Willie Loomis
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Willie Loomis was a character on the ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera, Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 until 1971. The character was first played by actor James Hall for a total of four episodes, who was subsequently replaced by John Karlen beginning with episode #206. Although Hall later returned to the show as a different character, Karlen continued to play the role of Willie Loomis for the remainder of the series. He appeared as Willie Loomis in a total of 106 episodes.
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[edit] Biography
Willie was a drifter, and a friend of fellow conman, Jason McGuire (Dennis Patrick). Following Jason's lead, Willie became an unwelcome houseguest at the distinguished New England mansion known as Collinwood, and aided Jason in a blackmailing scheme against the Collins family matriarch, Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Joan Bennett).
In 1967, Willie Loomis was searching for the legendary Collins family jewels at nearby Eagle Hill Cemetery in Collinsport, Maine. His foraging ultimately brought him to the family mausoleum. There, the inquistive and larcenous Willie discovered a coffin sealed with locks and chains. Suspecting the jewels were locked inside, he pried the chains loose, but upon doing so, released a vampire named Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid). Barnabas attacked Willie, turning him into his unwitting slave and servant.
That same year, Barnabas set his sights on a local woman named Maggie Evans. He kidnapped her and would have turned her into his immortal bride, if not for the efforts of Willie Loomis. Willie placed an anonymous phone call to Maggie's friend, Victoria Winters, revealing the missing girl's location. Maggie was rescued, but Barnabas was determined to reclaim her and turn her into a vampire. Sheriff George Patterson (originally played by Dana Elcar) and local physician Doctor Dave Woodward (played by Robert Gerringer) used Maggie as bait to set a trap for her mysterious stalker. In yet another effort to warn Maggie against Barnabas' intentions, Willie sprung the Sheriff's trap, whereupon Patterson's deputies shot him, critically injuring Willie. He was taken to the Collinsport Hospital in a comatose state and was later diagnosed mentally insane. Under the supervision of Dr. Julia Hoffman, he was transferred to Wyndcliffe Sanitarium, from which he was released in 1968.
Returning to Collinsport, Willie once again found himself in the service of Barnabas Collins. By this time however, a scientist named Dr. Eric Lang had developed a cure for Barnabas' vampirism. Willie was shocked to discover that he was now completely human. No longer fearful of the former vampire, Willie developed a close bond with Barnabas, as well as Dr. Hoffman. He willingly remained at the original family estate with him, and went to great lengths to make sure that Barnabas' sordid past remained Collinsport’s best-kept secret.
[edit] House of Dark Shadows
In 1971, John Karlen returned to the role of Willie Loomis for the feature film House of Dark Shadows. The movie loosely adapted plotlines that first aired in episodes 210-230 of the original series, but with the added benefit of a higher budget, which allowed the production crew the ability to film on location rather than on a studio lot. As in the TV show, Willie is responsible for discovering the chained coffin of Barnabas Collins and setting the hungry vampire loose upon Collinsport. Willie's character also appeared in the House of Dark Shadows novelization by Marilyn Ross. It is the only time that the Loomis character ever appeared in any of the Ross era novels.
[edit] 1991 Revival
In 1991, Dan Curtis Productions revived the Dark Shadows series as a one-hour weekly night time program on NBC. The character of Willie Loomis was reimagined, this time played by actor Jim Fyfe. Fyfe's version of Loomis proved to be an exaggerated version of the character as first defined by Karlen. He was often seen tripping over his own feet, or shuffling nervously, or loping about with his arms flailing wildly above his head. Like Karlen, Fyfe's Loomis spoke with a perpetual stammer – a quirk that has practically become a trademark for the character. This version of Willie found personal redemption much more rapidly than the original, and by the fourth episode of the series, he became Barnabas Collins' trusted and loyal confidante (a relationship that took Karlen's Loomis several years to develop). Jim Fyfe appeared as Willie Loomis in all thirteen episodes of the revival series.
[edit] 2004 Revival
Dan Curtis Productions (working alongside John Wells Productions) filmed a one-hour television pilot for what was to become a modern incarnation of the Dark Shadows series. The series was originally intended to air on the WB network occupying the time slot vacated by the cancelled Joss Whedon series, Angel. However the pilot was rejected and the series was never produced. Actor Matt Czuchry was originally slated to play the role of Willie Loomis.
[edit] Trivia
- Actor John Karlen played several characters for the Dark Shadows franchise, including Carl Collins, William Hollingshead Loomis, Desmond Collins, Kendrick Young and Alex Jenkins.
[edit] See also
- Dark Shadows actors
- Dark Shadows characters
- House of Dark Shadows
- Night of Dark Shadows
- People associated with Dark Shadows
[edit] External links
- Willie Loomis at Collinwiki
- Dark Shadows at TV.com
- John Karlen entry at IMDB
- John Karlen page at Collinwood.net
- Jim Fyfe entry at IMDB
