Jonathan Frid of the cult-classic 'Dark Shadows' has died

Jonathan Frid -- a part of TV lore as "Dark Shadows' " Barnabas Collins -- died Friday, April 13, according to news reports out of his native Canada. He was 87. Frid -- reputed to be a fine stage actor -- had very few TV credits, but the one as the 175-year-old vamp Barnabas is among those roles that the word "indelible" is indelibly attached to. Boomers would come home from school in the '60s, and turn on this wonderful, old soap to see Frid slink about in the darkness, or to occasionally sink his fangs into the silky neck of some young lovely. (They had nightmares about this too, I can tell you...)

Here's a Merv Griffin interview from back in the day; Merv accurately reflects the hotness of this show. And it was hot for a brief while. . .