Jonathan Frid

Infobox actor
name = Jonathan Frid


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birthname = John Herbert Frid
birthdate = Birth date and age|1924|12|2
birthplace = Hamilton, Ontario Canada
deathdate =
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othername =
occupation = Actor
yearsactive =
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website = http://www.jonathanfrid.com/main06.htm

John Herbert Frid (born December 2, 1924, in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada) is a theater, television and movie actor. He was educated at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He is most famously known for the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the first incarnation of the gothic U.S. cult television serial "Dark Shadows". Prior to appearing on "Dark Shadows," Jonathan played a psychiatrist on the CBS soap, "As the World Turns."

Frid was initially brought on "Dark Shadows" to help rescue flagging ratings.The role of Barnabas Collins was originally intended to be a brief one, but the popularity of Frid's vampire character and the improvement to the ratings resulted in the character continuing on and becoming one of the "core" characters of the cult show. He also played Bramwell Collins toward the end of the show's run, when he said that he would only continue on the show if he were neither Barnabas Collins nor a vampire.

He later reprised his role as Barnabas Collins in the 1970 big-screen adaptation, "House of Dark Shadows". This time, Barnabas surprised audiences expecting their vampire with a soul by being a blood thirsty monster, killing off all the Collins family except David Collins and Elizabeth Collins Stoddard. When asked to film another Dark Shadows movie he said no. The movie Night of Dark Shadows ended up starring
David Selby .

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 also continued to work in theater.

He began performing readings at "Dark Shadows" fan conventions in the 1980s, which led to the development of his one-man reader's theater shows that were performed throughout the 1990's. In 1986, he appeared in "Arsenic and Old Lace", which also starred '70s television actresses Marion Ross and Jean Stapleton.

Mr. Frid, with the assistance of his webmaster Mark, oversees his website and responds to fans through his page, "Visitors' Corner". In an unusual instance, Mr. Frid reposted a comment by fan Jon Lioncourt with his response in [http://www.jonathanfrid.com/essays.html#Part%205 "Essay #9"] entitled "Gazing", regarding Barnabas Collins seeing his own 175 year old portrait at Collinwood and meeting Mrs. Collins Stoddard for the first time. Mr. Frid also posted a second letter from Mr. Lioncourt and responded in detail to every sentence Mr. Lioncourt wrote.

Mr Frid comments: "My moment of “gazing” was a perfect example of an actor giving off in what appeared to be two diametrically opposed states of being in one gaze. It was at the center of a dilemma which was to decide, I was told, the very survival of Dark Shadows. I had convinced myself that it was doomed. It never, never occurred to me that it would survive on the strength and conviction of viewers ( fans, if you will ) like Jon Lioncourt."

Mr. Frid is currently enjoying retirement in Ancaster, Ontario, just outside of his birthplace of Hamilton.

He has recently attended Dark Shadows conventions - New York in August 2007 and Burbank, CA in July 2008.

External links

* [http://www.jonathanfrid.com Jonathan Frid Official site]
*imdb name|0294847

(1) Jonathan Frid

Persondata
NAME= Frid, Jonathan
ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Frid, John Herbert
SHORT DESCRIPTION= Actor, Director
DATE OF BIRTH= 1924-12-2
PLACE OF BIRTH= Hamilton, Ontario Canada
DATE OF DEATH=
PLACE OF DEATH=