatre company...at Trinity College in the summertime...
Hamilton's John Frid will be appearing in the Jupiter Theatre production ofCrime of Passion...
He also appeared with the American Shakespeare Festival...with the late great John Houseman directing him in a production ofMuch Ado About Nothing with Katharine Hepburn.
Frid toured with Hepburn inMuch Ado About Nothing.
He moved to New York in 1957 and appeared inThe Golem
Darrell Blake... Jonathan Frid
He has done a lot of work Off-Broadway and in U.S. regional theatre; a few seasons ago he was in the Broadway production ofRoar Like a Dove with Charlie Ruggles and Betsy Palmer.
...the Canadian-born actor is returning to a scene of personal triumph, as he remembered the glowing notices he received in a production of Shakespeare'sRichard III at University Park in the early 1960's.
He played in Roar Like a Dove on Broadway...
On Broadway he appeared with Betsy Palmer in Roar Like a Dove.
Frid had played a small role as a psychiatrist in the daytime soap operaAs the World Turns...
...split his time between...TV (shows likeLook Up and Live andAs the World Turns)...
Needless to say, Frid never made it to the teaching job.
When Barnabas the Vampire (Actor Jonathan Frid) goes on personal appearance tours, he is apt to pull 25,000 people at a time.
Frid continues to receive some 5,000 cards and letter a week from his fans.
After the show folded in 1971, Frid played roles in Texas theaters and the part of Beckett in T.S. Elliot's "Murder in the Cathedral," in New York. He also appeared in..."The Devil's Daughter" ...with Shelley Winters, and "Seizure..."
The show evolved from the Shadowcon conventions, where Frid, tired of answering the same questions...asked if he might do some readings. Excited with the response, he put together a show.
Frid said he began by performing readings from Shakespeare and other plays as well as pieces written by fans...
Frid currently has three shows on the go - Jonathan Frid's Fools and Fiends...Jonathan Frid's Fridiculousness...and Jonathan Frid's Shakespearean Odyssey...
Frid's readers theatre pieces, which he has been taking around the country since 1988...
...he is...combining his love for teaching and acting in a series of reader's theater programs...
Marie Wallace will play the role of...Eleanor in 'The Lion in Winter', and Jonathan Frid will direct.
...Sundays at Three series concerts (which included...'Peter and the Wolf' played and narrated by Jonathan Frid...
Theatre Aquarius presents eight performances ofMass Appeal starring Jonathan Frid and Dean Hollin.Theatre Aquarius is in Hamilton, Ontario.
... died Saturday [April 14] ... a family representative toldNewsday.
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