Louis Edmonds as Cyrano de Bergerac, 1967

On Sept. 6, 1967, Roger Collins returned home following an unusually long trip to Boston.

It was a trip that lasted 44 days.

With an ensemble show like DARK SHADOWS, it was common for members of the cast to be absent from the program for weeks at a time. Even at its peak, DARK SHADOWS had restrictions on the number of characters that could be featured on any given episode. Those restrictions never seemed to affect Jonathan Frid or Alexandra Moltke, who practically lived at the ABC soundstage where the show was filmed, but the rest of the cast had time off to pursue other interests.

Edmonds had been a fixture on DARK SHADOWS since the very beginning, so his absence from the show for more than a month was difficult overlook for fans. The writers explained that Roger Collins was on a business trip to Boston, but this trip kept Edmonds away from DARK SHADOWS for a whopping 31 episodes. He returned just in time to deliver his famous "incestors" blooper on Episode #313.

So, where had Edmonds got off too during his break?

Edmonds as Cyrano.

Edmonds recorded his previous episode of DARK SHADOWS on July 6; twenty days later he took the stage as Cyrano de Bergerac for the 1967 Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival in Ohio. If you think the idea of Louis Edmonds running around the stage with a huge prosthetic nose (and sword!) sounds awesome, then you're not alone. The critics loved Edmonds in the role, even if they found his skills with the character's preferred weapon to be a little underdeveloped.

"My fears regarding the playing of the main role proved baseless," wrote Al Thomas, of the Medina County Gazette. "Louis Edmonds, currently starring in the TV serial ‘DARK SHADOWS,’ sweeps through the rich part, exploring each facet of virility, dignity, loneliness and warmth. Above all, the warmth."

"If there is a weakness in this strong characterization, it would lie in the absence of stage proof that this is truly the greatest swordsman in France. Edmonds is not (Lawrence Luckinbill), climbing up the Lakewood theater walls in hot pursuit of Hotspur. The dueling scenes lack conviction.

"The criticism is minor, for Author Edmond Rostand meant the play to be a love sonnet with swords. And both he and the Shakespeare Festival crew interpret it that way."