“Dark Shadows” actress Lara Parker died on Oct. 12 at the age of 84, Variety reported.
Parker, famed for her portrayal of the witch Angelique Bouchard in the classic gothic soap opera, died in her sleep at her Los Angeles home, her daughter confirmed, per Variety.
Her four year portrayal of the antagonistic Angelique ended when writers killed off the character in 1971, but her involvement in the show’s universe didn’t end there. She continued to grace the silver screen as Catherine Harridge Collins, a family member of her former character’s love interest, Barnabas Collins.
“If your character died, we said, don’t worry you will be back in a black wig!” she told the Los Angeles Times in 2013.
RIP Lara Parker, Angelique on Dark Shadows. She captivated audiences as she went up against Barnabas Collins, and later wrote several novels based on the show. The actress, author, and teacher was 84.https://t.co/ZlO2DzpKX2
— MeTV (@MeTV) October 16, 2023
The Tennessee-born star also returned in a movie adaptation “Night Of Dark Shadows,” and made a cameo appearance in the 2012 adaptation starring Johnny Depp, “Dark Shadows.” (RELATED: Phyllis Coates, Iconic Actress Who First Played Lois Lane, Dead At 96)
Parker, who received a Master’s of Fine Art in creative writing from Antioch University, per the Los Angeles Times, also wrote four fiction books expanding upon the “Dark Shadows” universe. She penned “Dark Shadows: Angelique’s Descent” in 1998, “Dark Shadows: The Salem Branch” in 2006, “Dark Shadows: Wolf Moon Rising” in 2013, and “Dark Shadows: Heiress of Collinwood” in 2016, according to Variety.
“Time travel is one of the things I have incorporated into my books — going back to another area and exploring what would have happened at Collinwood in that period. That has been a lot of fun,” she told the Los Angeles Times.