DARK SHADOWS FORUMS

General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '07 I => Topic started by: dvlvan26 on January 29, 2007, 06:42:19 PM

Title: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: dvlvan26 on January 29, 2007, 06:42:19 PM
Hello to All Cousins!

How diverse was the actors on DS?
and list the heritage of the actors.
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: David on January 29, 2007, 07:40:56 PM
I believe Grayson Hall/Shirley Grossman was a nice Jewish girl.
DS writer Violet Welles was also Jewish.

David
a nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: BuzzH on January 29, 2007, 09:08:56 PM
Hello to All Cousins!

How diverse was the actors on DS?and list the heritage of the actors.

I think Frid's of Scotch ancestory, KLS is of Norwegian (I think) descent, Johnny Karlen is Polish, Dennis Patrick was Irish, we know Alexandra is Danish, I think Louie Edmonds was French, Marie Wallace is Irish.  Don't know about anyone else.  ;)
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: David on January 29, 2007, 09:54:13 PM
And Dan Curtis was Jewish!

David
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: Gothick on January 29, 2007, 11:21:58 PM
As revealed in RJ Jamison's biography "Grayson Hall: a Hard Act to Follow," Grayson was part Rom (Gypsy) as well.

Overall, DS remained a very white show even as time went on and more and more series added African American characters.  I can only think of two black actors on DS, and one of them didn't have any lines.  Sho Onodera had one episode as Mr. Nakamura and again, maybe two lines?

I thought in the 1990 remake it would have added a lively degree of interest had Angelique been cast with a black actress.  (Of course, had a certain storyline been pursued, this would have meant casting David with a biracial actor as well.)

G.
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: Raineypark on January 29, 2007, 11:35:22 PM
If a new version of DS was in the works, the role of Angelique would almost HAVE to be French Caribbean.

A new take on the old Puritan witches would be boring as hell.....
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: David on January 29, 2007, 11:46:13 PM
Jamaican model Iman was seriously considered as Angelique in 1990, which would have made the character's
roots Carribean & buried the Judah Z origins.

I think that would have been perfect.
Anyone who ever saw the films I Walked With a Zombie (1943) or White Zombie (1932) knows how spooky that Island magic can be!

David
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: Bob_the_Bartender on January 29, 2007, 11:56:51 PM
In the role of King Johnny Romano, I'd like to see either Pat Cooper or Mario Cantone.  (I just can't make my mind up, who would be better?) :-
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: MsCriseyde on January 30, 2007, 12:12:12 AM
Jamaican model Iman
Actually, she's Somalian.  :)
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: dom on January 30, 2007, 12:16:42 AM
In the role of King Johnny Romano, I'd like to see either Pat Cooper or Mario Cantone.  (I just can't make my mind up, who would be better?) :-

Holy bleep, can you bleeping imagine bleeping Pat bleepin' Cooper as bleepin' King bleepin' Johnny bleepin' Romano! That would as bleeping funny as bleeping bleep! LOFL!  
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: arashi on January 30, 2007, 12:21:28 AM
If a new version of DS was in the works, the role of Angelique would almost HAVE to be French Caribbean.

A new take on the old Puritan witches would be boring as hell.....

Now that would really be an interesting twist.
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: Bob_the_Bartender on January 30, 2007, 01:09:08 AM
In the role of King Johnny Romano, I'd like to see either Pat Cooper or Mario Cantone.  (I just can't make my mind up, who would be better?) :-

Holy bleep, can you bleeping imagine bleeping Pat bleepin' Cooper as bleepin' King bleepin' Johnny bleepin' Romano! That would as bleeping funny as bleeping bleep! LOFL!

Oh, yeah, Pat would be absolutely great as King Johnny Romano.

I can see it now, Pat/King Johnny kvetching about how no one in the Romano tribe or Collinwood ever gave him a break

(edited by mod.)   
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: Nelson Collins on January 30, 2007, 02:28:21 AM
There was an African American nurse at the Collinsport hospital ..... she even had a few lines!  ;)
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: Nancy on January 30, 2007, 02:47:40 AM
Anybody who has seen JF"s one man shows knows his diversity as an actor is amazing.

FYI, he's Scottish and English two generations removed on both sides.

Nancy
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: Philippe Cordier on January 30, 2007, 03:48:05 AM
KLS is of Norwegian (I think) descent, ... we know Alexandra is Danish

Yes, Kathryn Leigh Scott is a nice Minnesota girl whose parents were born in Norway, and her family name is very Norwegian.

The Von Moltke family is originally German but some of them emigrated to Denmark for military and diplomatic posts in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: bluefielder on May 13, 2008, 12:34:51 AM
Anthony George was Italian.
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: Charles_Ellis on May 13, 2008, 01:35:44 AM
Marie Wallace is German-Irish, which is befitting a gal from Manhattan's Yorkville section.  Louis Edmonds was proud of his Scottish heritage, and I was with him at a visit to Lyndhurst during a DS Festival.  Yes, he wore a kilt!  Michael Stroka was Czech, Thayer David (born David Thayer Hersey) was a Mayflower descandant, Virginia Vestoff was Danish-Russian, Donna Wandrey is Polish like John Karlen.  Humbert Allen Astredo's roots are Italian and English, Donna McKechnie is Scottish by her father and English by her mother.  Since David Selby is from West Virginia, odds are his ancestry is Scots-Irish, which is the background of many people from the Applachian region.  Jonathan is half Scottish thanks to his late mother Flora MacGregor Frid.  The surname of Frid if I can remeber what Jonathan said, has Danish, German and English roots- can someone correct me on this?
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: Mysterious Benefactor on May 13, 2008, 02:40:37 AM
Thayer David (born David Thayer Hersey) was a Mayflower descandant

Isn't everyone?  [ghost_cool]
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: Lydia on May 13, 2008, 08:26:39 AM
Anthony George was Italian.
Suddenly I'm seeing little Anthony George running home for dinner on Prince spaghetti night.  (Did that ad run only in the Boston area?)
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: MagnusTrask on May 14, 2008, 05:28:40 AM
Quote
Humbert Allen Astredo's roots are Italian and English

I always thought he must be Spanish.   I associated him with Dr Who's Roger Delgado in my head somehow as a similar actor with a similar background.
Title: Re: Diversity of The Actors
Post by: bluefielder on June 15, 2008, 02:13:27 AM
The Prince spaghetti ad also ran here in West Virginia.