Jonanthan Frid

#REDIRECT Jonathan FridJohn Herbert "Jonathan" Frid (December 2, 1924 – April 14, 2012)[1] was a Canadian theater, television, and film actor, known for having played the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera Dark Shadows.
Frid was born of Scottish, English, German and Danish ancestry in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was the youngest son of Isabella Flora (née McGregor) and Herbert Percival Frid, a construction executive.[1] He served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. He graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton in 1948, and the following year was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. He moved to the United States in 1954, and received a Master of Fine Arts degree in Directing from the Yale School of Drama in 1957.
As a student at Yale in 1956, Frid starred in the premiere of William Snyder's play A True And Special Friend. He went on to star in the first productions at the Williamstown Theater in Williamstown, Massachusetts and stage productions in Canada, England and the United States.
He began using the stage name Jonathan Frid in 1962,and made his Broadway debut as an understudy in the 1964 play Roar Like a Dove.
Television[edit]
Early television roles on the Canadian Broadcasting Company included parts in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,[citation needed] Our Town,[citation needed] and The Picture of Dorian Gray.[citation needed]
Frid as Barnabas Collins, 1968.
Frid is widely known for the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the original gothic cult television serial Dark Shadows, which ran from 1966 to 1971. He also starred as Barnabas Collins in the movie House of Dark Shadows. Frid had made plans to move to the U.S. West Coast to pursue a career as an acting teacher when he won the role that ultimately made him a household name. As Frid explained on his Web site, he had barely entered his apartment as the phone call from his agent came informing him that he had won the role of Barnabas Collins. He agreed to accept it after being told it was a short-term one that would provide him with extra cash while he prepared to move. As the character's popularity soared, Frid scrapped those plans.[5]
Frid starred in Dial M for Murder[clarification needed] while the television series was still appearing. After Dark Shadows ended, he starred as Thomas Becket in Murder in the Cathedral, and in Wait Until Dark. Frid had previously played the role of a psychiatrist on the CBS Television soap opera As the World Turns.
In 1973, Frid appeared in the TV movie The Devil's Daughter starring Shelley Winters, and the following year starred in Oliver Stone's directorial debut, Seizure (aka Queen of Evil). He took time off from acting and returned to Canada, reviving his stage career in 1978.
Frid began performing readings at Dark Shadows fan conventions in the 1980s, and while developing ideas for his one-man shows.[citation needed] Frid succeeded Abe Vigoda in the role of Jonathan Brewster in the 1986–1987 Broadway revival of Arsenic and Old Lace.[9]
In 1994, Frid retired and returned to Canada. He continued to perform one-man shows for charities in both Canada and the United States. In 2000, he starred in the play Mass Appeal which enjoyed a successful, limited run in Hamilton and at the Stirling Festival Theatre in Stirling, Ontario.
Frid attended Dark Shadows conventions in New York in August 2007, Burbank, California, in July 2008, and Elizabeth, New Jersey, in August 2009. In 2010, he returned to the role of Barnabas for the first time in 39 years in a Dark Shadows audio drama, The Night Whispers.[10] Along with former Dark Shadows castmates Lara Parker, David Selby and Kathryn Leigh Scott, Frid spent three days at Pinewood Studios in June 2011 filming a cameo appearance for the 2012 Tim Burton Dark Shadows film,[11] which became his final film appearance.
Death[edit]
Frid died at Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, of pneumonia[1] and complications after a fall.[12] While sources at the time variously reported the date of his death as April 13[13][14] or April 14,[12][15][16] Frid's nephew, David Howitt, subsequently confirmed that Frid in fact died in the early hours of April 14, 2012. Howitt added that while Friday the 13th "makes for good press... it’s good to get it right.”[1]
__STATICREDIRECT__