Remembering Lara Parker (1938-2023)

Lara Parker, best known for her role as the vengeful witch Angelique in Dark Shadows, passed away October 12 from cancer. Her death was announced by her friend and ex-co-star Kathryn Leigh Scott (Maggie Evans).  

Born October 27, 1938 in Knoxville, Tennessee, she was cast in Dark Shadows in 1967. She appeared as Bruce Banner's wife in the pilot for The Incredible Hulk. She had a cameo in the Johnny Depp movie version of the series, along with Jonathan Frid, Scott, and David Selby.

She also wrote four novels based on the Angelique character, with the most recent being published in 2016. 

Jonathan Frid "Barnabas Collins" born 1924

Jonathan Frid, born December 2, 1924 in Ontario, Canada, is best known as Barnabas Collins in the daytime horror show Dark Shadows.  Frid served as a seaman in the Royal Canadian Navy during WWII.  

He starred in almost 600 episodes of Dark Shadows and even had an appearance in the 2012 movie version, starring Johnny Depp.

He passed away in April 2012 just a few weeks before the movie was released, making it his final acting role.

Jonathan Frid first appearance as Barnabas Collins in "Dark Shadows" 1967

Jonathan Frid made his first appearance as vampire Barnabas Collins on Episode #211 of Dark Shadows, which aired April 18, 1967.  He saved the show from the axe and the show became a hit.

Dark Shadows final episode 1971

The unapologetically campy Gothic horror series, Dark Shadows, aired its final episode April 2, 1971, after 5 seasons and 1225 episodes.  The saga of the Collins family, trying to escape its ancient curse, dealt with werewolves, withes, warlocks, time travel and, of course, vampires.  Jonathan Frid played the hugely popular Barnabas Collins.  It remains one of the top cult TV shows ever.

Throughout its run it also starred Joan Bennett, and Louis Edmonds (both of whom appeared in all episodes) Alexandra Isle (Victoria Winters) and Kate Jackson.