Jonathan Frid

Frid was born of Scottish[3] and English ancestry in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. He was the youngest son of homemaker Isabel Flora (née McGregor) and Herbert Percival "H.P." Frid, a construction executive.[1][4][5]

Frid served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. He graduated from McMaster University in Hamilton in 1948,[6] and the following year was accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London. He moved to the United States in 1954, and received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Directing from the Yale School of Drama in 1957.[7] As a student at Yale in 1956, he starred in the premiere of William Snyder's play A True and Special Friend.[8] He went on to star in the first productions at the Williamstown Theater in Williamstown, Massachusetts and stage productions in Canada, England and the United States.[9]

He began using the stage name Jonathan Frid in 1962,[10] and made his Broadway debut as an understudy in the 1964 play Roar Like a Dove.[11]

Early television roles with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation included parts in Julius Caesar,[12] 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea,[7] Our Town, and The Picture of Dorian Gray.[12]

Frid as Barnabas Collins, 1968

Frid is widely known for the role of vampire Barnabas Collins on the original gothic serial Dark Shadows, which ran from 1966-71. He also starred as Barnabas in the 1970 movie House of Dark Shadows. In 1967, Frid had made plans to move to the U.S. West Coast to pursue a career as an acting teacher when he won the role that ultimately made him a household name. As Frid explained on his Web site, he had barely entered his apartment as the phone call from his agent came informing him that he had won the role of Barnabas Collins. He agreed to accept it after being told it was a short-term one that would provide him with extra cash while he prepared to move. As the character's popularity soared, Frid scrapped those plans.[7]

After Dark Shadows ended in 1971, he returned to performing in live theatre full-time with starring roles in the Broadway plays Murder in the Cathedral as Thomas Becket and Wait Until Dark as Harry Roat. Frid had previously played the role of a psychiatrist on the CBS Television soap opera As the World Turns. 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. In 1978, he returned to Canada for a time and later returned to New York City in the early 1980s.[13]