Jonathan Frid is a Canadian actor who was brought on to play the role of Barnabas Collins - a vampire - on the first incarnation of the television serial Dark Shadows, to help rescue flagging television ratings.

The role of Barnabas Collins was originally intended to be a brief one, but the popularity of Frid's vampire and the improvement to the ratings resulted in the character continuing on and becoming one of the "core" characters of the show.