Daniel Collins (Dark Shadows)
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| Daniel Collins | |
|---|---|
Naomi Collins (cousin in-law in original series, deceased), Jeremiah Collins (cousin in original series, deceased) | |
| Other relatives | Barnabas Collins (first cousin once removed in original series, deceased) Sarah Collins (first cousin once removed in original series, deceased)), Millicent Collins (first cousin once removed in primetime revival, deceased), Josette du Pres (first cousin once removed -in-law in original series, deceased), Angelique Bouchard(first cousin once removed in-law in original series, deceased) |
Daniel Collins is fictional character that appeared on the 1960s ABC daytime soap opera Dark Shadows. Initially the character was played by child actor David Henesy during a storyline that has become informally known as the "1795 Flashback". In 1970, the character returned (now an adult) for the "1840 Flashback" storyline, this time played by stage actor Louis Edmonds.
Biography
Daniel Collins was born 1785, in
Daniel and his sister, Millicent, were heirs in their own right to a large portion of the Collins Family fortune (as the only surviving members of the New York branch of the Collins family). Joshua Collins had hoped to consolidate this fortune by arranging a marriage between Millicent and his younger brother, Jeremiah, but neither Jeremiah nor Millicent had any interest in such an alliance. Millicent secretly married naval captain Lt. Nathan Forbes after she had given her share of the fortune to Daniel to prove that Forbes was not after her money. Forbes arranged to become Daniel's guardian and then drove Millicent insane (not a terribly difficult task) and hired an assassin to kill Daniel. Forbes was killed by
As an adult in the 1800s, Daniel married a woman named Harriet and became the patriarch of Collinwood. He had two sons, Quentin and Gabriel Collins. Controlling over the Collins estate had made Daniel have more pride, and he became an arrogant and vulgar man abusing his wife Harriet and Gabriel, though he always loved Quentin seeing him as the future successor to the Collins’ estate. Daniel often thought little of Gabriel, and considered him “dead” when he was crippled in an accident, this abuse made Gabriel despise Daniel. In 1830, Harriet died from a mysterious fall from Widow's Hill. It was said that the fact Daniel had murdered her was the "most well known family secret". Daniel, plagued by the guilt of killing Harriet began a long slide into senility and dementia. He often believed Harriet was haunting him and could appear anywhere in Collinwood except for the Tower Room, where Daniel had strangled her before throwing her body off the cliff.
In late 1840, the Collins family was set upon by the spirit of centuries old
Gerard framed Quentin for two murders and various acts of
In the end, it was actually Daniel's second son, Gabriel, who ended his life. Upon learning that Daniel had changed his will to disinherit Quentin for practicing witchcraft, he assumed that Daniel left him the entire fortune. Gabriel assaulted his father inducing a seizure which ultimately claimed his life. But Gabriel later discovered that the family fortune was to be left to Gerard Stiles as guardian of Quentin's son Tad Collins, until Tad turned 21; and sole heir should Tad die before then, or be taken from Collinwood by his mother.
Parallel Time
In 1970, the series writers began a storyline which focused on alternate realities. The character of Barnabas Collins discovered that the entrance to a specific room at Collinwood led into a parallel dimension where characters and events played out in similar form to their mainstream counterparts. In this parallel time, David Henesy played another character named Daniel Collins. This character was the counterpart to David Collins, but was the son of Quentin and Angelique Collins.
Revival Series
In 1991