“Forgotten Hollywood”- A Dark Day…

Posted on January 22, 2020 by raideoman1 | No Comments

Manny P. here…

“`There was a time when young folks of the 1960s would rush home from school to watch (of all things) a soap opera. The program was macabre, filled with vampires, a wolfman, assorted other ghouls and ghosts, and starred one of Hollywood’s Golden Age greats… Joan Bennett. It was called Dark Shadows.

“`The program became popular with the introduction of Barnabas Collins, played by Jonathan Frid. The character who unshackled the monstrous Barnabas was a Dwight Frye-type, named Willie Loomis, portrayed by the late John Karlan.

                                        JOHN KARLAN

“`Karlan began his career when he enrolled in American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Upon graduation, he began working in live television, such as the  Kraft Television Theatre. John also had a role in Naked City. After his five-year stint on Dark Shadow, he guest-starred in The Mod Squad, The MagicianKojak, Police StoryMedical Center, Barnaby Jones, Mannix, The Streets of San Francisco, All in the Family, and Hill Street Blues.

“`During the second phase of his career, Karlan was added to the cast of Cagney and Lacey. This assignment lasted over six years, and he earned an Emmy for his efforts. So memorable was his work, Karlan would reprise his roles on  Cagney and Lacey and Dark Shadows in a number of big screen productions and made-for-TV specials. He also appeared in Mad About You and Murder She Wrote.

“`For the record,  Willie Loomis was one of my five favorite characters on episodic television of the 1960s. The others were Dr. Zachary Smith (Lost in Space), Emma Peel (The Avengers), Tony Newman (The Time Tunnel), and The Riddler (Batman).

“`John Karlan was eighty-six.

Until next time>                               “never forget”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 22nd, 2020 at 11:39 pm and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.


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