Canadian actor Jonathan Frid was BOTD in 1924. Born in Hamilton, Ontario to a middle-class family, he showed an early interest in acting, performing in high school theatre productions. He attended McMaster University, breaking his studies in 1944 to join the Royal Canadian Navy. After the war, he returned to Ontario and completed his degree, then moved to London in 1949 to attend the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, leaving after his first year to work in repertory theatre. He returned to Canada in the 1950s, attending the Yale School of Drama in 1954, and became a popular theatre actor, appearing alongside Katharine Hepburn in the American Shakespeare Festival. In 1967, he joined TV soap opera Dark Shadows, playing the reluctant, guilt-ridden vampire Barnabas Collins. His introduction caused the floundering daytime drama to soar to 20 million daily viewers, catapulting the 42-year old Frid unexpectedly to stardom. He remained with the TV show until its finale in 1971, reprising his role for the spin-off film House of Dark Shadows. His later career was spent largely in theatre, supplemented with regular TV talk show appearances and Dark Shadows fan conventions. Discreetly gay, he remained in the closet throughout his life, and little is known about his personal relationships. He died in 2012, appropriately on Friday 13th, aged 87. His life, career and legacy was profiled in the 2021 documentary Dark Shadows and Beyond: The Jonathan Frid Story.