Here's Jonathan at the mike as he told us all his wonderful stories. Looks like Nancy Kersey (in the background) is really enjoying them, as I and all the fans did. And then at the table as he signed all of his photos for the fans at the banquet. There were so many fans and therefore so many photos, that he extended the signing into the next morning.

Our Youngest Fans!


This is the part I loved. There were soooo many young people at the Fest, and little kids too.
These photos are just a sampling of some of them that visited me at my table.


And my friends Sophia and Dorothy dropped by and we had a great reunion. OOps! I mean John and Peter who did their very special impersonations at the Fest.

And I was so happy to see my cousins from New England. They came to the Festival for the first time and loved it. It was wonderful to have them there.

There was a very special party on Friday night, hosted by Nancy Kersey, and it was a pleasure to be with Jonathan in an informal setting. Kathryn and Lara were there too and we all enjoyed "catching up."


There were lots of expected and unexpected guests turning up. Photo bealow is of agents Mary Haggarty and John Shea...Yes, they were original fans who ran home to watch Dark Shadows.

And a wonderful surprise was to see Larry Storch (Corporal Agarn of F Troop). Larry and I worked together in I Oughta Be In Pictures at the Hampton Playhouse in New Hampshire. That was a marvelous experience and I write about it in detail in my memoir, On Stage & In Shadows. It was an even bigger surprise for Jonathan to see Larry, (they co-starred in Arsenic and Old Lace.) They had a lovely reunion on stage. I unfortunately didn't get a shot of that because I ran in to the auditorium when I heard they were on stage together, but without my camera.


And I wish I had photos of all our loyal fans, however I was a bit too busy for that, but here are a few.
I guess Steve Morga has been to all our Fests. Or at least most of them.


And then the final evening's Banquet. Here are some of the tables.



I think you can see that everyone had a fabulous time including we who were the original cast members of the most unforgettable tv show, Dark Shadows.

---

2006 Brooklyn Festival
Photo is at a Volunteer Party,
and of course,
you all know John Karlen and Lara Parker, and me!

Dark Shadows 40th Anniversary Celebration at the New York Marriott in Brooklyn August 25, 26 & 27, 2006 The Dark Shadows weekend was once again a great success. It was attended by David Selby, John Karlen, Chris Pennock, Diana Millay, Lisa Richards, Lara Parker, Nancy Barrett, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Donna McKechnie, Betsy Durkin Matthes, and yours truly (all pictured above). Donna Wandrey also made a very welcomed visit, as did Conard Fowkes. It was wonderful to see our ABC-TV publicists Jim Butler and Les Schecter. They were responsible for the many terrific stories in fan magazines of all the DS actors throughout the years. One of our cameramen, Stuart Goodman, was also there, much to our delight. Marilyn Ross of the DS 1960s novels was also with us for the weekend and we spent some fun times together. On Friday, John Karlen accompanied the fans on a trip to the South Street Seaport in lower Manhattan for a visit to the historic area and museum. Everyone who went on that excursion had a super time. Then registration opened and the excitement began. Kathryn, John and Diana did a Q&A, and then Lara talked about her latest DS novel, The Salem Branch, followed by autographs for the rest of the night. So many of our actors have written wonderful books lately. Kathryn just had her first novel published. It's called Murder in Prime Time. It has an intriguing plot and is absolutely delightful. There was a fabulous tribute to our producer Dan Curtis, who unfortunately died this past year. After the film, we all got on stage and reminised about him. It was truly touching. I had my book, On Stage & In Shadows, with me and I read some passages and talked and answered questions about it. I was so pleased to hear the comments from many of the fans who have already read it. Those who were new to the book bought almost all of the copies I had with me, and that couldn't have made me happier. If you weren't there, or haven't yet read the book, there's a nice offer on my home page. My friend, Craig Hamrick, introduced his 40th Anniversary edition of Barnabas & Company - a comprehensive behind-the-scenes history of Dark Shadows, told in the actors' own words. It will be available on Amazon.com after October 15, 2006. Craig is also the Web master of DarkShadowsOnline.Grayson Hall is no longer with us, but R. J. Jamison has written a book about our dear Dr. Hoffman (and, of course, Megan's sister, Magda). It's titled grayson hall: A HARD ACT TO FOLLOW. It has a compelling cover, designed by Stuart Manning, and I know will be a fascinating read. And something totally new was introduced - DS Audio Dramas, by Big Finish Productions' Stuart Manning and Scott Handcock. To read more about the CDs, go to Dark Shadows Journal Online Saturday had so many happenings on stage - Betsy talked about her most recent book, Dressing the Man You Love; David Selby's latest book is A Better Place and he was there to discuss it; Donna McKechnie told us all about her autobiography, Time Steps; and Nancy Barrett entertained with her Cabaret act. The highlight of the day was the DS Cast Reunion, when, much to our surprise, Jonathan Frid greeted us with a live phone-call-broadcast. The fans went wild. I've worked with Jonathan over the years and have been in touch with him, but since he moved to Canada, DS fans haven't seen him. He hasn't been to a DS Festival in about ten years, so we all enjoyed Jonathan's "visit". Fans had a superb time in the evening, when many of them showed up in very inventive clothes and makeup for the annual Costume Gala. That was followed by Collinsport Players' extremely funny skit Golden Shadows - The Miami Branch, adapted and conceived by Peter Mac. It's what happens when America's four favorite senior citizens (from The Golden Girls) meet America's favorite vampire. The actors were Walter Down, Jr., Diane Ekert, Richard Halpern, Jay Keaveny, Peter Mac, Dennis Petragnani, Helen Samaras and Dr. John Schaefer. A good time was had by all! Sunday brought wonderful Q&A sessions with Diana, Chris, Jerry, and Kathryn. Jim Pierson had an inspired idea when he thought of having the cast do a recreation of the First Episode (June 27, 1966) and Last Episode (April 2, 1971) of DS. The cast was David Selby, John Karlen, Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Donna Wandrey, Jerry Lacy, Nancy Barrett, Chris Pennock, Richard Halpern (he also directed) and, yes, our own, Jim Pierson...and I. Many of us took on roles we'd never played before, so I had the chance to play Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, which was great fun. Our DS fans loved it all. Here's another cast photo right after the presentation, and the fans couldn't resist taking a few more photos. I want to thank the generous fans who brought me gifts-you shouldn't have, but I appreciate your thoughtfulness...a beautiful mother-of-pearl necklace, a sterling silver necklace, books, a magnificent shawl from Turkey, delicious Virginia peanuts, books, a charming roses pin, a year's worth of prayers, and the wonderful hats that Donna and I are wearing. I love them all. Thank you, thank you, thank you! We ended the weekend in style with our finale dinner, which featured video screenings (one from Jonathan Frid), and door prizes, with Donna Wandrey and me pulling out the winning tickets. We all had a fabulous night and weekend, and hope that if you weren't there this time, you'll join us sometime in the future. I look forward to seeing all our loyal DS fans.

Dark Shadows Hollywood Weekend at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel July 29, 30 & 31, 2005 The Festival in Los Angeles was one of our best. We had many Q&A's with the stars, which included Lara Parker, Kathryn Leigh Scott, Diana Millay, Nancy Barrett, Christopher Pennock, Robert Rodan, Jerry Lacy, John Karlen, David Selby, and "yours truly." Jeff Thompson and Richard Halpern were our excellent emcees. There was a wonderful tribute to Joan Bennett with guests author, Brian Kellow, who wrote the definitive book on Joan and her family, The Bennetts - An Acting Family; actress June Lockhart, who read passages from the book; and Joan's daughter Diana Anderson, who spoke beautifully about her mother. Brian's book was a very popular item at the Fest, and he stayed for long hours signing them for all the fans. Kathryn had her many books which she has published (Pomegranate Press), and there were long lines at her table throughout the weekend, as there were at Lara and Diana's tables. Chris brought his latest comic books, which are a riot, and on Sunday, he did a wildly funny reading from one of them. I had a great time talking with new and long-time fans about my book, On Stage & In Shadows, and had book-signings throughout the weekend. I even ran out of books and took orders for them, and want to assure all the fans who are waiting for their copies, that they were sent in the mail the day after I returned to New York. Everyone should have them by the weekend. There was a charity auction with unique DS collectibles, a costume party, memorabilia sales, a tribute to Dan Curtis, videos and movies, the Collinsport Players skits directed by Peter Mac, and guest appearances by Sy Tomashoff, our great set designer. I brought copies of Scary Monsters Magazine and they sold out immediately (you can read more about how to order more magazines in the yellow box below). One of the highlights of the Fest was the DS Hollywood World Premiere Drama, Vengence at Collinwood, written and directed by Jamison Selby. It's an all-new sequel with many of us portraying our original characters, and with Jerry Lacy playing his Reverend Trask once again. I was the only actor playing a new character, Jessica Loomis, loudmouthed wife to Willie (played her once before at the Brooklyn Festival, and she's lots of fun). That was presented on Saturday afternoon. Then on Sunday afternoon, Nancy Barrett gave us all a very special treat with her new musical cabaret program, Oh, To Be a Movie Star. She played to a packed and very pleased house. And of course, we ended the Fest with our annual Dinner with the Stars on Sunday night. A good time was had by all! For future information, check out the official DS Festival site - Dark Shadows Festival And if you'd like to read about the Dark Shadows Ladies at the Big Apple Con click here

On April 1,2 & 3, 2005, Nancy Barrett, Diana Millay, Denise Nickerson, Kathryn Leigh Scott, and I all appeared at the Big Apple Convention. It was held at the Penn Plaza Pavilion in New York City. We were joined by writers Craig Hamrick (Big Lou, Barnabus & Company, Dark Shadows Collectibles Book), and Michael Karol, an editor of Soap Opera Weekly, (he's written many wonderful books on Lucille Ball). Craig and Michael are also the editors for my upcoming book, "On Stage and In Shadows."

We had two good panel discussions. One was moderated by TV Guide General Editor, Greg Evans, and the other by stage director, Joe Salvatore. It was fun to see a few of our faithful fans, although I think most of you are waiting for the big Dark Shadows Festival to be held in July in Hollywood. As soon as I have some extra time between photography assignments, I'll post some of the photos Craig and I took at this past convention.

Dark Shadows Festival 2004 started on Friday, August 13th and went through Sunday August 15th. It was at the Westchester Marriott in Tarrytown, New York. Again, it was so wonderful to see all of our long-term fans, and many, many new fans.

I did a panel with Denise Nickerson on Friday night and it was great fun to see her and to share all our news with the fans. John Karlen and Kathryn Leigh Scott followed us on stage, and after that Lara Parker was the guest speaker. We then did autographs until midnight. On Saturday and Sunday, there were Charity Auctions, many more guest panels, and Nancy Barrett did her Cabaret Performance. I hope all who were at the Fest got to see her.There was also a showing of Return to Collinwood, with director Jamison Selby (David's son) as guest speaker. In the evening, of course, we all went back to the autograph tables. And a special treat for those on the second half of the long autograph lines, was a showing of David Selby's movie, The Girl in Blue.

On Sunday, John Karlen, Denise Nickerson, Diana Millay, David Selby and I all did individual celebrity panels, which gave a chance to all the fans to really zero in on questions they've been dying to ask us individually. A special treat was the reading of the lost 1957 television play The House on which Dark Shadows was based. I truly enjoyed that, and many fans told us it was one of the highlights of the Fest.

We ended the weekend with our traditional Banquet Dinner with door prizes and video screenings of clips from tv shows, movies, and commercials in which DS actors appeared. It was fabulous. I loved seeing them all, and especially the commercial I did many years ago-it was very funny.

I had my camera with me, as did Craig Hamrick, Click here and I want to share the photos with you.

Our 2003 DS Festival was held in Brooklyn over the Labor Day weekend at the Brooklyn Marriott Hotel, and it was one of our best. It was such fun to see all of our fans who have attended throughout the years, AND to meet so many new fans. I think there must have been at least sixty percent new people attending, with lots of young parents and many children. My dear friend (actor, director, teacher) David Moore sat with me at my table (what would I have done without him!!), and I talked and signed autographs for so many of the fans. And what fun it was to see writer Rodney Labbe and his two sisters. I hadn't seen them since they came backstage at the Hampton Playhouse in New Hampshire, when I was appearing in a play called "Burlesque", way back in the '60s.

Speaking of fans, I want to thank all the many fans who brought me gifts. I wish you wouldn't spend your money on gifts for me, but I do appreciate them. To mention just a few (and please forgive me if I've left yours out), the prayer card from Father Steve, the marvelous lace fan from Jim, the delicious wine from Greg, all the beautiful necklaces and tote bag from David and Richard, the great coffee mugs from Vera and Richard (another Richard), the adorable Koala bear from Selene, and last but not least, the beautiful flowers from Nina, given to me for attending all the volunteer parties over the years. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!!!

And to the volunteers, a very special Thank You for all the good work you did throughout the weekend. You catered to our every wish, and I know it was a hard job, but I hope you had a chance to see some of the events, and that you enjoyed the Festival as well.

The highlight of the weekend was a special world premiere play, starring DS actors re-creating their original roles. Actually Donna Wandrey and I played new characters. Mine was Jessica Loomis, wife to Willie Loomis, and it was a great deal of fun, a real hoot! The play is called "Return to Collinwood", written by Jamison Selby (David's son), and it very imaginatively explored what happened to some of the characters since the series ended. That was on Sunday in the Hotel Ballroom, and it was packed. It was followed by a very long autograph session ,and then the finale, a very delicious banquet. David Moore, Craig Hamrick, and I took a few photos at the event, and all you need to do is Click here to see photos.

And, have no fear, this is not the last of the Dark Shadows Fests, They will be different in the future, but they will be just as exciting, and as much fun as ever. I look forward to seeing you all there, wherever that is. Keep up-to-date by checking into the official DS website, and if I hear any news, I'll keep you posted.

The COLLINS Association (Celebrating Our Loving Loyalty In Neverending Shadows) had their eighth annual Halloweenathon on the weekend of October 18th through the 20th of 2002. I attended on Friday and Saturday and had a great time meeting many new east coast fans, as well as a number of our loyal "old" fans. Other star guests were Lara Parker, Diana Millay, Roger Davis and Terrayne Crawford. It was Lara's birthday that weekend, and Eddie Lambese, who runs the whole show, had a beautiful, and I must add, delicous, birthday cake for her which surprised and delighted her. I took a few photos when I had a moment free and I'll share them with you. Click here to see photos.

The 2002 Dark Shadows Festival took place during the weekend of June 28-30 at the Marriott Hotel in Anaheim, California, and it was just great. Fest events began around 6pm on Friday and ended with the banquet on Sunday. I was delighted to see so many new fans. And, of course, it's always wonderful to be able to greet all our old, faithful fans every year, and there were many of you there. It was also fun to be able to visit Disneyland, which I think all the fans did, and so did I. Many thanks to Jim Pierson for doing all the advance work, and the work during the Fest to bring it all together so successful.

If you weren't there, I hope you'll come to next year's Festival on the East Coast. See you there! We took a few photos during the event. Click here to see some of them.

My last convention appearance in Michigan was at the Motor City Comic Con, held at the Novi Expo Center, in Novi, Michigan. It took place during the May 17-19,2002 weekend. My birthday weekend! (Incidentally, many thanks to the DS fans who sent me all those lovely birthday cards.) I was at the convention with Kathryn Leigh Scott and we had a great time meeting many new Dark Shadows fans, and also seeing some of our very loyal fans too. Many other TV and movie stars including my dear friend Larry Storch (star of F-Troop), pictured here with his wife Norma. Stars from Star Trek, Star Wars, and Lost In Space were also at this convention. We just took a few pictures during the weekend and if you'd like to view them, click here.

This convention appearance was in Cleveland, Ohio at the Fright Vision Expo from April 5 through the 7th, 2002. I was there with Kathryn Leigh Scott. Mark Dawidziak, author of all those wonderful books on The Night Stalker was with us at our table, and we all had a great time. It was wonderful to meet all our Cleveland fans from the Shadows of the Night Fan Club there. Here are some photos from the event.

The Dark Shadows Festival held in New York on Friday, August 17th, through Sunday, August 19th, 2001, was the biggest and best ever. I was so pleased to meet the hundreds of new fans that attended, and of course, to greet all our faithful fans who have been coming to these Fests over the years. It was also great to see my old buddies from the show during the Q&A Sessions, the Cast Reunion, and at the Autograph Tables.

I'm sharing some photos with you from the weekend, so that you can see what it was like, or perhaps, if you were there, you might even find yourself or someone you know in one of the shots. At best, it will bring back the memories of a wonderful event. Click here to see the pictures.

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