DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '06 II => Topic started by: Phil on October 31, 2006, 05:16:14 PM
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I read somewhere that Bert Convy tried out for the role before Frid got it. Does anyone know of other noteworthy performers who auditioned for the part?
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I read somewhere that Bert Convy tried out for the role before Frid got it.
Indeed, apparently Bert was DC's choice and whose picture he sent back to Bob Costello from Europe as the one he wanted hired for Barnabas. Costello said, "Screw that, I like Frid" and hired Jonathan. When Jonathan was there to tape his first ep it was DC's first day back in the studio and when he saw JF he apparently said, "Who's that ass*&%#?!" to which Costello replied, "Barnabas. That's whose picture you sent back" which DC hotly denied, but there you have it. Lucky for us that Costello was so insubordinant! [hall2_grin]
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I thought I heard somehwere Frid was NOT the choice but that his picture was chosen by mistake. I guess they might have went with him when he showed up. hee , hee , if true
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That's one of the stories mentioned in the Companion. On one of the DVDs, DC changes the story to say he picked a "guy in a cape" and it was a wide shot of Frid on a stage. I wonder who else tried out for Barnabas, though...
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Bit of trivial...
Jonathan Frid is in fact one of several actors to have played Barnabas.
Ben Cross in the 1991 revival, plus Alec Newman for the 2004 pilot. On top of that there was the actor (whose name I don't recall) who appeared in the Off Broadway play Dark Shadows in the late 1980s as well as the actor in the new CD audio stories.
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On top of that there was the actor (whose name I don't recall) who appeared in the Off Broadway play Dark Shadows in the late 1980s
That would have been Julian Stone. [hall2_smiley]
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On one of the DVDs, DC changes the story to say he picked a "guy in a cape" and it was a wide shot of Frid on a stage.
Yeah, well, DC took a lot of credit that wasn't due him, including making Barnabas 'sympathetic' when we all know it was Jonathan who decided to do that on his own--to play the guilt-ridden guy w/a 'hang-up'! [hall2_rolleyes]
Hats off again to Costello for disobeying DC and Jonathan for doing his own interpretation of the B-man! [hall2_grin]
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Oh my gosh, Bert Convy as Barnabas?!!! [hall2_shocked] Oy!!! [hall2_shocked]
Thank goodness THAT didn't come to pass.... [hall2_rolleyes]
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Hats off again to Costello for disobeying DC and Jonathan for doing his own interpretation of the B-man! [hall2_grin]
Perfect examples of reasons to question authority!!! Never seems to work out all that well for me but - for some self-destructive reason - the spirit persists! [hall_wink]
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Do we know if that story about DC picking a different actor is definitely true though? Or is it a rumor?
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Oh my gosh, Bert Convy as Barnabas?!!! [hall2_shocked] Oy!!! [hall2_shocked]
http://www.perrymasontvseries.com/convy.htm
Maybe....
http://www.palisadeschamber.com/Pics/Bert_Convey.gif
Page source (http://www.palisadeschamber.com/Pages/Honorary%20Mayors.htm)
Not so much...
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Yeah, well, DC took a lot of credit that wasn't due him, including making Barnabas 'sympathetic' when we all know it was Jonathan who decided to do that on his own--to play the guilt-ridden guy w/a 'hang-up'! [hall2_rolleyes]
Hats off again to Costello for disobeying DC and Jonathan for doing his own interpretation of the B-man! [hall2_grin]
Is that really true? I had no idea, I just thought what DC said on the DVDs about being sent a picture of Jonathan Frid in a cape, and him being chosen was true.
And was it really Jonathan Fridd, not DC who decided to make Barnabas a sympathetic vampire?
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Do we know if that story about DC picking a different actor is definitely true though? Or is it a rumor?
Bob Costello has consistently repeated the same details of the story many times. And he was producing DS at the time, so it would certainly appear that he should know. And as for DC, he'd changed stories so often over the years that it's almost impossible to keep track of what he says - and we're not just talking about his memories of DS. [hall2_undecided]
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And was it really Jonathan Fridd, not DC who decided to make Barnabas a sympathetic vampire?
Frid and the writers had discussed the progression of Barn's character when DC wasn't even around. DC wanted Barn to be all-out evil. Yeah, like that would have been sustainable. [hall2_rolleyes] But then, DC only envisioned Barn as a 13-week character who'd get killed off. But thanks to Frid and the writers, things didn't work out that way at all. [hall2_wink]
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Bert Convy was considered for the role. They brought in several unknown actors to read for the role. Ron Sproat, one of the writers, saw Frid's headshot was sent in, knew Frid's stage work from when they attended Yale together, and was anxious to see him. Producer Bob Costello was impressed with Frid when he saw him and decided that was their guy. This was originally a rather small part, remember - just a 13 week shot in the arm. Dan Curtis was away in Europe at that time and back then there was not a quick and easy way for Curtis to be kept up to date with daily auditions at least insofar as seeing photos of actors who were auditioning. So his involvement had to be miminal just by understanding the circumstances of distance where casting Barnabas was concerned.
Frid has has consistently said in interviews and fests that he was called into a writers conference to ask him how he would like to see Barnabas developed and apparently he and the writers were of one mind on that subject. I imagine that situation only happened because Ron Sproat was already familiar with how Frid worked on his characters. Bob Costello has made it clear from his interviews and fest appearance that Curtis had nothing to do with the casting of Frid as Barnabas. or the development of the character.
It's been said that Curtis "made" Frid's career but really when you think about it, who made whose career? Frid didn't pursue TV work after DS. Curtis had become a name because of the success of the series.
Nancy
I read somewhere that Bert Convy tried out for the role before Frid got it. Does anyone know of other noteworthy performers who auditioned for the part?
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Don't forget that with the different Barnabi in different versions, we almost had another. Originally, MGM wanted to cast HoDS not with the folk from TV-land, but with "well known" performers in the parts. Imagine them picking Zero Mostel to play Eliot Stokes. Or Jennifer Jones doing Elizabeth. How about Robert Redford being Barnabas?
Gerard
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Don't forget that with the different Barnabi in different versions, we almost had another. Originally, MGM wanted to cast HoDS not with the folk from TV-land, but with "well known" performers in the parts. Imagine them picking Zero Mostel to play Eliot Stokes. Or Jennifer Jones doing Elizabeth. How about Robert Redford being Barnabas?
My Fair Barnabas?
Incidentally, the plural of Barnabas should be Barnabases, not Barnabii, just as the plural of alias is aliases.
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That's one of the stories mentioned in the Companion. On one of the DVDs, DC changes the story to say he picked a "guy in a cape" and it was a wide shot of Frid on a stage. I wonder who else tried out for Barnabas, though...
Sounds a little haywire. Agents submit clients with a headshot, not wide shots of actors on a stage. The story certainly had some interesting variations, didn't it?
Nancy
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It's been said that Curtis "made" Frid's career but really when you think about it, who made whose career? Frid didn't pursue TV work after DS. Curtis had become a name because of the success of the series.
That's for sure . If it hadn't been for Frid's unique approach to the character which made what followed possible, I seriously doubt we would be online talking about 40+ years later. As I mentioned the other day concerning that documentary about the history of vampires - when they started to discuss how the perception of the vampire has evolved over time, they mentioned Dark Shadows and the character of Barnabas Collins in particular as being a pivotal point - one in which the vampire was starting to be portrayed as having more than a one faceted personality. So, Frid's interpretation was important in an even bigger way than turning things around for the show. I don't care who has done the role since or will do it in the future - Jonathon Frid will always be the "real" Barnabas Collins. [hall2_cheesy]
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The story certainly had some interesting variations, didn't it?
If one wants to call them interesting. [hall2_wink] I call them screwy. [hall2_grin]
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Perfect examples of reasons to question authority!!! Never seems to work out all that well for me but - for some self-destructive reason - the spirit persists! [hall_wink]
Keep it up! I can't carry it all on my shoulders!
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It's been said that Curtis "made" Frid's career but really when you think about it, who made whose career? Frid didn't pursue TV work after DS. Curtis had become a name because of the success of the series.
That's for sure . If it hadn't been for Frid's unique approach to the character which made what followed possible, I seriously doubt we would be online talking about 40+ years later. As I mentioned the other day concerning that documentary about the history of vampires - when they started to discuss how the perception of the vampire has evolved over time, they mentioned Dark Shadows and the character of Barnabas Collins in particular as being a pivotal point - one in which the vampire was starting to be portrayed as having more than a one faceted personality. So, Frid's interpretation was important in an even bigger way than turning things around for the show. I don't care who has done the role since or will do it in the future - Jonathon Frid will always be the "real" Barnabas Collins. [hall2_cheesy]
Amen! Whenever I think of Barnabas, I think of Jonathan, not Ben Cross (who played Barnabas in the 1991 revival and was just okay), not Alec Newman (I didn't see the 2004 pilot so I can't really judge his performance). Jonathan Frid is indeed the one true Barnabas Collins.