Jonathan Frid

Frid was born of Scottish{{cite book|last=Hamrick|first=Craig|title=Barnabas & Company: The Cast of the TV Classic Dark Shadows|year=2003|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-29029-1|page=199}} and English ancestry in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. His birth name was John Herbert Frid. He was the youngest son of Isabel Flora (née McGregor) and Herbert Percival "H.P." Frid, a construction executive.[http://www.wefhs.myhamilton.ca/content/flamborough-nursing-sisters The Waterdown-East Flamborough Heritage Society & Archives], myhamilton.ca; accessed October 31, 2015. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120426235811/http://www.wefhs.myhamilton.ca/content/flamborough-nursing-sisters Archived] from the original, April 26, 2012.

As a boy Frid had a natural shyness and struggled academically due to dyslexia, which was not properly understood at that time.{{cite web |last1=Dixon |first1=Jim |title=Dark Shadows Star Kathryn Leigh Scott Dishes on Master of Dark Shadows |url=https://www.filminquiry.com/interview-kathryn-leigh-scott/?expand_article=1 |website=Film Inquiry |date=April 29, 2019 |publisher=April 20, 2019 |access-date=August 8, 2023|quote=The documentary mentions a detail which hadn't been publicly mentioned before, that Frid struggled with dyslexia and found learning lines at the rate necessary stressful.}} His passion for acting began at the age of 16 when he appeared in a production of Sheridan's The Rivals at Hillfield School.{{cite news |last1=Pegg |first1=Robert |title=The career of a villain |agency=London Free Press, Ontario, Canada |date=November 4, 1984|quote=But it wasn't until he was 16 and in prep school that Frid made any attempt to take up the stage. He landed the part of Sir Anthony Absolute in his school's production of The Rivals...}} The following year he joined the local community theatre, The Players' Guild of Hamilton.{{cite news |last1=McNeil |first1=Mark |title=New documentary looks at Hamilton actor Jonathan Frid and the vampire he made famous |url=https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/flashbacks-hamilton/new-documentary-looks-at-hamilton-actor-jonathan-frid-and-the-vampire-he-made-famous/article_711d6dc1-d545-5a42-9989-0df879bc4310.html |access-date=August 7, 2023 |agency=The Hamilton Spectator |date=March 8, 2022}} The theatre's leading director, American actress Gladys Gillan recognized and encouraged the young man's talent.{{cite news |last1=Pegg |first1=Robert |title=The career of a villain |agency=London Free Press, Ontario, Canada |date=November 4, 1984|quote=Gillan was one of Frid's major influences...Gillan also helped him prepare for an audition at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts... }}

Frid's first years of study at McMaster University in Hamilton were interrupted when in 1944 he enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II, and served on the destroyer HMCS Algonquin (R17).{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 8:26-8:40 When the war ended, he returned to McMaster to complete his bachelor's degree.{{Cite web|url=https://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/125/POI_Bios/Frid_Bio.html|title=McMaster University|website=www.mcmaster.ca|language=en-CA|access-date=2018-05-02}}{{cite magazine |last1=Denis |first1=Helen |title=The Unsinkable Jonathan Frid |magazine=TV Picture Life |date=October 1969 |volume=14 |issue=10 |page=80}} During the second half of his tenure he was President of the Drama Club, received accolades for his performances in The Royal Family and The Barretts of Wimpole Street,{{cite news |last1=Berkvist |first1=Robert |title=Vampires are Voluptuous |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/12/29/issue.html |work=The New York Times |date=December 29, 1968|quote=Frid...was president of the Dramatic Society at Hamilton's McMaster University (among other roles Father Barrett in The Barretts of Wimpole Street).}}{{cite news |last1=Diakowski |first1=M. J. |title=Frid, Winstanley Take Acting Honors in Play |work=The Silhouette |issue=18 |publisher=McMaster University |date=December 5, 1947|quote=The most significant event of M.D.S. history took place...with the presentation of...The Royal Family...John Frid delighted the audience with his performance..."}}{{cite news |last1=Reid |first1=Jim |title=Frid Outstanding in Fine Production |work=The Silhouette |publisher=McMaster University |date=December 1946|quote=Outstanding was the performance of John Frid in the role of Edward-Mouton Barrett.}} and graduated in 1948 with the university's Honor Society Award for Drama.{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 8:15-8:25 and 8:44-8:50

In 1949 Frid was accepted at the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.{{cite web|url=http://www.darkshadowsonline.com/where-frid.html|title=Barnabas & Company|publisher=Dark Shadows Online (fansite)|access-date=April 26, 2012|archive-date=July 21, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721005807/http://www.darkshadowsonline.com/where-frid.html}} After two terms, Frid left and became a leading actor in repertory in Cornwall and Kent for two seasons and toured the country in the West End thriller, The Third Visitor.{{cite magazine |last1=Denis |first1=Helen |title=The Unsinkable Jonathan Frid |magazine=TV Picture Life |date=October 1969 |volume=14 |issue=10 |page=82}}{{cite magazine|last1=Gross |first1=Ed |title=Jonathan Frid Interview with a Vampire |magazine=TV Gold |date=July 1986 |number=3 |page=52}} Returning to Canada he ventured to Toronto where he became a featured player for three consecutive seasons in the Toronto Shakespeare Festival, produced and directed by Earle Grey.{{cite news |last1=Pegg |first1=Robert |title=The career of a villain |agency=London Free Press, Ontario, Canada |date=November 4, 1984|quote=In the early '50s he was a member of the Earle Grey Players, a Toronto semi-professional theatre company...at Trinity College in the summertime...}}{{cite web |last1=Trinity College, University of Toronto |title=Collection F2311 - Earle Grey Players Collection |url=https://discoverarchives.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ottca-f2311 |publisher=Trinity College Archives}}|1951 The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, 1952 Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, The Winter's Tale, 1953 As You Like It, Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter's Tale. He studied voice at the Lorne Greene Academy of Radio Arts,{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 8:53-9:12 and 9:42-9:55{{cite news |last1=Berkvist |first1=Robert |title=Vampires are Voluptuous |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1968/12/29/issue.html |work=The New York Times |agency=Section D Page 17 |date=December 29, 1968}} and in 1952 appeared in Crime of Passion at the Jupiter Theatre founded by Greene.{{cite news |title=Jupiter Theatre Drama Features Hamilton Actor |work=The Hamilton Spectator |date=April 19, 1952|quote=Hamilton's John Frid will be appearing in the Jupiter Theatre production of Crime of Passion...}} He applied his training to radio spots{{cite magazine |last1=Arkelian |first1=John |title=Our Revels Now Are Ended: In Memory of Jonathan Frid |magazine=Artsforum Magazine (Canada) |date=April 22, 2012 |page=2 |url=https://artsforum.ca/other-media/tv-radio |access-date=August 12, 2023}} and a few appearances on television for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, including an unusual role as a native in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.{{cite web |last1=JonathanFrid.com |title=A Career Biography of Jonathan Frid |url=http://jonathanfrid.com/New%20Site/biography.htm |website=Wayback Machine |publisher=Internet Archive |access-date=August 24, 2023 |archive-date=December 18, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218030427/http://jonathanfrid.com/New%20Site/biography.htm |url-status=usurped }} Revised October 2002.

In the Fall of 1954 Frid became a graduate student at the Yale School of Drama in New Haven, Connecticut. He would earn his Master of Fine Arts (MFA) in Directing, however as one of the most experienced actors in the school, Frid was continually in demand for acting roles in mainstage and student productions including Caesar in Caesar and Cleopatra, and starring in the premiere of William Snyder's play A True and Special Friend.{{cite web|url=http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/belknap/ufplaybills5.htm|title=Belknap Playbill and Program Collection|publisher=University of Florida George A. Smathers Libraries|access-date=May 3, 2012|archive-date=May 19, 2011|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110519142423/http://www.uflib.ufl.edu/spec/belknap/ufplaybills5.htm}}{{cite web |last1=Manuscripts and Archives |first1=Yale University Library |title=RU397 Production Scrapbooks; RU68F Yale School of Drama Records |url=https://web.library.yale.edu/mssa}}Collection includes nine plays in which Frid performed.

In the summer of 1955 fresh from completing the first year of his Master's program, Frid was chosen by Director Nikos Psacharopoulos to play a pivotal role in the inaugural season of the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Frid performed leading roles in six of the ten productions including The Crucible, Time of the Cuckoo, Light up the Sky, and The Rainmaker opposite leading lady Cynthia Harris.{{cite web |title=1955 Season |url=https://wtfestival.org/seasons/1955/ |website=Williamstown Theatre Festival}}{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 13:20-13:41

After receiving high praise in his second year at Yale for his portrayal of Tullus Aufidius in Shakespeare's Coriolanus, Frid was invited to join the American Shakespeare Festival in Stratford, Connecticut. For two consecutive summer seasons, under the direction of John Houseman, Frid performed with such distinguished actors as Alfred Drake, Earle Hyman, Fritz Weaver, Sada Thompson, and Katharine Hepburn.{{cite news |last1=Groves |first1=Sell |title=Jonathan Frid: Out of the Dark |work=The Asbury Park Press-New Jersey |agency=King Features Syndicate |issue=32 Vol 3 |date=August 19, 1989|quote=He also appeared with the American Shakespeare Festival...with the late great John Houseman directing him in a production of Much Ado About Nothing with Katharine Hepburn.}}{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 13:58-14:18 and 15:25-15:33.{{cite web|url=http://www.jonathanfrid.com/misc.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720230439/http://www.jonathanfrid.com/misc.html|archive-date=July 20, 2011|title=A Summing Up: My Career on the Stage|publisher=JonathanFrid.com}}

File:Jonathan Frid 1957 headshot.jpg

After earning his MFA in 1957, Frid joined Hepburn and other members of the American Shakespeare Festival on a national tour of Much Ado About Nothing.{{cite news |last1=Tyler |first1=Betty |title=A Shadowy Figure Returns |work=The Sunday Post, Bridgeport, Connecticut |agency=Arts/Travel |date=April 10, 1988|quote=Frid toured with Hepburn in Much Ado About Nothing.}} When the tour concluded Frid moved to New York City, where he made his off-Broadway debut in The Golem directed by Robert Kalfin.{{cite magazine |last1=Gross |first1=Ed |title=Jonathan Frid Interview with a Vampire |magazine=TV Gold |date=July 1986 |volume=3 |page=52|quote=He moved to New York in 1957 and appeared in The Golem}} In 1961 he began using the stage name Jonathan Frid, first seen in the program for The Moon in The Yellow River.{{cite news |title=Off-Broadway Reviews: The Moon in the Yellow River |newspaper=Variety |date=February 22, 1961 |page=75|quote=Darrell Blake... Jonathan Frid}} He continued to appear in many off-Broadway productions and in regional theatres across the United States.{{cite news |last1=Cobb |first1=David |title=The Canadian Vampire |work=Montreal Gazette |date=April 4, 1969|quote=He has done a lot of work Off-Broadway and in U.S. regional theatre; a few seasons ago he was in the Broadway production of Roar Like a Dove with Charlie Ruggles and Betsy Palmer. }}{{cite book |last1=Willis |first1=John |title=Theatre World Volume 43 1986-1987 |date=1988 |publisher=Crown Publishers, Inc. |location=New York, New York |isbn=0-517-56828-4 |page=203}} Among them were Front Street Theater in Memphis; Pittsburgh Playhouse; and the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego.{{cite web |last1=Memphis Theater |first1=Front Street Theatre |title=Midsummer Night's Dream |url=https://memphislibrary.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16108coll4/id/523/rec/1 |website=Dig Memphis |publisher=The Digital Collection of the Memphis Public Library |access-date=August 10, 2023 |ref=SB622-original Saul Brown Photograph Collection}}{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 21:05-21:06 and 21:49-22:11{{cite web |title=Portrait of Jonathan Frid |url=https://digitalcollections.sdsu.edu/do/0af84c95-4735-4635-9346-32e893f626de |website=Old Globe Theatre Photograph Collection |publisher=SDSU University Library Digital Collections |access-date=26 August 2023}} His most celebrated Shakespearean performance was the title role of Richard III at the 1965 Summer Festival of Professional Theatre at Pennsylvania State University.{{cite web |last1=Streightiff |first1=Lynn |title=Richard III Is Masterful Play |url=http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2012/06/raves-for-jonathan-frid-in-richard-iii.html |website=Collinsport Historical Society |publisher=Reprint of The Daily News, Huntingdon and Mt. Union PA article, July 8, 1965 |access-date=8 September 2023}}{{cite news |last1=Wall |first1=John |title='Vampire' trades in cape for stage readings |work=Altoona Mirror |date=January 25, 1988|quote=...the Canadian-born actor is returning to a scene of personal triumph, as he remembered the glowing notices he received in a production of Shakespeare's Richard III at University Park in the early 1960's. }}

Frid made his Broadway debut as an understudy, and appeared, in the 1964 play Roar Like a Dove, directed by Cyril Ritchard and starring Betsy Palmer.[http://www.ibdb.com/production.php?id=3201 Roar Like a Dove], ibdb.com; accessed October 31, 2015.{{cite news |title=TV Mailbag: What can you tell me about Jonathan Frid of Dark Shadows? |work=Chicago Tribune TV Week |date=February 9, 1968|quote=He played in Roar Like a Dove on Broadway... }}{{cite magazine|title=Arsenic and Old Lace: Who's Who in the Cast - Jonathan Frid |magazine=Playbill the National Theatre Magazine - 46th Street Theatre |date=December 1986 |volume=86 |issue=12 |page=46|quote=On Broadway he appeared with Betsy Palmer in Roar Like a Dove.}}{{cite web |last1=Gilbert |first1=Derek |title=A Shared Interview with Jonathan Frid |url=http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2019/02/a-shared-interiview-with-jonathan-frid.html |website=Collinsport Historical Society |publisher=Reprint of Afternoon TV article of November 1969}}{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 18:01-18:19.

Frid's United States television appearances began in 1960 with his role as the Earl of Worcester in Shakespeare's Henry IV Part I as part of Play of the Week.{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Clips at timestamp 18:52-19:55 and DVD bonus feature. This was followed by an episode of CBS-TV's Look Up and Live, The Picture of Dorian Gray,{{cite web |last1=Television Record |title=The Picture of Dorian Grey |url=https://museumtv.pastperfectonline.com/Archive?search_criteria=The+Picture+of+Dorian+Gray&onlyimages=false |website=Museum of Broadcast Communications |publisher=Breck's Golden Showcase |access-date=24 August 2023}} and several episodes as a psychiatrist on the CBS-TV soap opera As The World Turns.{{cite news |last1=Mason |first1=Doug |title=Jonathan Frid ready to pass on his vampire fangs, cape |work=The Knoxville News-Sentinel |agency=Page 4 |date=July 1, 1990|quote=Frid had played a small role as a psychiatrist in the daytime soap opera As the World Turns...}}{{cite magazine |last1=Higgins |first1=Robert |title=A Vampire for All Seasons |magazine=TV Guide |date=July 13, 1968 |issue=798 |pages=12–14|quote=...split his time between...TV (shows like Look Up and Live and As the World Turns)...}}

File:Jonathan Frid Barnabas Collins Dark Shadows 1968.JPG

Frid is widely known for the role of vampire Barnabas Collins in the original gothic serial Dark Shadows, which ran from 1966 to 1971.

In early March 1967 Frid was arriving at his Manhattan apartment following the completion of a National Tour of Hostile Witness with Ray Milland when he received the phone call from his agent that would change his life: a request to audition for a 13-week role as a vampire. Although planning to move to the West Coast to pursue a teaching position at a Southern California university, Frid appeased his agent by auditioning for the role that, if he got the part, would help finance his move west. He won the role of Barnabas Collins, a vampire released from a chained coffin after 175 years, on the gothic daytime serial Dark Shadows.{{cite magazine |last1=Gross |first1=Ed |title=Jonathan Frid Interview with a Vampire |magazine=TV Gold |date=July 1986 |volume=3 |pages=52, 54}}{{cite book |last1=Lamparski |first1=Richard |title=Whatever Became Of...? |date=January 30, 1985 |publisher=Crown Publishers, Inc. |location=New York, New York |isbn=0-517-55541-7 |pages=56–57 |edition=Ninth Series}} Before taping began the producers asked the actor and the writers, including Ron Sproat, a fellow Yale alumnus, to discuss the character's development. Collaborating with the writers, Frid explained that when he played villains he invested them with an emotional life.{{cite book |last1=The Museum of Television & Radio |title=Worlds Without End: The Art and History of the Soap Opera |date=January 1, 1997 |publisher=Harry N. Abrams, Inc. |isbn=0-8109-3997-5 |page=144}}{{cite book |last1=Gross |first1=Edward |title=Dark Shadows Tribute |date=January 1, 1990 |publisher=Pioneer Books |isbn=1-55698-234-8 |page=63}}{{cite news |last1=Purdy |first1=Pamela |title=Unmasking Jonathan Frid |work=City Paper, Baltimore's Free Weekly |issue=44, Vol. 11 |date=October 30, 1987}} The result was a new interpretation of a vampire: a monster depending upon blood to survive yet fighting to regain his humanity.{{cite AV media |title=Master of Dark Shadows |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/538805/master-of-dark-shadows |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 30:59-32:08 Frid's compelling portrayal of the sympathetic vampire was so popular with audiences that his short-term contract stretched into four years and Frid scrapped his plans to move to the West Coast.{{cite web|url=http://jonathanfrid.com/New%20Site/biography.htm |title="Biography" |access-date=2012-05-10 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101218030427/http://jonathanfrid.com/New%20Site/biography.htm |archive-date=December 18, 2010 }} (2002). Jonathan Frid (official site). Archived from [http://www.jonathanfrid.com the original] on July 20, 2011.{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Winkie |title=Frid enjoying his work in reader's theater |work=Goldsboro News-Argus |date=October 14, 1990|quote=Needless to say, Frid never made it to the teaching job.}}

Frid appeared on The Merv Griffin Show,{{cite AV media |title=Master of Dark Shadows |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/538805/master-of-dark-shadows |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 41:10-41:35. The Mike Douglas Show, The Dick Cavett Show, and The Tonight Show, and was even a special mystery guest on What's My Line?{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 2:55-3:42 and 31:35-32:26. The iconic image of Frid as Barnabas Collins adorned comic books, paperback gothic novels, bubble gum cards and even a board game, complete with coffin. Screaming teenagers thronged to his personal appearances like he was one of the Beatles.{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 23:43-3:31.{{cite magazine |title=Ship of Ghouls |magazine=Time Magazine |date=August 30, 1968 |volume=92 |issue=9 |page=46 |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,844594,00.html|quote=When Barnabas the Vampire (Actor Jonathan Frid) goes on personal appearance tours, he is apt to pull 25,000 people at a time.}}

File:Jonathan Frid 1968 promotional tour with crowd.jpg

The Dark Shadows ABC Studios in Manhattan became inundated with fan mail for Frid, at its peak reaching upwards of 5,000 letters per week.{{cite magazine |title=Turned-On Vampire |magazine=Newsweek |date=April 20, 1970 |page=107|quote=Frid continues to receive some 5,000 cards and letter a week from his fans.}}

In 1970 Dark Shadows became the first soap opera to be converted into a feature-length movie. Frid made his American feature film debut portraying his famous television character in MGM's House of Dark Shadows. While the movie script kept the same characters as the TV series, it was a bloodier, more violent story.{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Kathryn Leigh |title=The Dark Shadows Movie Book |date=1998 |publisher=Pomegranate Press, Ltd. |location=Los Angeles |isbn=0-938817-48-5 |pages=9, 22}}

During the run of Dark Shadows, and particularly with the release of House of Dark Shadows, Frid was made aware of speculation he could be typecast.{{cite AV media |title=Master of Dark Shadows |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/538805/master-of-dark-shadows |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 1:02:25-1:02:36. Both during and immediately after Dark Shadows, he worked to broaden his acting identity with theatre roles very different from television's Barnabas Collins. In 1969 he took a four-week hiatus from the show to star in the Frederick Knott play Dial M for Murder at the legendary The Little Theatre on the Square in Sullivan, Illinois.{{cite web |last1=Institutional Repository |first1=Eastern Illinois University |title=Dial 'M' For Murder |url=https://thekeep.eiu.edu/little_theatre_1969_programs/2/ |series=1969 Programs |date=September 23, 1969 |publisher=Digital Commons |access-date=August 10, 2023}}

With the announcement of the cancellation of Dark Shadows in March 1971, Frid returned to performing on stage with the role of Thomas Becket in the Off-Broadway play Murder in the Cathedral, followed by Harry Roat in Wait Until Dark at the Windmill Dinner Theaters in Fort Worth and Houston.{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 49:32-49:37. In 1973, Frid performed a supporting role in the TV movie The Devil's Daughter starring Shelley Winters, and in 1974 starred in Oliver Stone's directorial debut, Seizure.{{cite news |last1=Swardon |first1=Carlotta |title=Festival celebrates cult TV show |work=The Daily Journal-Newark |date=September 23, 1983|quote=After the show folded in 1971, Frid played roles in Texas theaters and the part of Beckett in T.S. Elliot's "Murder in the Cathedral," in New York. He also appeared in..."The Devil's Daughter" ...with Shelley Winters, and "Seizure..."}}

Frid found the role of Barnabas Collins to have many facets with a demanding range of emotions to play. Even so, the heavily promoted image of Barnabas baring his fangs left industry people, who may never have seen the show, with only a caricature of what he actually played.{{cite book |last1=Scott |first1=Kathryn Leigh |title=The Dark Shadows Companion 25th Anniversary Collection |date=December 1990 |publisher=Pomegranate Press, Ltd. |location=Los Angeles |isbn=0-938817-26-4 |page=13}} Frid became very conflicted about the commercial career his talent agency was offering. He did not want to become the modern-day version of Bela Lugosi, so he stepped away.{{cite web |last1=Cushing |first1=Chris |title=Thank God It's Frid Day: The Lid's Off Barnabas's Coffin, 1971 |url=http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2014/01/thank-god-its-frid-day-lids-off.html |website=Collinsport Historical Society}} Reprint of May 1971 Startime article.{{cite AV media |title=Master of Dark Shadows |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/538805/master-of-dark-shadows |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 1:05:32-1:06:23. For a few years he travelled, lived in Mexico for a while, and enjoyed quiet time out of the spotlight of fame.{{cite book |last1=Lamparski |first1=Richard |title=Whatever Became Of...? |date=January 30, 1985 |publisher=Crown Publishers, Inc. |location=New York, New York |isbn=0-517-55541-7 |page=57 |edition=Ninth Series}}

Returning to New York, Frid began his journey back to the boards. In 1977 he accepted an invitation from Penn State College to appear in the role of Tony Cavendish in the comedy The Royal Family for their Professional Summer Series Festival.{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 55:07-55:20. This was followed by his participation in stage readings of new plays.{{cite book |last1=Chelsea Theater Center |first1=Genesis Project Spring Reading Series |title=A Reading of Alpha and Omega |date=June 16, 1986 |volume=Dr. Jacobsen: Jonathan Frid}} Enjoying the low-key, independent nature of this work, he searched for other outlets and discovered one from a very unexpected source.

Dark Shadows, which featured an undead character, was a show that refused to die.{{cite book |last1=Story |first1=David |title=America on the Rerun: TV Shows That Never Die |date=1993 |publisher=Citadel Press, Carol Publishing Group |location=New York |isbn=0-8065-1410-8 |pages=232, 238, 239}} It was being shown in various markets around the country and internationally - the first soap opera ever to have been syndicated.{{cite book |author1=Scott, Kathryn Leigh |author2=Pierson, Jim |title=The Dark Shadows Almanac 30th Anniversary Tribute |date=1995 |publisher=Pomegranate Press, Ltd |location=Beverly Hills, CA |isbn=0-938817-41-8 |page=15}} Committed fans of the series were working to keep the show 'alive' through fan conventions and special events.{{cite book |author1=Scott, Kathryn Leigh |author2=Pierson, Jim |title=Dark Shadows: Return to Collinwood |date=2012 |publisher=Pomegranate Press, Ltd. |location=Beverly Hills, CA |isbn=978-0-938817-66-6 |pages=4–8}} Frid overcame his reluctance and appeared in 1982 at an event called Shadowcon VI in Los Angeles.{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 57:43-58:01.{{cite news |last1=Quinn |first1=Tom |title=Vampire actor of 1960's 'soap' on stage alone |work=Reading Eagle/Reading Times |agency=Eagle Times |date=September 16, 1988}}

In addition to question-and-answer sessions Frid read poems and prose, and received an enthusiastic response from the fans. For a new fan event dubbed the Dark Shadows Festival, he created a special program entitled Genesis of Evil: Part I was cuttings from classic plays Frid had performed in his career; and Part II was poems and prose fans had written about Barnabas over the years.{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 59:20-59:57.{{cite news |last1=Tartaglia |first1=John |title='Shadows' star takes solo show on road |work=Burlington County Times, NJ |date=October 25, 1989 |ref=Page B9|quote=The show evolved from the Shadowcon conventions, where Frid, tired of answering the same questions...asked if he might do some readings. Excited with the response, he put together a show.}}{{cite news |last1=Wall |first1=John |title='Vampire trades in cape for stage readings |work=Altoona Mirror |date=January 25, 1988|quote=Frid said he began by performing readings from Shakespeare and other plays as well as pieces written by fans...}}

In 1985 Frid was invited to do a fundraising television special by the New Jersey Network during which he performed Edgar Allan Poe's The Tell-Tale Heart and a soliloquy from Richard III.{{cite web |last1=Cousin Barnabas |first1=(Wallace McBride) |title=Everything we know about Master of Dark Shadows |url=http://www.collinsporthistoricalsociety.com/2019/03/everything-we-know-about-master-of-dark.html |website=Collinsport Historical Society |access-date=August 10, 2023}} Following the broadcast Jonathan met his business partner Mary O'Leary. Together they formed the theatrical production company Clunes Associates to develop a one-man show, inspired by Genesis of Evil.{{cite news |last1=McNeil |first1=Mark |title=New documentary looks at Hamilton actor Jonathan Frid and the vampire he made famous |url=https://www.thespec.com/news/hamilton-region/flashbacks-hamilton/new-documentary-looks-at-hamilton-actor-jonathan-frid-and-the-vampire-he-made-famous/article_711d6dc1-d545-5a42-9989-0df879bc4310.html |access-date=August 7, 2023 |work=The Hamilton Spectator |date=March 8, 2022}} Jonathan Frid's Fools & Fiends had its debut at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island in October 1986.{{cite news |last1=Relmer |first1=R.E. |title='Vampire' Frid bites into ghoulish tales |work=Newport (R.I.) Daily News Theater Review |date=October 20, 1986}}

Two months later, Frid succeeded Abe Vigoda, also a Dark Shadows alumnus, as Jonathan Brewster in the highly successful 1986–87 Broadway revival of Arsenic and Old Lace,{{cite web |last1=((46th Street Theater)) |title=Arsenic and Old Lace |url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/arsenic-and-old-lace-4415#Replacements |website=Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) |publisher=ibdb |access-date=August 10, 2023 |ref=Replacements tab}} Frid toured the country for almost a year with co-stars Jean Stapleton, Marion Ross, Larry Storch and Gary Sandy.{{cite web |title=Arsenic and Old Lace - Tour |url=https://www.ibdb.com/tour-production/arsenic-and-old-lace-517580#OpeningNightCast |website=Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) |publisher=ibdb |access-date=August 8, 2023 |ref=Opening Night Cast}} After completing the tour of Arsenic and Old Lace, he completely focused on his one-man show Jonathan Frid's Fools & Fiends, eventually creating two more shows: Jonathan Frid's Fridiculousness and Jonathan Frid's Shakespearean Odyssey. Discovering that Reader's Theater was his favorite form of acting, he toured for the next eight years performing at numerous colleges, universities, libraries, performing arts centers and private events across the United States and some locations in Canada.{{cite news |last1=Brown |first1=Stewart |title=Out of the Shadows - Actor Jonathan Frid Makes a Hamilton Homecoming |work=The Hamilton Spectator - Life/Entertainment |date=October 17, 1990|quote=Frid currently has three shows on the go - Jonathan Frid's Fools and Fiends...Jonathan Frid's Fridiculousness...and Jonathan Frid's Shakespearean Odyssey...}}{{cite news |last1=Voedisch |first1=Lynn |title='Dark' Star Emerges from the 'Shadows' |work=Chicago Sun Times - Arts & Show |date=September 26, 1990 |ref=Pages 43, 46|quote=Frid's readers theatre pieces, which he has been taking around the country since 1988...}} While on campuses, he also conducted acting workshops with students and seminars on Shakespeare with educators, fulfilling his deep-rooted desire to teach.{{cite news |last1=Lee |first1=Winkie |title=Frid enjoying his work in reader's theater |work=Goldsboro News-Argus |date=October 14, 1990|quote=...he is...combining his love for teaching and acting in a series of reader's theater programs... }}

In 1993 Frid welcomed an invitation from Georgia College and State University to direct The Lion in Winter. While Frid had been directing himself for years in his one-man shows, this was first time he would be directing a company of players since his days at Yale more than a quarter of a century earlier. He selected his former Dark Shadows colleague Marie Wallace to portray Eleanor of Aquitaine.{{cite news |title=Frid directs first play at GC |work=The Union-Recorder, Milledgeville, GA |date=February 12, 1993 |ref=Lifestyles section first page|quote=Marie Wallace will play the role of...Eleanor in 'The Lion in Winter', and Jonathan Frid will direct.}}

At the age of seventy, Frid moved back to Canada, where he bought his first house in Ancaster, Ontario. He was a regular visitor at the Royal Botanical Gardens (Ontario), became a member of the Richard III Society of Canada,{{cite web |last1=O'Connor |first1=Sheilah |title=Richard III Society of Canada |url=https://www.richardiii.ca/ |website=Letter of confirmation, September 13, 2023}} and in 1997 was the Narrator in a production of Peter and the Wolf at the Central Presbyterian Church of Hamilton.{{cite document |title=1997 Annual Report and Church Directory |publisher=Central Presbyterian Church of Hamilton, Canada|quote=...Sundays at Three series concerts (which included...'Peter and the Wolf' played and narrated by Jonathan Frid...}} From 1998 to 2002 under the banner of Charity Associates he occasionally performed his one-man shows for charities in Canada and the United States.{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 1:17:58-1:18:07. In 2000, he starred as Father Tim Farley in the two-character play Mass Appeal, which enjoyed a successful, limited run in Hamilton and at the Stirling Festival Theatre in Stirling, Ontario.{{cite web |last1=Broadway World |title=Jonathan Frid |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/Jonathan-Frid/ |website=Broadway World}} "In June 2000, he returned to the traditional professional stage in the play "Mass Appeal" at the Stirling Festival Theatre in Stirling, Ontario."{{cite news |last1=Not identified |title=Jonathan Frid and Dean Hollin have Mass Appeal |work=Ancaster News |agency=The Hamilton Spectator |date=June 14, 2000|quote=Theatre Aquarius presents eight performances of Mass Appeal starring Jonathan Frid and Dean Hollin.}} Theatre Aquarius is in Hamilton, Ontario.

In 2007 Frid returned, after more than a decade, to the Dark Shadows Festivals to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his first appearance as Barnabas Collins.{{cite web |last1=pansyfaye |title=Dark Shadows Festival 2007 |url=https://alt.tv.dark-shadows.narkive.com/Tij8KnoH/dark-shadows-festival-2007 |website=alt.tv.dark_shadows |publisher=NARKIVE Newsgroup Archive |access-date=14 September 2023}} Subsequently, he attended the annual festival for the next four years.{{cite web |last1=Hamilton Community Foundation |title=Stories - John Frid |url=https://www.hamiltoncommunityfoundation.ca/impact/stories/john-frid/ |website=Hamilton Community Foundation |access-date=9 August 2023 |ref="John established his fund in 2002.}} In 2010 he returned to the role of Barnabas for the first time in thirty-nine years in Big Finish Productions' Dark Shadows audio drama The Night Whispers.{{cite web|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37281/jonathan-frid-reprises-role-barnabas-collins-dark-shadows-audio-return|title=Jonathan Frid Reprises Role of Barnabas Collins for Dark Shadows Audio Return|publisher=Dreadcentral.com|date=April 30, 2010|access-date=May 3, 2012|archive-date=May 25, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100525082536/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/37281/jonathan-frid-reprises-role-barnabas-collins-dark-shadows-audio-return|url-status=live}} Archived version requires text blocking to make text visible.

Along with former Dark Shadows castmates Lara Parker, David Selby, and Kathryn Leigh Scott, he spent three days at Pinewood Studios in June 2011 filming a cameo appearance as a guest in the "happening" scene for the 2012 Tim Burton Dark Shadows film,{{cite web|last=Woman|first=The|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/45908/san-diego-comic-con-2011-dark-shadows-panel-highlights-original-cast-cameos-confirmed-tim|title=San Diego Comic-Con 2011: Dark Shadows Panel Highlights; Original Cast Cameos Confirmed for Tim Burton's Dark Shadows Film|publisher=Dreadcentral.com|date=July 23, 2011|access-date=May 3, 2012|archive-date=May 5, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120505172106/http://www.dreadcentral.com/news/45908/san-diego-comic-con-2011-dark-shadows-panel-highlights-original-cast-cameos-confirmed-tim|url-status=dead}} which became his final film appearance. The film's star Johnny Depp told the Los Angeles Times “Jonathan Frid was the reason I used to run home to watch Dark Shadows. His elegance and grace was an inspiration then and will continue to remain one. When I had the honor to finally meet him…he was elegant and magical as I had always imagined.”{{cite web|url=http://www.eonline.com/news/johnny_depp_remembers_dark_shadows/310236|publisher=E! Online|title=Johnny Depp Remembers Dark Shadows' Jonathan Frid: 'His Elegance and Grace Was an Inspiration'|first=Natalie|last=Finn| date=April 19, 2012}}{{cite news |last1=Nelson |first1=Valerie |title=Jonathan Frid dies at 87; actor played key role on 'Dark Shadows' |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-jonathan-frid-20120420-story.html |access-date=14 September 2023 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=April 20, 2012}}

At his 1998 induction as a McMaster University Alumni Honoree, Frid said he wanted to be remembered for "creating illusion through body language and the spoken word".{{cite web |last1=McMaster Alumni Association Induction |first1=McMaster University |title=Frid, John H |url=http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_frid_j_h.html |website=Internet Archive Wayback Machine |access-date=9 August 2023 |archive-date=July 6, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706185407/http://www.mcmaster.ca/ua/alumni/gallery/programs_recognition_frid_j_h.html |url-status=dead }}

Frid died at Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton, Ontario, of pneumonia and complications after a fall.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/arts/television/jonathan-frid-ghoulish-dark-shadows-star-dies-at-87.html|work=The New York Times|title=Jonathan Frid, Ghoulish 'Dark Shadows' Star, Is Dead at 87|author=Margalit Fox|author-link=Margalit Fox|date=April 20, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121107233121/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/20/arts/television/jonathan-frid-ghoulish-dark-shadows-star-dies-at-87.html|quote=Jonathan Frid, a Shakespearean actor who found unexpected — and by his own account unwanted — celebrity as the vampire Barnabas Collins on the sanguinary soap opera 'Dark Shadows', died last Saturday, April 14, in Hamilton, Ontario. He was 87. ...|archive-date=November 7, 2012|url-status=live}} While some sources at the time variously reported the date of his death as April 13{{cite news|url=http://herocomplex.latimes.com/2012/04/19/johnny-depp-shadows-star-jonathan-frid-was-elegant-magical|title=Johnny Depp: 'Shadows' star Jonathan Frid was 'elegant, magical'|date=April 19, 2012|first=Geoff|last=Boucher|work=Los Angeles Times}} or April 14,{{cite news|url=https://www.hamiltonnews.com/news-story/5423499-remembering-jonathan-frid/|title=Remembering Jonathan Frid|date=April 19, 2012|first=Mike|last=Pearson|work=Hamilton Community News|location=Hamilton, Ontario}}{{cite news|url=http://www.newsday.com/long-island/obituaries/dark-shadows-star-vampire-jonathan-frid-87-1.3671679|author-link=Frank Lovece|first=Frank|last=Lovece|work=Newsday|date=April 19, 2012|title='Dark Shadows' star vampire Jonathan Frid, 87|quote=... died Saturday [April 14] ... a family representative told Newsday.}} Frid's relative, David Howitt, confirmed that Frid 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".

Throughout his life Frid had always made himself available to support charities.{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Timestamp 44:00-44:18 He donated the bulk of his estate to the Hamilton Community Foundation, co-founded by his father H.P. Frid in 1954.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/hamilton/news/bid-continues-to-honour-dark-shadows-star-on-walk-of-fame-1.2517132|title=Bid continues to honour 'Dark Shadows' star on Walk of Fame|first=Samantha|last=Craggs|publisher=CBC News|date=February 13, 2014|access-date=2014-03-26}}

A biographical film Dark Shadows and Beyond – The Jonathan Frid Story was released in October 2021 by MPI Media Group.{{cite web |last1=MPI Media Group |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://mpimedia.com/film/dark-shadows-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story/ |website=mpi |access-date=11 August 2023 |ref="link to MPI Home Video notes release date as 10/5/21}}{{cite AV media |title=Dark Shadows and Beyond - The Jonathan Frid Story |url=https://tubitv.com/movies/637245/dark-shadows-and-beyond-the-jonathan-frid-story |publisher=tubi, Inc. |access-date=11 August 2023}} Film critic Dann Gire of the Daily Herald-Chicago wrote, "Dark Shadows and Beyond – The Jonathan Frid Story is directed with economy and panache by Mary O'Leary...Her biography of the popular actor evolves into a love letter for the performing arts, exemplified by a man whose devotion to his craft became the driving force in his life".{{cite news |last=Gire |first=Dann |date=October 5, 2021|title=Dark Shadows' Doc Reveals the Man Behind the Fangs |url=https://www.dailyherald.com/entlife/20211005/dark-shadows-doc-reveals-the-man-behind-the-fangs|work=Daily Herald|location=Chicago|access-date=11 August 2023}}

• {{cite book|title=Barnabas & Company: The Cast of the TV Classic Dark Shadows|publisher=iUniverse, Inc|author=Hamrick, Craig|year=2012|isbn=9781475910346|oclc=792795181}}

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