Recent Betsy Durkin Photo & Info on Dark Shadows Online Site

[Raineypark]

You make it sound as tho we DS fans are too ill-mannered to be polite to Ms. Durkin, should she decide to attend.  I'd like to think that we would make every performer who attends feel very welcome, indeed.  After all, if they didn't show up, it would hardly be a Fest, would it?

[michael c]

rainey,

we've been posting here together for a long time.you know i would never suggest that we as a fanbase were too "ill-mannered" to be polite to anyone who attended the fest.

but tell me the truth.what do you invision as a reception for ms.durkin?standing ovations?lengthy autograph lines?a huge run on her book about men's tailoring?

more than anything else i just feel as though it might prove to be an awkward and not especially lucrative experience for her.

[Raineypark]

more than anything else i just feel as though it might prove to be an awkward and not especially lucrative experience for her.

That's entirely possible. But don't you think Ms. Durkin will also have thought of the same things that you're concerned about?  I have to believe that, if Ms. Durkin has decided to do this, she's given it careful consideration, and has come to the conclusion that it's worth the effort to show up, and see what happens.

After all these years, I've come to the conclusion that there's a fan base for every single performer who ever appeared on DS....no matter  how small the part they played.  If Ms. Durkin wants to show up and see if she's still got fans, I say go for it!! 

[D_Friedlander]

After all these years, I've come to the conclusion that there's a fan base for every single performer who ever appeared on DS....no matter  how small the part they played.  If Ms. Durkin wants to show up and see if she's still got fans, I say go for it!! 

Yes, I am looking forward to seeing her, and I recall a male poster from the DS NG who expressed the greatest admiration for her--- liked the spunk and strength she brought back to the role, plus thought she was beautiful. (Though I won't buy her book if she happens to be selling them there--- no further use for it whatsoever, and as for my adult son, he hasn't taken my sartorial advice since he was about 12. )

 I can understand it was a tough act to follow another actress who had pretty firmly established the Vicki character, but if Ms. Durkin had been the first, I suppose there would have been dismay at HER abrupt replacement by someone very different, like Alexandra Moltke or Carolyn Groves (yes, got off the duff and looked it up.)

[Midnite]

D_Friedlander, thank you for letting us know!

[jennifer]

i think the fans will also be nice to her but i agree
that she was only in a few shows but hey we are all
paying attention to the  show after 40 years and she really
doesn't have anything to lose! is the list of who will be there on the site?

jennifer

[MsCriseyde]

By the time Betsy Durkin appeared on DS, they had done such a hatchet job with Victoria Winters' character that I don't think anyone could've saved her. Alexandra Moltke's final episodes weren't exactly high points for the character either.

It will be interesting to hear a new perspective at the Festival, and she certainly wouldn't be the first actor with a very limited run on the series to make a Festival appearance. Paul Michael has been to at least two Festivals in recent years, and I know at least one of the series regulars didn't have the foggiest notion who he was when he showed up even though they worked together.

From a personal perspective, I would also point out that Betsy Durkin Matthes seems to be a very gracious, well-mannered person. I recently posted information about her book on my DS Alumni site, and I had the release date wrong because Amazon had it listed incorrectly. She contacted me with the correction, and she thanked me profusely for mentioning her book on my web site.

Besides all that, I'm for any additional programming at the Festival that will cut into the possibility of Millay telling that damn trapped at Lyndhurst story again. 

[BuzzH]

It will be interesting to hear a new perspective at the Festival, and she certainly wouldn't be the first actor with a very limited run on the series to make a Festival appearance.

True, I personally would love to meet Michael Hadge.  

Besides all that, I'm for any additional programming at the Festival that will cut into the possibility of Millay telling that damn trapped at Lyndhurst story again.

Too true!

[CyrusL]

After all these years, I've come to the conclusion that there's a fan base for every single performer who ever appeared on DS....no matter  how small the part they played.  If Ms. Durkin wants to show up and see if she's still got fans, I say go for it!!

Amen!!! You know, after many years in music retail and fan conventions, I have concluded that anyone who had two hit singles or two appearences on any "Star Trek" show will have  fan club for life! I can tell you I have seen tables of rabid fans for Morgan Woodward, Duncan Regehr, Bobby Sherman,the Bay City Rollers,  etc. And as anyone who has gone to DS or Chiller, etc can tell you, most of the actor themselves are both a little taken back but then again appreciative that at least part of their work was well remembered. So, while I do understand that Ms. Durkin indeed had a more challenging and debatably more thankless job in filling in for a character necessary to finish a storyline, most especially a favorite cast member, I as a DS fan indeed welcome Betsy Durkin no less than I would James Hall, Carolyn Groves or Brian Sturdivant. They are all welcome and... sign my book, please!    Lol!
Michael 

[BuzzH]

I think it will be interesting to see a new face.  I have no problem w/Betsy Durkin coming to the Fest.  Hey, like it or not, she WAS part of DS. 

[Devlin66]

Betsy could of played Monica Lewinsky if we could back history up about 38 years....wonder what clinton was doing in 1968?

[ClaudeNorth]

Oh, I would love it if Brian Sturdivant showed up!

I think it's great, though, about Betsy Durkin and I do hope that she turns out to be the first of several first timers at this year's Fest.

[Charles_Ellis]

I'm willing to give her a try, although she was horribly miscast in the role- I mean it's right up there with Emma Samms replacing Pamela Sue Martin on "Dynasty" and Sofia Coppola replacing Winona Ryder for "Godfather III".  We must respect her for coming to the Festival, unlike those stars who have yet to appear like Alexandra, Kate, and David Henesy. I just found out that Donna McKechnie will show up- Quentin & Amanda together again.  If my dear Terry Crawford shows up as well, it'll be back to the Beth-Quentin-Amanda triangle of 1897- what joy!  And Chris Pennock is always fun- he once told me the most amazing piece of DS backstage gossip that I can't repeat it here! 

[michael c]

how's this for a coincidence???

yesterday a piece of mail came into my office simply adressed to the department.a co-worker opend it and it was a book.i asked him what it was and it turned out to be none other than "dressing the man you love" by betsy durkin matthes!needless to say i had a minor d.s. freak out(something my co-workers indulge with roled-eyes).

better yet it was an autographed copy intended for my boss.apparently they met and spent some time together on shelter island where she has a home and she sent him a copy of the book.he wasn't around so i couldn't ask him about it.