Dark Shadows - John Karlen Interview 02

[@TakersMissy]

I think it's cool that Willie opening Barnabas' chained casket - while it didn't produce the "family jewels" he was expecting - it sure as heck produced a priceless gem of a character in Barnabas Collins! Love ya too, John K.!

[@janetlieb2507]

♥️♥️♥️♥️

[@pattyb325]

I loved watching John Karlen on Dark Shadows, I watched the original series after school, and I am watching the whole series again, and I love it more! It's great!

[@greenfaerie61537]

RIP John....Willie...love, forever ❤🥀

[@anneaires3984]

John Karlen is freakin hilarious as is the late, great Dennis Patrick...Willie and Jason, what a package!!!

[@hollyb6885]

Mare G I absolutely agree!!!!

[@nina1522]

Mare G Willie and Jason always cracked me up.

[@jeanettesmith765]

I loved those two!

[@kensellers4082]

Dennis Patrick once told a limerick “dedicated” to the great Willie Loomis: There was a young lad named Willie, Who went after a goat that was pretty, Said the goat, “Don’t be crass, stay away from my ass, “My name isn’t Nan, it’s Billy!”

[@wulphstein]

Brilliant actor!

[@lawrencehawkins7198]

Who ever shot this was a genius. I LOVE what he does with the light/dark on this!

[@snurfbee58]

Nearly every week when watching the show we would say at least once, "Poor Willy".

[@djg4015]

Lmbo... My wife and i say that whenever we watch DS

[@miriamjewett5438]

And you did a beautiful job. Dark Shadows was much more than a common soap opera

[@mickeymartin464]

Love you John 😍 enjoy still watching you on Dark Shadows.

[@Zeldafan1ify]

I love how you can still faintly hear Willie's voice entwined in John's accent haha.

[@fucheduck]

and here I thought he spoke for Speed Racer. LOL no that was another actor with a boston accent

[@catt4598]

John Karlen......great actor. Loved him in DS, and also in Cagney and Lacey. One of my favorite actors!!!!!!!!!!!

[@11redlions]

Willie had the lowest status of anyone, even his friend Jason beat him up, everyone looked down on him but yet when Jason died Willie almost cried by the coffin. Willie was a hero in his heart, always trying to obey Barnabas but looking out for others. Can you imagine Barnabas owning you.

[@paradigmjumping]

Agreed. Excellent actor! One of my favs. More than deserved that Emmy for C&L.

[@gxrach]

Very good looking man, one of my favorites in the show!

[@kpmac1]

Interesting that he thinks he was doing a southern accent. Sounded pretty New York to me.

[@hollyb6885]

kpmac1 It was southern in the first episode or two then went Brooklyn. I like the Brooklyn accent better.

[@jamesgomez8085]

kpmac1 I didn't know wildly came from south. Did they ever mention that on show

[@hollyb6885]

James Gomez I don’t remember it ever being mentioned but in his first couple episodes, Willie did have a southern accent. I’m glad they got rid of that though. I like Brooklyn Willie much better

[@hollyb6885]

Tracy Tobias 😂

[@wiseguymaybe]

@@jamesgomez8085 Actually James Hall, the first actor to play Willie had a southern accent. His character was a real menacing jerk to. That's why John had to play Willie with that accent for the first few shows. He took over well, but in a way I wanted to see Hall's Willie gravel at Barnabas's feet because he was such a tough acting punk, but John was right for the part.

[@petitelapin60]

Loved John Karlen as Willie!!! Delighted to find what a warm, funny and down to earth fellow he is Great interview! Thanks for sharing!

[@d1i2a3n4n5e6]

What a great personality and actor.

[@lynnebraun4845]

I love it..."Jonny"!!!! They all were great.

[@billymanners5752]

This is one of the best interviews I've ever seen and this man is terrific and I loved Willie Loomis

[@pedinurse1]

I loved Willie, he was such a great actor, his part was great , and he was pretty handsome

[@conithomson4409]

John is hilarious 😆. Love the way he calls Willie southern white trash. Too funny. He was really cute too. He turned into a nice guy trying to save Maggie. I could never figure out why he didn’t stake Barnabas during the day. Of course that would also have killed off the show. Awesome show. I was 10. Mom watched it with me. I also loved Cagney n Lacy with John, Tyne Daily and Sharon Gless.

[@njpubadjuster3710]

Willie eventually had what's called "Stockholm Syndrome," where he was like the hostage who eventually got along with his captor. He feared Barnabas at first, but then eventually came to respect and be protective of him.

[@greg7656]

RIP the great John Karlen

[@donschwellenbach5461]

I loved Willie, he gave the story pathos, when he told Barnabas, I did it dont hurt her, punish me not her(Maggie) he had me hooked, even in that very unusual role he was fabulous

[@greenfaerie61537]

Adored John Karlen, Willie Loomis RIP❤🥀

[@Barbarian857]

LOVED Willie Loomis!

[@sharonlynnh.1951]

Great verstile actor John Karlen totally "incredible" in all his roles he brought life to: Willie-although he started out as a "victim/slave" to Barnabas..."he/Willie grown into his own being quite outspoken toward Barnabas when he felt that he was wrong. I really liked it when he gained his boldness back w/humanity. Out of all Mr. Karlens DS's characters .."Willie is my fav, then Karl Collins "love him" (how scary when he sees Quentin as a zombie) and Desmond (dashing/sexy..."bringing that evil head of Judah Zachery to the COL!INS Family Manson was awful "scary" a big no, No!!!!!) etc.,. Brilliant actor John Karlen and I'm honored to have meet & he signed "many" autographs @the 50th Dark Shadows in Hollywood-Halloween Event 2016. THANK YOU!!

[@LindaPolley]

My favorite Dark Shadows character, one of my favorite actors of all time!

[@jamesmiller9515]

What a great interview...funny as hell...Willy Loomis a slave to BC...we loved it...and ran home from school to catch every episode...

[@maryoconnor8297]

Willie.....keep hearing Barnabas calling him! R.I.P John!

[@novastariha8043]

This is Incredible!!! ThankYou!!!!

[@imfunnytoo]

Just too fun he obviously enjoyed his time on the show

[@pedinurse1]

I loved how Barnabas would grab him by the throat and push him away like trash, it was so well done

[@kathybennett3787]

I could listen to him for hours! ❤️❤️❤️

[@jeanettesmith765]

He is so entertaining.

[@Barnabas45]

R.I.P. Willie...😢

[@philipmyers8890]

I like the way the character developed. When they got to the last time we saw Willie I wish the character could have gone on & closed the show.

[@vinnyvincent53]

Philip Myers . towards the end before 1840 his charecter was heading in a new direction.

[@michaelkelly4940]

You couldn't help, sometimes, feeling empathy for Willie Loomis as he seem to represent such vulnerable human frailty in the thick of such sizzling, supernatural events happening in his face!! Like Ben Stokes, both inadvertently served as scapegoats all along! Also, does anyone remember the film's, "House Of Dark Shadows" or "Night Of Dark Shadows" Back in those days!?

[@tadimaggio]

I loved "Dark Shadows" as a child (and still do), although, in the events leading up to Barnabas' release from his coffin, I couldn't understand, even as a child, why on earth the Collins family would have buried their family jewels in a mausoleum! John Karlen might have mentioned that, like almost all of the principals in the cast, he got to play a variety of characters on the show. His 1897 character was a foppish, empty-headed Collins family member; by contrast, his 1840 role was as a serious, thoughtful, compassionate man (also a Collins). Even Willie grew as a character as time went on. What a lot of fun these people gave their fans over the years! Here's to you, Mr. K.

[@nspector]

I've never even seen Dark Shadows and this is totally infectious. I can't believe how excited he still was about doing that part. It's amazing. I've never seen an interview quite like this.

[@eliseshaw6993]

I just found out he passed. R.I.P Mr Karlen ⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘⚘

[@nativevirginian8344]

Karlen was one of the best actors on that show, along with Dennis Patrick.

[@naturegirllover]

Really a great actor! Loved him in Dark Shadows

[@lynnmitzy1643]

♥️Willie Loomis👍🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼great character

[@stevenbrown1225]

Comes on the show as sort of a young, tough hood. James Deen type. Fights with the shows hero in a bar, pulls a knife. Typical bad boy. Then, the show about to be dumped by ABC and Dan Curtis says, "Screw it! We'll give em a actual vampire in the story line." So Karlin goes from Deen to being Dwight Frye to Frid's Lugosi! Showbiz is weird but JK was a joy to watch.

[@jameskenney9192]

1:32 I thought Willy Loomis was supposed to be a native of Maine and he spoke with a New England accent.

[@marilynwillett804]

in an interview He was the one who said it was supposed to be ''southern white trash'' very ignorant comment.

[@TheMladyne]

John Karlan is missed. I adore this man. I'm not a star-chaser, but he is one person I wish I'd had the opportunity to meet. He seems like he loved meeting people and having a good time.

[@reader1956]

Willie Loomis and Harve Lacey. Two great performances by a great actor.

[@anneaires3984]

Another fun fact blooper...Willie is in the Old House cellar and says, ," this place gives me the Willie's" ....then repeats, "the Willie's"...and chuckles then gets back into character......it's classic John Karlen...so stinkin funny😂

[@jrsinger78]

That man was a phenomenal actor…. Yeah he didn’t sound southern to me either lol, one of the best on the show for sure.

[@lindapesnell5723]

❤️ Thank You ❤️

[@Spot4art]

Great piece

[@robertgraham5709]

Brilliant💯

[@pedinurse1]

he is hilarious

[@michaelkelly4940]

Angelique was also Cassandra - an all new lookalike witch . . In fact, the TV audience couldn't tell which witch was which!!!🌜🌜🌜

[@daviddryden8088]

What a great actor he was on Dark Shadows. What Reinfield was to Dracula, Willie was for Barnabas (without the fly eating) Break a leg Mr. Karlen.

[@ethelhoose1196]

I loved John Karlen as Willie

[@henriettedyer2410]

Willie could be hillarious sometimes. Lol

[@russellloomis4376]

I have a feeling it wasn't too far of a stretch for him to play Willie. Makes me laugh my dad's name was William (Bill) Loomis if he were alive I would be pissing him off and laughing the whole time.😂😂

[@paulascott5701]

Could the lighting for this have been any worse? Damn! John Karlen was a truly great actor. I put him up against anybody.

[@secondcomingofbast9908]

Willy Loomis functioned as a sounding board for Barnabas and a great many times he was the conscience of Barnabas. That was how Willy's originally more aggressive and bullying personality managed to reassert itself after he became the slave of Barnabas. At times, even Barnabas was at a loss and stymied in response to Willie when his "slave" started to get to him. Or Barnabas would simply be reduced to pointless insults Great, well thought out and delineated character.

[@krisscanlon4051]

Weird i only knew him from Cagney Lacey! Crazy

[@fkd1963]

RIP

[@tiger38able]

He was great in the movie they made at the end... I felt so sad for his character!

[@davidgagnon3781]

"This place gives me the willies. The willies heh heh. That's funny."

[@TT-rz5td]

John Karlen a d David Henesy (David/Daniel) were the best actors on the show, IMHO.

[@jeanettesmith765]

David Henesy was marvelous!

[@cherylbowker7664]

He was great in Cagney &Lacy

[@janispotter4254]

He wasn't trying to do a southern accent. It was Irish but pretty intermittent.

[@janispotter4254]

He wasn't trying to do a southern accent. It was supposed to be Irish, but they had a hard time remembering that!

[@marilynwillett804]

We were all used to karlen but I much preferred James Hall. He was more what the young punks looked and acted like. Karlen hamed it up on the sympathy routine, but Hall never did, he din't care what viewers thought of him, thats why he was great for the punk role.

[@HoldenNY22]

I grew up watching Dark Shadows and I am a guy. I would never consider watching a regular Soap Opera, but I liked all the Vampires and Supernatural stuff. I think Barnabas Collins as the Good Vampires was the forerunner of Angel and other good Vampires like in True Blood and that YOung Vampire and Werewolf Movie Series who name I forget - Moonlight Actually, I used to really like the Vampire Genre, but when ever became Vampires that is when I lost interest in the Genre.

[@fucheduck]

oddly he reminds me of Bobby Kimball from that rock band Toto. actor swapping was a regular thing on that show. both versions of Willie Loomis were great! the other one was more brutal, scared the Hell out of me what he migth do to those girls. Karlen was more subtile and creepy.

[@scronx]

His accent was about as Southern as George Burns' ;~)

[@ianman15]

Karlan was great as the neurotic Willie Loomis. Were it not for his character, Barnabas Collins never would have been released!

[@michaelkelly4940]

Knock - knock!!! Who's there!? Witch! Witch who!? Is that two questions!? Which is it!? Or who is it!? Forget it!! Let's switch!!! If you don't get this joke - don't worry!! Neither do I!!

[@tracynickels164]

[@coffeelover8084]

That ain't no southern accent, Hon.

[@atlantic-yq2wr]

As Anthony George softened the character of Burke Devlin (when compared to Mitchell Ryan portraying him), the change to John Karlen to portray Willie Loomis achieved the same effect. The original Willie was cunning and dangerous, whereas the Willie that we all got to know was bumbling and cowardly.

[@11redlions]

+atlantic 11561 He was not cowardly, he was terrified to the core of Barnabas and dint you listen he was under his power? when he told Maggie its when Barnabas was in his coffin it was strongest, Wiilie would be in the car and unable to just drive 1000 miles away, even though he was usually out doing errands everyday. he cared about people and tried hard to not get Barnabas to harm them, but who can tell Barnabas what to do. he was not bumbling even Barnabas said Willie does the job of 3 men in the old house, he had to do everything.

[@atlantic-yq2wr]

Marilyn Willett True, he was an excellent handyman, but he was not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. With that said, I always liked Willie. :D

[@11redlions]

Yes but he ended up being Barnie's best friend, even though he got beat, framed, etc.

[@atlantic-yq2wr]

Marilyn Willett Quite true. I will never forget when he and Julia thought that the dream curse had in fact killed him. After they buried him, Willie was actually reminiscing even about how he met Barnabas!

[@11redlions]

HEY I HAVENT SEEN THAT

[@richardhamilton9936]

The first Willie was seriously creepy. And not in a good way.