Showing posts with label Ben Cross. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ben Cross. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

Ben Cross: In Memoriam



He was the last of his kind, truly. A regal actor for fantasy roles that required a star to speak clearly, command the room, and, you know, shave and bathe. They were parts that called for a man of both truth and imagination. A master of theatrical size and total sincerity. He was Captain Nemo. He was Ambassador Sarek. He was Barnabas Collins.

While he was never the first to essay those roles, he had the insightful integrity of a man who made each totally original.

For some, he was their Captain Nemo and their Ambassador Sarek. And although the productions in which he essayed the roles are not definitive versions, Ben Cross delivered performances that were as indelible as those who originated the parts.

For many of us, he was our Barnabas Collins. Not that we weren’t deeply familiar with Jonathan Frid, but the 1991 series spared no expense to give us all of the corners cut in the 1960’s. It was a reward for loyalty. Although it was not the original, it was the creator of the show standing atop the towering successes of the Wouk miniseries, determined to make every element the finest he could. Star Trek returned with Patrick Stewart as the lead. Well, Dan Curtis saw Gene Roddenberry’s Patrick Stewart and raised him a Ben Cross, matured beyond Chariots of Fire. Capable of bringing equal Classical artistry to television fantasy’s other great saga.

And he was every bit Stewart’s equal. He was ours because for many of us, Dark Shadows left the air before we were born. But, as with Next Generation, we had the excitement of following the production through its initial announcement to the first photo of the next Barnabas Collins.

Cross’ performance matched that first, soulful photo. Intelligent and ferocious, he lacked Jonathan Frid’s endearing neurosis, but that allowed him the chance to explore the role of Barnabas Collins with his own judgment. Both men are martyrs to loss and betrayal, but while Frid was determined to rebuild, Cross was bent on revenge. It’s a less subtle performance in that sense, but wholly appropriate for the beginning of an arc that would only last for a tad over three months. His game was all too brief. His performance matched it, burning hot and fast. But it was never without delightful humor and humanity.

This is what he brought to Dark Shadows. His Barnabas had a texture, energy, and life all its own, and as such was Richard Burton to Frid’s Laurence Olivier. They gave two vastly different interpretations of the great man, and thus, neither encroached on the other. Instead, they are colleagues, and they both gave us the finest performances in the role that we could want.

The same for his Nemo. The same for his Sarek.

At 72, the loss is stunningly premature. It is exceeded only by our fortune that, if batons were to be passed, his was the hand to grasp them.

- Patrick McCray

Wednesday, November 25, 2015

Barnabas + Victoria 4EVR


An interesting piece of original art from Innovation's DARK SHADOWS comic series has gone up for auction on Ebay.

The 20" X 30" painting shows Joanna Going and Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins and Victoria Winters as they appeared in the 1991 "revival" series. I'm a little unclear on the purpose of this artwork, though. Artist Jason Palmer did a lot of work for Innovation, creating the covers for the company's LOST IN SPACE series ... but I don't think he ever worked on DARK SHADOWS. It's possible this art is a rejected cover, was created for promotional purposes, or was a personal commission. (The auction merely says its a "poster art painting.")

The auction ends in three days. You can see the full artwork below.

Via: Ebay

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

That other time Ben Cross played a vampire


Vampire stories are derivative by nature. While the line might be a little wobbly, the distance between John Polidori's 1819 story "The Vampire" and HBO's TRUE BLOOD is not a great as we like to think. When you prune the decorative foliage from BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, Anne Rice's "Interview with the Vampire," Marvel's "Tomb of Dracula" and DARK SHADOWS, you'll usually find the same tale of predatory romance lurking just beneath the surface.

So the idea of accusing a vampire story of ripping off anything feels a little wrong ... especially when you're talking about something as pastiche driven as DARK SHADOWS.  But it's hard to discount the weird similarities between that show and the 1989 TV movie,  NIGHTLIFE. Here's the summary that was floated to regional TV guides prior to its debut in August that year:
"A newly resurrected vampire attempts to adjust to the modern world while being torn between the hematologist who wants to cure her and her undead lover."
It sounds a bit like a gender-swapped version of HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS, doesn't it? Curiously, the movie's anti-heroine (played by Maryam d'Abo) is named "Angelique." And her undead lover "Vlad" was played none other than Ben Cross ... who'd go on to play  "Barnabas Collins" in the DARK SHADOWS revival just two years later. Some of these similarities are just matters of serendipity; others, I'm sure, are by design. You can probably figure out which is which.


If you're curious about NIGHTLIFE, there's a pirated version of the film currently streaming on YouTube. Embedding has been disabled on the video, but you can find the entire film HERE.

Friday, January 2, 2015

DARK SHADOWS prop ring goes up for auction


A prop ring worn by Ben Cross in the 1991 DARK SHADOWS revival series is up for auction on Ebay. Again. This item popped up on Ebay a few months back, and the owners are still in search of a buyer. Like many prop collectibles, this item is prices well out of my reach, even though I'd say the four-figure starting bid is reasonable.

I actually like the design of this ring quite a bit. While the character's design for the original television series is iconic, Jonathan Frid said on more than one occasion that not much effort (or money) was invested in dressing Barnabas Collins. The cane was purchased at a local NYC store, and Frid often remarked that he thought the rings offered as a premium with the 1960's trading cards were better made than the one he wore on the show. The ring worn by Cross in 1991 appears to have been made of sterner stuff and is much more ornate.

The auction listing notes that the current owner purchased the ring at a charity auction conducted during the 1997 Dark Shadows Convention. The auction ends Oct. 2.

View the auction HERE.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Ben Cross has crazy chops

For the last 20 years, the meme has been that "Nobody likes the Dark Shadows Revival series." It was something I'd come to believe myself until I noticed the significant bumps in traffic this website experiences whenever I mention the show.

BEN CROSS, who played Barnabas Collins in that series, is a talented guy. His acting career has been all over the map and suggests a man of good taste. He's also an accomplished jazz singer and performs live whenever his schedule allows. On Nov. 29, he hit the stage at the Sofia Live Club in Bulgaria. I know nothing about jazz beyond some rudimentary experience with Dizzy Gillespie, because A.) I used to live in his home town and B.) Gillespie and I had a few acquaintances in common. Just because I've heard "A Night in Tunisia" doesn't make me an expert on jazz.

Cross was recently in my neck of the woods, filming a new show for Cinemax in Charlotte, N.C., called BANSHEE.  I mention that because the idea of Cross playing a Russian gangster named Mr. Rabbit sounds badass, and because I can't figure out how to end this post. Somebody drop a cow on me!

 

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Dark Shadows Facebook Banners

Welcome to DARK SHADOWS REVIVAL SUNDAY! To get things started, here are a few images from the 1991 revival series, created to be used as banners on the new Facebook "timeline"" design. These images use artwork from the Innovation Comics series.




Sunday, April 8, 2012

"Sexier 'Shadows' hits prime time with more gore"

The Chicago Tribune took a look at the 1991 Dark Shadows revival series, featuring interviews with much of the cast, as well as writer Matt Hall. Unlike most of the DS91-related clippings, the intervoews for this story took place deep into the show's production and references characters like the Rev. Trask. Actor Ben Cross also had this to say about having the tables turned on him:

``I`ll tell you something,`` Ben Cross says, looking like anything but a vampire. He`s wearing an L.A. Dodgers baseball cap and sunglasses, sitting on a hill overlooking the Doheny mansion. ``I get to `fang` a lot of women in this. I`ve bitten a lot of female necks. Then there`s one point in the story where I have to experience this myself. So I have this girl with her fangs sunk in me, and her breath is hot on my neck. It was ... well, to tell you the truth, I got quite horny! It gave me goosebumps.``
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