Interview: Thayer David
A vintage Ron Barry interview from 1969

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Thayer David was unique amongst the Dark Shadows cast for his numerous roles in the series, essaying a record-breaking twelve parts. Despite his popularity, David remained aloof from fandom, rarely giving interviews. 1969 saw him making an exception when he spoke to radio DJ Ron Barry; notorious for his Dumb Shadows spoofs. In a rare Dark Shadows related interview, David spoke at length about his days on the show…

Barry's first question concerned David's already prolific Dark Shadows role-call. "I've played four characters now, my latest one being Sandor the gypsy [during 1897]. I think that it is a record. A number of people have played three, although in most cases they've been relatives or ancestors, and have certainly borne a pretty close resemblance."

In my case, three of them have been totally different. Ben was, to some extent, a version of Matthew Morgan, a character I had done about a year earlier on the show, who was killed off, quite spectacularly. And for that, I used a more down-East kind of accent. For Matthew, I used something that I felt was quite authentic - at least from my recollection of spending time there as a child. I modified that a little for Ben."

"Dan Curtis, our producer, has the idea that people like to see a stock company of actors," commented David on Dark Shadows convention for multiple casting of performers. "If there's a logical reason for it, such as an ancestor or a flashback, I think it works very well, and the viewers are always left wondering about what's going to happen next. I think we've established a convention on the show that allows us to do pretty much anything we want to."

Matthew Morgan was in complete contrast to David's later role as Professor Stokes, though he was quick to counter that Dark Shadows itself, was very much a different show. "When I played Matthew, the series was stilled confined to the present, and the supernatural element was much more manifest, but pretty questionable - just ghosts and the haunting of the house really. No vampires!" For Stokes, David's interpretation drew upon his own personality. "Professor Stokes has a more cultured accent, and in many ways, he is the hardest one to do, because he is closest to my own voice. There's a certain gravity in Stokes, due to the situations I have to handle. I [the character] think the most reasonable thing - the only reasonable thing - would be to have a séance! I'm always giving practical advice, such as a séance or exorcism."

Although Thayer David is best remembered for his work on Dark Shadows, it represented only a fraction of his acting career. "With a recent birthday, I've been acting now for twenty years. As an actor, I was just satisfied to work. When I started in the business, I was told that if I made it, I would not do so for a good many years, because of the physical and vocal type I am. I was not entirely convinced then, but the years went by and I was more and more inclined to believe that my teachers had been right. I think that, like most careers, I never managed mine very well and just worked a great deal, and always tried to enjoy it. I've done one film that continues to re-appear, which was 'Journey to the Centre of the Earth', which is a quite well known film. For the kind of film it is, I think it's quite well done, even though it was not much fun to make."

In addition to his work on Dark Shadows, Thayer David maintained a fulfilling career in many other niches within the acting profession. "I think I have between twenty and thirty commercials playing at present. There are currently a lot of things that I've done which aren't on yet, and I've done a number of things that are now inactive. They tend to lay dormant for a while but often come back, and then the cheques come in! Commercial jobs are pretty easily adjustable because they only take a few hours to complete, which is one of the reasons they are a Godsend to the actor. I'll often rush out from Dark Shadows, having made a 5.30PM appointment, working for a couple of hours."