DARK SHADOWS FORUMS
General Discussions => Current Talk Archive => Current Talk '24 I => Current Talk '18 => Topic started by: Gothick on March 26, 2018, 05:48:16 PM
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Dear fans,
Last night, I watched a couple of episodes of Strange Paradise written by Ron Sproat in 1970 after he had left DS. I think the one I saw last night may have been the last script he wrote for Paradise--it was a well written script but had a huge continuity gaffe, I think because the show had no script editor (which was, I believe, also a problem on DS).
Anyhow I looked at Sproat's Wikipedia entry hoping to see which soap he went on to write for after he finished up at Paradise. A foolish place to check, as there was no attempt to provide any detailed chronology for his career. Though they did mention Love of Life, which also became a home for Paradise veteran Tudi Wiggins (an excellent actress nobody really remembers any longer). We are told (footnoting an article by Ann Wilson in one of the PomPress books) that Ron left DS in January of 1969. In another source, he stated that he departed due to conflicts with boss Dan Curtis.
The big surprise in the entry provided for the online encyclopaedia was the bald statement that Sproat "created the vampire character Barnabas Collins."
I am trying to remember now just HOW MANY of the writers--or other personnel--at DS have claimed, or been said, to have created Barnabas. I remember in one of the books Bob Costello said he came up with that name, but so did Art Wallace in an interview somewhere. A year or two ago we had articles posted here where Malcolm Marmorstein said he did the work of actually creating the personality of Barnabas, eternally craving to be reunited with his lost Josette (a character who originally had a completely different backstory on the show).
I wonder if Joe Caldwell (who may have been the best writer of them all until Violet Welles stepped onboard) has claimed to have created Barnabas somewhere??
Regardless of who did the work, I think only Dan Curtis actually made any real money off the character.
cheers, G.
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Danny Horn quotes from a Ron Sproat interview here where Ron focuses more on his conflict with Sam Hall. But if you read through it, the conflict emerged because of Dan's insistence on more thrills being piled on throughout each episode.
https://darkshadowseveryday.com/2015/03/09/episode-601/
Ron doesn't say anything here about having created Barnabas--it would be interesting to know where he made that claim.
G.
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I think the claim may also be in the DS Tribute book. If that is the case, it may have been made back in the '80s as part of an interview done for the DS Files books (as the Tribute book was put together from material that appeared in the Files books). But it's been so long that I've looked at them that I don't honestly remember if Sproat did an interview for the Files books...
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Well, if I'd bothered to read the article before replying, I would have seen that Sproat did indeed do an interview with Ed Gross. But at least that probably does tell us that the interview is likely to be in one of the Files books...
(And I remember Tudi Wiggins quite well. [snow_wink])
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I also remember reading that Sproat made the claim about creating Barnabas at some of the early Fests (and Fest precursors) that took place in the early '80s. My first Fest wasn't until '89 so I have no personal knowledge of what was said prior to that, but perhaps someone here who did attend them will have personal knowledge of Sproat's appearances...
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I was at the 1983 Festival in Newark where Ron Sproat made his first appearance. I think this is before every single moment of festival activity was videotaped so I am going on memory here. I don't recall him taking credit for the creation of Barnabas, though he might have. It's been a long time. I do recall him saying that he tried to anchor the show in some small level of reality by including little character bits here and there. For example, Roger still made references to the cannery. It was at this festival where he stated that his idea for future story was to reveal that Vicki was Elizabeth's daughter. When Alexandra left so abruptly, there was no point in pursuing that angle. And Sproat wasn't around much longer either.
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I recorded the Ron Sproat session and just uploaded it to an online archive. I don't recall what Ron has to say about the creation of Barnabas. I've not listened to it in a long time, but you can download it at the link below.
https://archive.org/search.php?query=Ron%20Sproat
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Thanks, Doctor and K9!
G.
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Interesting to learn that Alexandra Moltke's husband had to arrive at the studio with a court order, in order for Alex to be released from her work on the show. I'd always wondered if she'd just left one day and telephoned to tell the front office she wasn't coming back.
Ron does say here that it was a conflict with Dan that led to his own departure from the writing staff.
This is a fascinating tape. Thank you again, Doctor and K-9, for sharing it!
G.
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Interesting to learn that Alexandra Moltke's husband had to arrive at the studio with a court order, in order for Alex to be released from her work on the show.
That doesn't surprise me in the least - you know DC.
I'd always wondered if she'd just left one day and telephoned to tell the front office she wasn't coming back.
Chances are that if it had happened nowadays it would be all over the soap and maybe even the normal press. It would certainly be in the trades like Variety and on TV shows like Entertainment Tonight and Extra. But back then details were kept more under wraps - not one article that dealt with her departure (and there were many) mentions a court order or even hints at legal issues.
Ron does say here that it was a conflict with Dan that led to his own departure from the writing staff.
No surprise there either.
This is a fascinating tape. Thank you again, Doctor and K-9, for sharing it!
I downloaded it yesterday but I haven't had the opportunity to listen yet. But like you, I'm sure I'll find it fascinating. Thanks for for sharing it, Doctor and K-9. [snow_smiley] Chances are few people are even aware of all of what Sproat had to say back then, which makes the recording a real gem in fandom. [snow_wink]
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Cool, MB. Perhaps you will uncover some nuggets I missed.
I advise turning the volume up as high as it will go, and listening using actual headphones, not earbuds. It's a very low level recording.
There's actually one point where a fan asks about the abandoned Betty Hanscombe storyline and Ron just says the story was changed. Remarkable given that in 1983, nobody had seen those episodes since 1966.
G.
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Ron also mentions that Joel Crothers got sick of playing Joe Haskell and begged to be allowed to play a villain. Interesting because that's what Alexandra wanted to do, as well. Ron also said that everyone liked John Karlen so much that after Willie was written out of the story, they put it on their list of things to do to find a way to get Karlen back.
For those who get to the very end of the tape, there's a surprise. That's all I will say for now. (It doesn't involve Grayson, though--I wouldn't be able to get such a momentous event under my hat!)
G.
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There's actually one point where a fan asks about the abandoned Betty Hanscombe storyline and Ron just says the story was changed. Remarkable given that in 1983, nobody had seen those episodes since 1966.
If memory serves that fan was Geoffrey Hammel who co-wrote a one-shot fanzine about the Pre-Barnabas era. It was not nearly as detailed as the concordances, but it was edited and produced by Kathy Resch. Geoff later edited a fanzine called The Eagle Hill Sentinel that ran about 6 issues.
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I posted another audio. This one is from Manhattan Shadows 1, which was held the Saturday before the 1st Newark Festival. This star panel has Joel Crothers and Addison Powell joining Jonathan Frid who was pretty much the emcee of that convention. The quality is horrible. You'll find better quality video excerpts on YouTube, but I believe this is the only recording of the entire panel. Later I'll post the tech panel from that same event.
https://archive.org/details/ManhattanShadows1FridCrothersPowell
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The Manhattan Shadows Technical Panel should be up momentarily. The quality on that one is better because the participants were using their mikes more consistently.
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Thanks for sharing these, Doctor and K-9! I am just listening to Ron's talk again, with better headphones, so I can hear more.
He confirms twice that Vicki was intended to be revealed as Elizabeth's illegitimate daughter. So, this genuinely does seem to have been part of the original plan for the show.
He also says that he knew Jonathan Frid as a friend before the latter ever started on the show (he calls him "John," which was apparently how Frid was known to his friends), and they discussed the character of Barnabas when Frid was cast. Dan really wanted Barnabas to be "pure evil," but all the writers argued that that would not be sustainable in a serial format. Frid suggested writing it so that he had opportunities to SUGGEST evil through expression and delivery, and Ron gives credit to him for that suggestion.
Ron mentions running into Dan after hoDS came out and Dan told him, "I FINALLY got to do Barnabas the way I wanted in the movie!"
This is fascinating to hear because Ron Sproat offers so much more nuance and detail than I'm used to hearing from people who were interviewed subsequently about the show. Perhaps because in 1983, it was relatively recent, and Ron mentions having watched some of the old episodes when they were being syndicated out again.
G.
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I also posted a message Dan Ross recorded for the 1st DS Festival about the novels he wrote as Marilyn Ross.
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In the
Files Magazine DS Tribute interview by Ed Gross, Sproat does NOT claim credit for the development of the Barnabas character, but generally refers to the writing group as a whole on that issue. [easter_grin]
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In the 1983 tape, Ron says he found the name Barnabas in "an old whaling book." I remember reading in the first KLS book (published around '86) that Bob Costello found the name on an old tombstone. Who knows, maybe they both saw the name, and it came up when they were having the script conference and that was what they settled upon.
It's certainly a name that packed a punch!
G.
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In the Files Magazine DS Tribute interview by Ed Gross, Sproat does NOT claim credit for the development of the Barnabas character, but generally refers to the writing group as a whole on that issue. [easter_grin]
Thanks. That clears that up. But since that's the case, I have no idea, then, where it is that I read that he took credit. But apparently wherever that claim is made, it would certainly be inaccurate given what Sproat says in the Trubute book. But then, we all know that it's a sad fact that not everything we read about DS, particularly in Internet articles, is true.
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In the 1983 tape, Ron says he found the name Barnabas in "an old whaling book." I remember reading in the first KLS book (published around '86) that Bob Costello found the name on an old tombstone. Who knows, maybe they both saw the name, and it came up when they were having the script conference and that was what they settled upon.
Costello makes the same claim in his DS Files interview with Ed Gross. He says something to the effect that he was specifically checking out the names on old tombstones for a name that would be good for the vampire. Though one thing that's interesting was back then Barnabas' backstory was taking place in the 1830s.
It's certainly a name that packed a punch!
Indeed! [snow_wink]
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Like the old saying: Success has many fathers.
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I remember coming in to White Plains airport to pick up one of our club members for a DS gathering, I took a wrong turn and ended up passing a St Barnabas church. Had to stop and take a picture...pretty cool result for a wrong turn. So who really knows where the name came from but like Gothic said - it packed a punch.
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Thanks for sharing these, Doctor and K-9! I am just listening to Ron's talk again, with better headphones, so I can hear more.
He confirms twice that Vicki was intended to be revealed as Elizabeth's illegitimate daughter. So, this genuinely does seem to have been part of the original plan for the show.
He also says that he knew Jonathan Frid as a friend before the latter ever started on the show (he calls him "John," which was apparently how Frid was known to his friends), and they discussed the character of Barnabas when Frid was cast. Dan really wanted Barnabas to be "pure evil," but all the writers argued that that would not be sustainable in a serial format. Frid suggested writing it so that he had opportunities to SUGGEST evil through expression and delivery, and Ron gives credit to him for that suggestion.
Ron mentions running into Dan after hoDS came out and Dan told him, "I FINALLY got to do Barnabas the way I wanted in the movie!"
This is fascinating to hear because Ron Sproat offers so much more nuance and detail than I'm used to hearing from people who were interviewed subsequently about the show. Perhaps because in 1983, it was relatively recent, and Ron mentions having watched some of the old episodes when they were being syndicated out again.
whatever tentative outlines there might or might not have been for "revealing" that Vicki was Elizabeth's daughter (and her parentage in general) the reality is that, at the time, DC and the writers lost interest in the plot completely.
even if Alexandra had not left when she did i doubt they'd have ever actually bothered to go back and resolve this. when exactly would this have been shoehorned in?
shortly after the character/actress was written out the story went back to 1897. and remained there for nearly a year. after that it yoyoed back and forth in time, including a series of "parallel worlds", on a near constant basis for the remainder of the run. "normal" things pretty much stopped happening.
in terms of this particular plot point it is the fans that have kept it alive all these years. assorted and sundry "resolutions" thrown around since the series' cancellation largely to satisfy us.
but the sad reality is the writers at the time simply didn't care. solving this particular mystery would have taken screen time away from monsters and time travel.
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I've mentioned this before, but I like to think that if AM had stayed with the show perhaps the truth of Vicki's real parentage might have come out as a side plot during Leviathans. It could have involved Paul Stoddard in something besides simply wondering why everyone at the antique shop was so weird and why Barnabas was so evil. Paul and Liz might have still fought when he first shows up back in Collinsport and reconnects with Carolyn, though through that reconnection with his daughter he could eventually persuade Liz that Vicki deserves to know the truth that Liz is her mother. I know I would have liked seeing that a hell of a lot more than some of the other stuff that happens during Leviathans and particularly with Paul.
And if all that took place during Leviathans, maybe, just maybe we could have seen what I would have really wanted to see: an evil PT Vicki, in her rightful place as Liz' daughter during 1970PT, or at least a PT Vicki with a dark side. And just imagine a PT Vicki at odds with her sister PT Carolyn! But alas...
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I am listening to the Manhattan Shadows tape with Jonathan, Joel Crothers and Addison Powell. Some nuggets:
Joel expressed great fondness for the fans, and appreciated how loyal they had been to him through the years. They made him feel like "a star."
Jonathan said he thought John Karlen was one of the sweetest people he ever worked with, and said he wished he could see Karlen more often than when he went out to LA for an event called ShadowCon. He also said that Lara was good for him when they worked together because she goaded him to be better. He commented on having viewed an episode where they had a tempestuous scene together and he thought it was one of the best ones they did: "She turned me on, I turned her on..." (I think he meant "turned on" in the sense of galvanizing one another as actors.)
Addison Powell, when a fan finally asked him a question, commented about Dr Lang in the lab: "I'm not a gadget person." (One of my favorite comments in the entire interview--old-timers will know what I mean.)
It was also interesting to hear Joel talk about working on TORCH SONG TRILOGY with Harvey Fierstein. One of the fans asked him about it--she'd been to see him in it.
G.
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Wow Wow Wow! This one is awesome, though it takes awhile for them to get organized for the performance.
Jonathan and Lara reciting Poe's magnificently strange poem,"The Bells," at some DS event:
https://archive.org/details/09FridWithLaraParkerTheBellsByPoe
Doctor and K-9, is this from one of your recordings?
G.
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Just parking this link here--I presume this is the Technical Panel referenced in an earlier post by Doctor and K-9. Description says Jonathan moderated, and Ross Skipper, Ken McEwan, and Ron Sproat were the speakers.
https://archive.org/details/Manhattan1ShadowsTechPanelHostedByJonathanFrid
G.
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And if all that took place during Leviathans, maybe, just maybe we could have seen what I would have really wanted to see: an evil PT Vicki, in her rightful place as Liz' daughter during 1970PT, or at least a PT Vicki with a dark side. And just imagine a PT Vicki at odds with her sister PT Carolyn! But alas...
Oh wow, MB, what a hoot that would have been! Your description of an evil Vicki reminds me of "Back in the Shadows Again", a long-form improv parody of DS by the truly genius Chicago improv group Free Associates (alas, disbanded long ago). One night they had a marathon of six episodes, and one of the audience suggestions was "delusions of grandeur" (or something like that). What the troupe came up with was Liz and Roger being away from Collinwood for an extended time, leaving Vicki in charge, and it goes to her head. She has the audacity to rearrange some decorations in the drawing room (that have been there for generations), and even goes so far as to--gasp!--move Roger's brandy bottle! The shows were downright hilarious, and I was frequently laughing so hard I was crying.
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i just think it's very telling that the assorted and sundry "resolutions" to Vicki's parentage, including the fan-favorite, near-canonical, "Liz-as-Vicki's-mother" theory, occurred after the series' cancellation.
a "consolation prize" to fans so to speak. during the actual run it just wasn't important. DC obviously didn't care.
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Wow Wow Wow! This one is awesome, though it takes awhile for them to get organized for the performance.
Jonathan and Lara reciting Poe's magnificently strange poem,"The Bells," at some DS event:
https://archive.org/details/09FridWithLaraParkerTheBellsByPoe
Doctor and K-9, is this from one of your recordings?
Yes. I made audio recordings of many of the events in the 80s. I believe The Bells performance was one in which there was a prohibition regarding video taping. There was no mention of audio, so I recorded it. I have the entire performance and plan to post it later. I have several that I will be posting, including Genesis of Evil which was his first one man show. Frid reads DS fan fiction along with the usual readings from literature.
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Thank you so much! I'm looking forward to listening to "The Bells" tape again tonight. It's a real treasure and a great treat!
G.
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I'm uploading Jonathan Frid's first one man show, "The Genesis of Evil." It contains readings by the likes of Poe, Shakespeare, the anonymous author of Genesis from The Bible, as well as works of Dark Shadows fan fiction and poetry. I'll post a link later. We are on our way out to eat. Anyone who wants to access it can go to the archive links in my posts above and go back to my library page on the archive. Unless the upload fails, it should be there very soon.
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Here's the link to Genesis of Evil. Unlike the earlier audio tapes, the quality is quite decent. It was recorded by the Festival and distributed to fans who sent them an audio tape. I believe this is the only time they had such an arrangement. I have some other recordings of Frid's shows that are of similar quality. After the first few conventions, microphones became the norm and I also replaced my tape recorder.
https://archive.org/details/JonathanFridTheGenesisOfEvil
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Last night, I listened to the Manhattan Shadows Technical Panel. Another fascinating snapshot of DS history, and I'm very grateful to the Doctor and K9 for sharing it with us!
Ironically there was one major technical difficulty with the panel, which seemed mainly to be caused by the fact that there was nobody in the room (so far as I could tell) in charge of either moderating the panel or handling microphone issues. Poor Jonathan Frid was left on his own to struggle with this, and he was obviously quite uncomfortable with the mike. (It should be said that he had great enthusiasm for the topic and was quite chatty throughout.) It seemed odd to me that none of the event organizers appeared to be present either to take charge or at least provide backup for Frid. At one point, he mentioned that another event was occurring elsewhere in the space so perhaps all the organizers were involved with that.
If so, they missed a really fascinating discussion. Frid begins by telling his audience that every day of his first year on DS was "absolute hell" for him, mainly due to his struggle to learn his lines. Later on (around the 30 minute mark) he shared his surprise when he finally viewed his first full episode in 1967. He was delighted to see that his work in that, which he had thought was a disaster during the taping, "was actually the best performance I'd ever given." He also goes into detail about his first day on the set and his process with getting into the work of doing the shows.
Among the line-up was one gentleman I'd never heard of. His name was something like Max Youngham (definitely Max--Frid only said the surname once, and the tape is not good quality). Incidentally, listening to the tape with headphones is a MUST. Earbuds don't work. Max handled the boom and as a result, heard all the director's comments in the control room. Apparently, the director was often having some kind of meltdown while the taping was going on due to all the technical issues, not to mention whenever one of the actors had a problem in the middle of taping.
The other guests are Ross Skipper, who had a beautiful clear speaking voice and a very down to earth manner. Ken McEwan, the "stage manager," who as you will all remember appeared in a few episodes during PT1970 as Larry Chase (he didn't discuss this). He did talk about his responsibilities which were primarily to the network to make sure the show never ran over, or ran short. Ron Sproat, whose own appearance on the other tape is more interesting, was part of this discussion.
I think Ross Skipper towards the end told what may have been my favorite story on the tape. He mentioned that somebody would run through all the medical accomplishments Julia had as a joke with Grayson and wind up with "and you're Barnabas's proctologist, too." It would make her rather exasperated. Some ingenue actress overheard this banter and asked Grayson, "What's a proctologist?" (She had a sheltered upbringing, no doubt.) Grayson swiveled and snapped, "It's an ASS DOCTOR. Now shut up!"
Great fun...
G.
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my favorite story on the tape. He mentioned that somebody would run through all the medical accomplishments Julia had as a joke with Grayson and wind up with "and you're Barnabas's proctologist, too." It would make her rather exasperated. Some ingenue actress overheard this banter and asked Grayson, "What's a proctologist?" (She had a sheltered upbringing, no doubt.) Grayson swiveled and snapped, "It's an ASS DOCTOR. Now shut up!"
I love it!!
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Last night, I listened to the Manhattan Shadows Technical Panel....Among the line-up was one gentleman I'd never heard of. His name was something like Max Youngham (definitely Max--Frid only said the surname once, and the tape is not good quality).
G.
I am glad I'm not the only one who had trouble with that name. I tried various spellings of the name and found no information on him.
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I've posted a great deal more. I'll just leave a link to my page and anyone interested can browse through it. I have video of the show Frid gave for the volunteers at the 91 Festival. This tape came from his collection, sold to me by his family at a Festival, so it's almost certainly a 1st generation copy of the master. I doubt the person recording it (probably Guy Haines) gave him the master tape.
There are a some magazine articles on DS. I posted elsewhere about the Night Rider pilot, starring Selby.
If anyone happens to have ever listened to the incomparable Carolyn Fox on 94HJY in Providence, I have two of her shows and will be posting more. I doubt there will be much interest, but if you liked edgy mid 90s radio, it didn't get much edgier than Carolyn Fox. She almost got arrested one April Fools day by telling people the city government was shutting down for the day. I forget the reason, but she gave the number of a competing station, 92 PROFM as the number to call with questions.
https://archive.org/details/@the_doctor_and_k9
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Last night, I listened to the Manhattan Shadows Technical Panel....Among the line-up was one gentleman I'd never heard of. His name was something like Max Youngham (definitely Max--Frid only said the surname once, and the tape is not good quality).
I am glad I'm not the only one who had trouble with that name. I tried various spellings of the name and found no information on him.
I believe the technical guest was boom mic operator Max Jughans. And doesn't legend state that he was the inspiration for the name "Mr. Juggins"?
Great stuff, The Doctor and K9!
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Yes, he was the boom microphone operator. I'd never heard that "Mr Juggins" was in reference to one of the tech guys. What a riot! Thanks, Midnite, for sharing that. Frid tells the audience that he wished Max would write a book about his time working on DS. Max unfortunately did not get to tell very many stories at this event.
One thing that came through several times is that they all remembered DS as a very special experience. Even when it was "pure bedlam," it was like no other work experience anyone had ever had. That was why the technicians were interested in coming back to talk about it.
In his panel, Addison Powell did express bewilderment as to why anyone remembered the show and was still interested in it. They tried to explain it to him. I don't think he was convinced.
G.
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In his panel, Addison Powell did express bewilderment as to why anyone remembered the show and was still interested in it. They tried to explain it to him. I don't think he was convinced.
That event was only 12 years after the cancellation of DS. Imagine if he had lived to attend the 50th anniversary Festival!
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Considering how over the top his acting often was on DS (and I still say that's because it's what the directors wanted from him), Powell probably wished DS had been forgotten about so that no one would ever see those performances again. [b003]
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I read through this thread at the end of April and was excited to see this topic revisited. But I thought I would read through my Word files saved from previous discussions about who created the character of Barnabas Collins before posting any comment. My file from a thread in April 2004 is 14 pages long and I began to feel a little bogged down and didn't remember all of the personalities involved precisely after - it doesn't seem possible - 14 years. The discussion began with a quote from Art Wallace saying he had created the character of Barnabas. There were some sharp comments, claims, and counterclaims. It all seemed too much of a muddle for me to reach any conclusions, let alone comment. More sharp comments were exchanged in an article posted some years later that I copied and dated "April 4, 2013" -- surprising how discussions about the creation of Barnabas seem to recur in April -- in which Mamorstein takes swipes at Ron Sproat and Joe Caldwell, with Caldwell responding in kind. Too bad the topic became so contentious. Some of the discussions among the various creators of the show may have been forgotten by others, or the memories of some became self-aggrandizing. Nothing appears to have been documented regarding the creation of Barnabas. It does seem that many contributed to the character in different ways. I will content myself with that thought.
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i thought Wallace created the initial setup concepts and characters...Victoria, the Collins family, Collinsport, Collinwood, the town hoi polloi...then some of the plots that launched the series. Vicki's search for her parentage. Burke's revenge storyline...
but had basically peaced out of the series by the time ghosts and ghouls started to creep out of the woodwork. i didn't know he was ever credited (or miscredited) with writing Barnabas or any of the later supernatural storylines.
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Wallace was definitely still around when Barnabas was created. He insists (along with Robert Costello that) he actually wrote the character bio for Barnabas (all the original backstory in the 1830s). And it would seem that could easily be correct because when Wallace sued DC over merchandising and won, he was entitled to a percentage of profits from not only DS related material, but material based on Barnabas as well. Though he was more happy that the court saw things his way and that he'd bested DC than in the actual money, so that's why he decided on a one time lump sum payment from DCP rather than ongoing payments. Though any time any of the characters he created are used in a DS project, he must still get a credit for creating them, which is why we continue to see that credit...
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Though any time any of the characters he created are used in a DS project, he (Art Wallace) must still get a credit for creating them, which is why we continue to see that credit...
Which is just about EVERYONE of any importance in the first 7 episodes of 91 Dark Shadows. I'm not sure about Julia or Sarah.
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It's interesting that no one seems to have ever taken credit for creating Sarah or Julia. Sarah was mostly a catalyst to make Barnabas more sympathetic and Julia was originally just brought in to be killed off, so if they wrote character bios for them, they may have been very limited. And, of course, Julia was supposedly Julian before a fortunate typo was made on the casting sheet and he became she, so if there was a bio, possibly a lot of it might have had to be thrown out and reworked. That typo story also begs the question of how exactly was the character described on the casting sheet so that there were no indications that it was supposed to be a he, save for the name? To get away with it, the description must have been short and used doctor in place of he or she...
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One of the stories that has circulated around fandom for decades is that Grayson was a last minute substitute for an unnamed actress who bailed on the part at the last minute. The identity of said actress is supposedly unknown but I've never heard speculation as to who that mystery actress may have been.
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[pointing-up] So long as it wasn't Joan Crawford. Can you even imagine?! [ghost_wacko]
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No wire hangers at The Old House! Ever!!!!!!!!!
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Good to see this topic come up in this year. I want to study again and this is a great discussion to see for that purpose. I wish my memory wasn't so clogged with non-essentials that I could remember the interviews of the crew better. I got the impression, though, that it was a group effort of many people, one after another, pitching in to create the character of Barnabas. Odd to hear a tug-of-war ensued from several avenues.
Then again sometimes people doing interviews word things strangely and when they cut the questions from the interviews final cut it's hard to make out what the person is actually responding to. Is it possible someone interviewing a writer might specifically ask, "How did you invent the character of Barnabas Collins?" when the person being asked never presumed they single-handedly did to begin with?
Currently this all leads me to thoughts of getting out the oujiaboard and asking Bram Stoker if he'd like to make a retroactive claim on Barnabas Collins too. [ghost_smiley]
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I think this interview with Joe Caldwell from 2013 was most likely posted before. Of course he claims to have created Barnabas. LOL
https://www.tor.com/2013/03/21/dark-shadows-writer-joseph-caldwell-interview/
G.
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Also, here's a very grainy film clip from the 1983 Manhattan Shadows, including brief interviews with Joel Crothers and Addison Powell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8cHwq2-M5E
G.
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[pointing-up] Thanks so much for the link, Gothick. It's so great to see Joel Crothers at a DS event. Though it's sad to think that just two years later he would pass away...
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Also, here's a very grainy film clip from the 1983 Manhattan Shadows, including brief interviews with Joel Crothers and Addison Powell.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8cHwq2-M5E
G.
Here's a link to my archive page. I have various files associated with Dark Shadows and other topics. Among them are audio and video from various Festivals. Quality varies GREATLY. Audio of the entire panel with Joel Crothers, Addison Powell, and Jonathan Frid is there but the quality ranges from fair (in my opinion) to poor according to others. There are other performances by Jonathan a a few surprises, all available to download freely.