Elizabeth Collins Stoddard

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Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was a fictional character played by Joan Bennett on the cult television ABC-TV Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows from 1966-1971. Elizabeth is the matriarch of the Collins family, the longtime owners of a cannery and shipping company in a small Maine fishing town.

1 Original series
2 Revival series
3 Trivia
4 External links
5 References

[edit] Original series

In the story, her husband Paul Stoddard disappeared 18 years before the arrival of governess Victoria Winters (Alexandra Moltke), at the show's beginning. Elizabeth had not left the ancient family mansion, Collinwood, since her husband went missing. Paul Stoddard would reappear in 1969 and die for real in 1970.

Elizabeth's daughter is spoiled rich girl Carolyn Stoddard (Nancy Barrett). Her younger brother is the snobbish Roger Collins (Louis Edmonds), who has a darkly mischievous (some would say diabolical) son named David Collins (David Henesy), of whom Elizabeth is quite fond. Despite her imperious and reserved exterior, Elizabeth is a deeply passionate woman who harbors more than one dark secret.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Many of the 1966-67 storylines centered on the character of Victoria Winters and her relationship with Elizabeth (as well as the greater Collins family as a whole). It was implied throughout the story that Vickie may have even been a blood relative of the family, but this plotline was never fully realized and the Winters character was eventually killed off in 1969. In 1999, writers Stephen Mark Rainey and Elizabeth Massie wrote the Dark Shadows novel Dreams of the Dark. The story concludes with a confirmation that Vickie Winters is in fact that illegitimate daughter of Elizabeth Collins. The identity of Vickie's father however, is never revealed. As this permutation was revealed many years after the television series had ceased publication, it cannot be considered part of the authoritative Dark Shadows story canon.

Spoilers end here.

The character of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard also appeared in the 1970 MGM film, House of Dark Shadows. There is very little distinction between the film version of Elizabeth and the television version, despite the fact that both productions take place within indepedent continuities. In the film's sequel, Night of Dark Shadows, Grayson Hall's character, Carlotta Drake, states that Elizabeth died some time after the events of House of Dark Shadows.

Elizabeth also appeared in several of the Marilyn Ross gothic novels by Paperback Library published during the 1960s-70s, as well as the original Dark Shadows comic book series published by Gold Key Comics.

[edit] Revival series

In 1991 Dan Curtis Productions revived the Dark Shadows series as a one-hour night time soap opera for NBC. The role of Elizabeth was played by veteran actress Jean Simmons. Due to cancellation, very little attention was given to Simmons' character, but she differed from her predecessor in that she was not portrayed as an eccentric recluse, but rather as a high-spirited passionate woman with a strong devotion to her family. This version of Elizabeth also appeared in three separate comic book adaptations by the defunct publishing company Innovation Comics.

[edit] Trivia

Elizabeth Collins Stoddard is the only character from the series who has appeared in both the first and final episodes of Dark Shadows. She is also one of only three characters who has remained on the series during the entire length of its production.

Actress Joan Bennett played several other characters during her tenure on Dark Shadows including, Naomi Collins, Judith Collins-Trask, Flora Collins, Elizabeth Collins (of Parallel Time) and Flora Collins (of Parallel Time).