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Barnabas Collins is a 175-year-old vampire from the town of Collinsport,
Maine. Having bridged the centuries, he has been both an adversary and an ally
to his extended family members over the course of several generations. Barnabas
Collins was born the son of Joshua and Naomi Collins at some point in the
latter half of the 18th century. As a young man, he became active in the family
business and developed close ties with his uncle, Jeremiah Collins. Other
members of Barnabas immediate family included his aunt, Abigail, his beloved
sister, Sarah, and his cousins, Millicent and Daniel Collins. In the mid 1790s,
Barnabas traveled to the island of Martinique where he met Josette DuPres. The
two instantly fell in love and began a passionate romance with each other.
During their courtship however, Barnabas had an affair with Josette's
maidservant, Angelique Bouchard. Angelique fell obsessively in love with
Barnabas, but Barnabas spurned her affection an act that would have disastrous
consequences in Barnabas' future. Barnabas asked Josette to marry him and the
two arranged for the wedding to take place at the family estate known as
Collinwood (In the future, this version of Collinwood will come to be known as
the Old House). Barnabas returned to Collinsport to inform his family while
Josette briefly returned to her home in France to collect her belongings (and
her family). Within a few days time, Josette and her family, the countess
Natalie DuPres and her brother Andre DuPres arrived at Collinwood. Josette,
brought her servant, Angelique with her, unaware of the woman's indiscretions
with her betrothed. Angelique pleaded with Barnabas to abandon Josette and
marry her instead, but Barnabas was adamant and completely dismissed Angelique.
Enraged by his behavior, Angelique used her magic to choke Barnabas Collins,
forcing him to fall gravely ill. When this failed to force Barnabas to abandon
Josette, Angelique used her power to make Josette fall in love with Jeremiah
Collins. She used the same magic on Jeremiah and before long, Josette abandoned
Barnabas to marry his uncle instead. Barnabas was furious and challenged
Jeremiah to a duel. Angelique secretly supplied Barnabas with a good luck charm
that protected him, and Barnabas dealt Jeremiah a fatal wound. After the death
of Jeremiah, Angelique forced Barnabas into marrying her. Joshua nearly
disowned Barnabas over this, but his mother, Naomi, wanted nothing more than
for Barnabas to be happy, and gave him the estate as a wedding gift. On their
wedding night, Barnabas learned of Angelique's true nature. He discovered that
she was the secret cause of so much misery at Collinwood. Barnabas tried to
kill Angelique, but she miraculously survived. Fearing for Josette's safety,
Barnabas met with her and pleaded with her to leave Collinsport. He gave her a
handcrafted music box and told her that he would meet her in Boston in a few
days. Angelique learned of this and tried to prevent Barnabas from returning to
his lover. Barnabas shot Angelique in the chest, killing her. With her final
breaths, Angelique placed a curse upon Barnabas. A large bat flew into the
parlor of Collinwood and bit him upon the throat. Within days, Barnabas Collins
died and rose from the grave as a vampire. Joshua Collins decided to keep his
son's death a secret, so he buried him in the secret room of the family
mausoleum, fabricating the story that Barnabas had gone to England. Angelique
tried to prevent his rising as a vampire by driving a wooden stake through his
heart. She was too late, and he strangled her. One of the first to discover
Barnabas' secret was his little sister, Sarah. One evening, Sarah ran out into
the cold, evening rain in search of Barnabas. The following day, she developed
severe pneumonia and died soon after. The death of Sarah Collins tormented
Barnabas gravely. Barnabas tried to hide the knowledge of his resurrection from
his love, Josette, out of fear of the vampiric lust for blood overtaking him,
but he eventually succumbed to his inhuman nature and bit Josette, drinking
some of her blood. Josette became her vampire lover's thrall, and agreed to
share his undead state. But before the lovers could be reunited, Angelique
caused Josette to have a horrifying vision of herself as a blood-sucking ghoul.
Josette could not live under the shadow of such terror, and so threw herself
from the top of Widows' Hill onto the rocks below. This single act represented
the greatest tragedy in Barnabas Collins' life. By 1796, Barnabas had
continued to plague the town of Collinsport, feeding indiscriminately off of
various women. Several people, including his own mother and father, learned
about Barnabas resurrection and his true nature. Joshua Collins was horrified
to see what had become of his son. However, he did not have the strength to end
Barnabas life even when Barnabas begged him to do so. At Barnabas' request,
Joshua kept him secured in the tower room at the newly constructed Collinwood.
However, his cousin, Millicent Collins and mother, Naomi both discovered
Barnabas great secret a discovery that would lead to the insanity of one and
the suicide of the other. Once again, Barnabas pleaded with Joshua to end his
life. Instead of killing him, Joshua had the loyal servant, Ben Stokes seal
Barnabas within his coffin inside a secret antechamber in the Collins family
mausoleum at Eagle Hill Cemetery. Joshua, Ben and Barnabas were the only ones
still alive who were even aware of the existence of this hidden room. He
secured the coffin with thick chains so that Barnabas would remain trapped for
all time. ? ? In 1967, a man named Willie Loomis broke into the Collins
mausoleum in search of the fabled family jewels. He discovered the secret
antechamber in the rear of the crypt and released the chains binding Barnabas
to his coffin. Barnabas rose from his coffin and attacked Willie, turning him
into his personal slave. Barnabas donned modern clothing and introduced himself
to the current family living at Collinwood. He claimed to be a descendent of
the original Barnabas Collins who moved to England to sire a European branch of
the family in the late 1700s. Although everyone at Collinwood were astonished
by the similarities between he and the likeness of his ancestor, no one felt
that Barnabas was anything other than what he claimed to be a distant cousin.
With the permission of the head of Collinwood, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard,
Barnabas moved into the Old House. He revealed that Willie Loomis was now
working for him as his personal handyman and assigned him the overwhelming task
of returning the Old House to its former glory. Barnabas proved himself to be
a man of contradictions many times. Although capable of great kindness and
foresight, he could also be vindictive and sufficiently passionate to commit
severe blunders for purely emotional reasons. His most complex emotional
relationships were with Julia Hoffman and Angelique Collins. With both he was
at various times a bitter enemy and a devoted friend. Julia proved over time to
be his greatest single ally. Yet although he was willing to go to extraordinary
lengths on Julia's behalf, and clearly viewed her as his dearest friend (the
order to kill her broke the hold the Leviathans had over his mind for example),
he never seemed to reciprocate her romantic feelings for him. Indeed, he
finally came to love Angelique after she lifted the curse from him and gave
herself up to save Quentin Collins (1840). There are several items of note that
have always been very important to Barnabas Collins. Some of his prized
possessions that he has owned or coveted over the years include: Gold and
silver handled, wolf's-head cane, Black signet ring, Portrait of Josette,
Josette's music box, Portrait of Barnabas, Portrait of Barnabas II. ? ? John
Herbert Frid was born in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, on December 2, 1924, the
youngest of three sons who were born to Herbert and Flora Frid. Herbert owned
the Frid Construction Company, and Flora had been a nurse. The quiet young Frid
began acting, as many do, in a high school production. Soon he joined the
Hamilton Players, where he won an award for Best Actor. During World War II,
Frid served in the Canadian Navy. He was on a ship heading for Japan when the
war-ending bomb was dropped. After the war, he studied drama at McMaster
University, graduating in 1948. A year later, he was accepted at the Royal
Acdemy of Dramatic Arts in London. Two years later, he was working in repertory
companies in Canada. He then enrolled in the Yale School of Drama to study
directing and lighting. He earned his Masters of Fine Arts in Directing in
1957. ? ? ? ? Jonathan Frid has worked in some of America's greatest regional
theaters, including the Williamstown Theater Festival, the Old Globe Theater in
San Diego, and the American Shakespearean Festival, and has played a wide
variety of roles. In the beginning, his intentions had been to get a lot of
acting experience in order to become a great drama professor. In 1967, he
returned home to New York after a long national tour, planning to move to
California and find a teaching position. But his agent called him to go on an
audition for an ABC soap opera called Dark Shadows. The job would be for just a
few weeks. Interested in the extra money for his move to California, he decided
to go on the audition. Frid won the role of vampire Barnabas Collins. The
ratings, which had been near the cancellation point, shot up overnight, and
Jonthan Frid became a household name and a national phenonomon. And the "few
weeks of work" turned into four years. During the Dark Shadows period, Frid
continued doing stage work, starring in Dial M For Murder and Wait Until Dark.
He also starred in movies, House of Dark Shadows and Oliver Stone's Seizure. He
co-starred with Shelley Winters in the TV movie, The Devil's Daughter. ? ? ? ?
? ? ? When Dark Shadows went off the air in 1971, he decided to take a break
and travel throughout Mexico and Canada for a few years. He also worked for
awhile at Penn State University. In 1978, Frid moved back to new York and began
experimenting with readings, seminars and theatre workshops. By 1985, he had
the idea of creating a professional one-man show to tour colleges and regional
theatres. In 1986, he founded Clunes Associates, developing three one-man shows
-- Foods and Fiends, Fridiculousness and Shakespearan Odyssey. He toured with
these shows across the nation, making hundreds of appearances over the next
eight years. In December 1986, Frid appeared in the role of Jonathan Brewster
in the stage production of Arsenic and Old Lace, touring with Jean Stapleton,
Marion Ross, Gary Sandy and Larry Storch for the next year and a half. He used
his nightsoff to do his one-man shows at local universities and colleges. After
40 years in New York City, Jonathan Frid returned to his native Canada in 1994,
purchasing his first house and car. He has formed a new company, Charity
Associates, making several appearances each year for charity (mostly in
Canada). Other than that, he is retired from public life, but stays busy with
his new company and his gardening.? ?
Jonathan Frid is joined by Lara Parker & Kathryn Leigh Scott, and again more
recently, Marie Wallace
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