Ron Sproat and Barnabas

[Gothick]

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.

[Gothick]

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.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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...

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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. )

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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...

[Uncle Roger]

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.

[The Doctor and K9]

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

[Gothick]

Thanks, Doctor and K9!

G.

[Gothick]

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.

[Mysterious Benefactor]

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.    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. 

[Gothick]

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.

[Gothick]

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.

[The Doctor and K9]

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.

[The Doctor and K9]

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

[The Doctor and K9]

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.