Angelique the Witch
Encyclopedia
Angélique Bouchard Collins, usually known as simply Angélique, is a fictional character
from the TV gothic horror-soap opera
Dark Shadows
and its various adaptations. She is primarily portrayed as a powerful witch
driven by her vacillating love and hatred for the series' eventual protagonist
, Barnabas Collins
.
In the original TV series, the character was portrayed by Lara Parker
, and appeared within several storylines of the series which aired from June 1966 through April 1971. Angélique was originally introduced to explain how Barnabas Collins became a vampire, but she proved popular enough in her own right to make many return appearances.
was transported back to the past, she soon met Barnabas Collins, followed by his fiancée Josette du Pres and her maid, Angélique Bouchard. Few realized Barnabas and Angélique had had a short fling while Barnabas was in her native Martinque, (on a business trip representing the Collins Family, hoping to do trade with the wealthy DuPres Family). When Barnabas fell in love with Josette, he told Angélique they could be no more. Angélique used her powers to get her revenge. At first she tries to kill Barnabas by causing him to choke. When she sees him near death, she can not bear to continue the spell. She casts a spell on the family servant, Ben Stokes, that makes him her slave. With Ben's help, she begins her plans to destroy Barnabas' love for Josette. Through a love spell she makes Josette fall in love with and marry Barnabas' uncle Jeremiah Collins. Jeremiah and Barnabas had a duel, which ended in Jeremiah's death.
Despite Josette's deception, Barnabas still loves her. Angélique continues to scheme to gain Barnabas' love. She casts a spell on Barnabas' beloved little sister Sarah that makes her very ill and takes her to the brink of death. Angélique makes a bargain with Barnabas that if she cures Sarah, Barnabas will marry her. She brews a tea that she tells Barnabas may cure Sarah. She then removes the curse from Sarah. When Angélique reminds Barnabas of their bargain, Barnabas tries to get out of the deal saying that he was too upset to think clearly. Angélique agrees to release him. Barnabas is moved by Angélique's devotion to him and agrees to marry her. Joshua Collins, Barnabas' father, is firmly against the marriage and tries to bribe Angélique to leave Collinsport. When she refuses, Joshua agrees to the marriage but only after a proper mourning period for Jeremiah. At first Angélique agrees to the stipulation, but she begins to fear that she will lose Barnabas. First she raises the ghost of Jeremiah Collins to haunt Josette and Barnabas. However, she is still afraid that Barnabas will change his mind so she pushes for the marriage to be performed immediately. Barnabas agrees and Joshua disowns him and tells them to leave Collinwood. Naomi Collins does not want her only son to leave, so she deeds him the Old House which has been in her name.
At first the idea of living in the Old House is very exciting to Angélique. As soon as Barnabas leaves for the minister, however, the ghost of Jeremiah appears to her and she is unable to return him to the grave. Jeremiah tries to stop the wedding, first by kidnapping Angélique. When Ben Stokes finds her, Jeremiah tries to scare the minister away from the house by knocking over furniture in poltergeist-like fashion, and being generally ghostly. After the ceremony he turns the champagne into blood. Later, he puts Josette's music box in Angélique's bedroom. When Barnabas finds Angélique playing the music box he becomes upset and walks out. The ghost of Jeremiah confronts Angélique one more time so she can not follow Barnabas.
Unable to sleep, Angélique wanders the halls of the Old House and discovers that Victoria Winters is hiding in her old room. Jealous and a bit afraid that Victoria may be controlling the ghost of Jeremiah, Angélique plots to have Victoria's hiding place discovered. First she sends a message to Sarah Collins in Victoria's voice calling Sarah to the Old House. Sarah tells her religiously fanatic Aunt Abigail and father Joshua that Miss Winters is calling her, and they follow her to the Old House. Barnabas allows them into the house but will not let them search for Victoria. While the adults are talking Sarah slips away to Victoria's room and takes her to a place to hide. Angélique is undaunted for Barnabas agrees to allow the witch-hunting Reverend Trask to perform a ritual to cleanse the house of witches. Barnabas agrees because he has nothing but contempt for Trask, and does not believe that he has any real power. However, as Trask performs his ritual, Angélique performs one of her own making Victoria believe that the house is on fire. Victoria flees the Old House and is captured by Trask. Unknown to Angélique, Barnabas passed the room where she was casting her spell and hears her. At first he does not pay much attention to the incident. Later, when Angélique says she was in another part of the house during Trask's ritual, Barnabas begins to suspect that Angélique is the witch that has been plaguing his family.
Barnabas confronts Ben Stokes about the identity of the witch. Ben is unable to say her name but writes the letter "A" in the dust. Barnabas then shot Angélique, and while injured and assuming she would die, she placed a curse on him and all he loved. A few moments later, a bat flew into the room and bit him. Angélique's wounds were not as serious as she had expected and she regretted her decision, but her attempts to remove Barnabas' curse failed and he died. When she went to his coffin to stake him, he strangled her.
Although she was technically dead, her spirit appeared to prevent Ben Stokes from staking Barnabas (as Barnabas had asked). Later, Barnabas bit Josette, with the intention of turning her into a vampire. Before he could complete the transformation, however, Angélique's spirit lured Josette to the peak of Widow's Hill and showed her a vision of herself as a vampire. Terrified at the thought of what she would become, Josette leapt to her death. Angélique was also indirectly the cause of death to both Naomi and Sarah as well, (Naomi, who had become an alcoholic, committed suicide by drinking poison upon realizing what Barnabas had become; Sarah died of pneumonia after following Barnabas into a rainstorm). Finally, Angélique’s spirit was able to assume corporeal form long enough to testify at Victoria's witchcraft trial, testimony which helped convict Victoria for Angélique’s own crimes. Victoria was hanged, but a time paradox caused her to return to her normal time (1968).
-like creature, Adam, which shared a life force with Barnabas) lived on. Cassandra devised a "dream curse" to wend its way through the subconscious of various Collinsport residents. Victoria was the last person to suffer the curse, and tried her best to keep the dream from Barnabas. To spare her pain, Barnabas made her tell him the dream. He was bitten by a vampire bat, but instead of reverting to his curse, as had been Cassandra's intention, Barnabas lived. Upon confronting Angélique /Cassandra, Barnabas told her he would never forgive her for bringing about the deaths of the two women he loved most, Josette and his mother Naomi.
Diabolos had previously sent warlock Nicholas Blair (Humbert Allen Astredo) to keep an eye on Angélique’s plans. When she tried to kill Adam, Nicholas, who had plans for Adam, took away her powers and she rapidly aged into her true age of several hundred years. During a confrontation with Barnabas, the aged Angélique collapsed and died. Her body vanished from the drawing room of the Old House. Weeks later, Angélique returned as a vampire, a further punishment from Nicholas. (The abrupt disappearance of "Cassandra Collins" was not dwelled on by her husband, or the Collins family though). Several times, the brunette-wigged "Cassandra" had been seen by Collinwood residents in compromising positions with lawyer Tony Peterson. Although she had just put a spell on Tony to further her plots, it was assumed that she had become disenchanted with being Mrs. Roger Collins, and simply run out on him. Nicholas used her to bite Joe Haskell (Joel Crothers
), boyfriend of Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott
), whom Nicholas wanted for himself. Angélique also bit Tom Jennings (Don Briscoe
) repeatedly until she turned him into a vampire, then Victoria's boyfriend Jeff Clark (Roger Davis
), and finally Barnabas himself. As much as she tried, she still could not make Barnabas love her. Eventually Angélique betrayed Nicholas to Diabolos, revealing that the warlock had fallen in love with Maggie Evans. Nicholas was soon after destroyed. She also returned later in her "Cassandra" guise to revitalize the curse she had placed on Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Joan Bennett
) that she would fear death until she became so paralyzed with fear that she would be buried alive.
In 1969, the time paradox flared up again and both Jeff/Peter and Victoria were returned to 1795 (now referred to as 1796), making this time travel disappearance right before the astonished eyes of both Barnabas and Elizabeth. Barnabas returns to his 1796 body to rescue Victoria. There, he encountered Angélique, who explained that she had been restored to human form (non-vampiric, but still with her witch powers) and sent back to her original point in time by Diabolos, as a favor for exposing Nicholas' treachery. Although Vicky had been hanged, Angélique had used witchcraft to keep her alive in suspended animation, in order to torment Barnabas. Ben Stokes set Angélique on fire, destroying her, which freed Victoria from the spell. Victoria and Peter then quietly fled from Collinwood to live out their lives in 1796, and Barnabas returned to 1968, assuming he had seen the last of Angélique.
) and Evan Hanley (Humbert Allen Astredo) used black magic to try to summon a power to defeat Barnabas Collins (who had travelled via the I-Ching to the past to find out why Quentin's ghost was haunting/possessing young David Collins (David Henesy
) and young Amy Jennings (Denise Nickerson
) - who had been adopted by both Elizabeth and Roger, upon the deaths of her two older, grown, twin brothers Chris and Tom Jennings; plus the realization that all three of the Jennings' were the great-grandchildren of Quentin Collins - in 1969). In response to their summons, Angélique appeared, and began manipulating Rachel Drummond (Kathryn Leigh Scott), Barnabas' newest love interest, until Barnabas gave Rachel an amulet for protection. Quentin was stabbed to death and Barnabas asked Angélique to bring him back to life. Instead, Angélique made him a zombie and told him to take Rachel to the grave with him. Eventually, she resurrected Quentin permanently. To protect Quentin from phoenix Laura (Diana Millay
), Barnabas agreed to introduce Angélique as his fiancée. After various schemes and plans on both sides, Laura tried to kill Barnabas, but Angélique stopped her. Laura then destroyed Angélique, or so she thought, but actually only destroyed a double Angélique had created of herself. Laura set a room on fire and tried to die with her children (Jamison and Nora), but Angélique cast a spell which caused Laura to age away to nothing. Later in the storyline, everyone found out Barnabas was a vampire, making him a wanted man. Meanwhile, Quentin had been cursed as a werewolf and begged Angélique to find the hand of Count Petofi and cure him. In return, he agreed to marry her, and for some time she was his fiancée. Angélique next became jealous of Kitty Hampshire (Kathryn Leigh Scott), who was revealed to be the reincarnation of Josette (she had willed herself into the future in much the same way that Peter Bradford was able to appear in 1968/69 as Jeff Clark). Angélique also created a doppelgänger for Barnabas which was staked, thus making everyone assume Barnabas was dead and allowing him breathing room. Angélique returned periodically to help Quentin battle Petofi, but after Quentin departed from Collinwood, she felt no desire to remain there.
Lady Kitty realized that she was really Josette, and like Jeff/Peter did, faded back to her original timeline. In an uncharacteristic move, Angélique used magic to enable Barnabas to travel even further into the past, back to 1796, and save her from the very tragic event that Angélique originally engineered. After which, she vanished, hinting that she would no longer pursue Barnabas or the Collins family. (Unfortunately, Angélique’s good deed was undone by the Leviathans, who used Barnabas to transport their leader from 1796 to 1969, and Kitty, believing her true love had deserted her, committed suicide.)
), Barnabas' confidant, deduced that Quentin's immortality was tied to an enchanted painting done of him. When Julia sought out the painting, she discovered it was owned by a certain Sky Rumson (Geoffrey Scott), whose wife was Angélique! No explanation was given to account for her activities since she last appeared, but Angélique insisted to Julia that she had given up witchcraft. As an indication of how much she had changed, she allowed the Collins family to hide out at her home from the Leviathans (after Barnabas turned against them, the Leviathans vowed retribution against him and everyone he loved), despite the fact that she feared the Collins family would recognize her as Cassandra. Angélique truly loved Sky and stayed loyal to him until Nicholas Blair, who had returned to aid the Leviathans in their plans for world domination, told Sky (who was a Leviathan agent) to kill her. Sky tried to set her on fire. Angélique used her powers to choke Sky and fled. Jealous of Barnabas' continued affection for Maggie Evans (who looked just like Josette), she cast a spell to make Maggie and Quentin fall in love. To get revenge on the Leviathan leader Jeb Hawkes, Angélique cast a shadow which would get bigger and bigger until it killed him. Desperate, Jeb agreed to do whatever she wanted him to do, which was to put the shadow on Nicholas. Nicholas died instantly, thus giving Angélique her long-awaited revenge against an old enemy. Afterward, she disappeared once again. (Chronologically, this would be Angélique’s last appearance on "Dark Shadows.")
). Angélique had married Quentin, the head of the Collins family, and their marriage, while responsible for a son, Daniel, had been fraught with conflict. Angélique had flirted with any number of men from the effete composer Bruno Hess to Trask the family butler, frequently enraging Quentin, and intimidating the other members of the Collins family who lived on the estate. Angélique died during a séance in what was ruled by family friend and doctor Cyrus Longworth to be a stroke.
The storyline began six months after her death. Angélique's room, complete with a large portrait, served as the room which connected regular time and parallel time. Quentin returned to Collinwood with his new bride, Maggie Evans. Angélique’s faithful servant, Julia Hoffman, hated Maggie and constantly reminded her she could never compare to "the first Mrs. Collins". When Maggie saw Quentin with a woman who looked just like Angélique, she snapped and fled Collinwood. This woman was Alexis Stokes, Angélique’s twin, who was good-hearted and not interested in witchcraft, causing her to be estranged from everyone in her family. Many people suspected Alexis of being Angélique back from the dead, but she insisted otherwise. Alexis also demanded to know whether her sister died of natural causes or if she was murdered. Quentin, Alexis, and Cyrus opened the tomb and were shocked to see a perfectly preserved Angélique. The two men wanted to burn the corpse fearing she might return from the dead; eventually Alexis agreed, but asked for a few moments to say goodbye to her sister. When they left, Alexis touched Angélique's hand. To her horror, Angélique’s eyes opened, and Angélique revealed she could sustain her own life by draining others of their life force. Alexis was her first victim, and Angélique went back to Collinwood posing as Alexis, after witnessing the destruction by fire of her sister's lifeless body.
Angélique used her powers to make Quentin bring Maggie back to Collinwood, then pretended to be Maggie's friend while secretly sabotaging her (such as having her wear a ball gown Angélique once wore). Angélique also helped insane John Yaeger (Cyrus after a medical experiment gone wrong) kidnap Maggie. Around this time, Barnabas (from the regular timeline) broke free of the coffin in which he had been imprisoned since his arrival in parallel time, and soon grew suspicious of "Alexis". Barnabas used his powers on Angélique’s portrait - Angélique began to feel a burning on her neck and ran into the room to see what was happening. He told her he knew she had to be Angélique. She told him she suspected he was from the regular timeline (most of the people in parallel time had seen glimpses of the other timeline when Angélique’s room would periodically change back and forth to the deserted room of the regular time), which he denied. She had also heard about a "curse" he suffered from. Working with Hoffman, she tried to unravel his mysteries. While she was out of town, Hoffman found out Barnabas was a vampire and went to stake him in his coffin. Dr. Julia Hoffman, the version of her from the regular timeline and a close friend of Barnabas', heard about these plans and made it into the parallel time just in time to kill her doppelgänger. Julia then posed as Hoffman and spied on Angélique for Barnabas.
A more pressing concern for Angélique was her frequent need to absorb the life force of other people. She eventually went to see her stepfather, who told her he had a woman named Roxanne Drew (Donna Wandrey) comatose in order for Angélique to absorb energy from her without needing to feed from various people. Barnabas and Julia stole this young woman's body, planning to kill her. Barnabas was captivated by her beauty and decided instead to slowly try to revive her from her comatose state, thus allowing her to live while slowly but surely draining Angélique of life.
Angélique balanced this crisis with her constant attempts to destroy the lives of Maggie, and – after she read a journal entry from Cyrus which said (mistakenly, as was later revealed) Quentin had killed Angélique at the séance – Quentin. She convinced each that the other was responsible for the supernatural events causing so many problems at Collinwood, and she convinced Maggie that Quentin had killed Angélique. She used her powers to strangle Bruno Hess and frame Quentin for the crime, then convinced Quentin to escape from prison, thus making him look more guilty.
Eventually, Angélique discovered Julia was posing as Hoffman, and imprisoned her where she thought no one could find her, but Barnabas found Julia in time. Meanwhile, Quentin and Maggie learned of all the lies and deceptions and Quentin's name was cleared. Roxanne was fully revived, and Angélique died. Angélique did at least get revenge on the man who had killed her. Roger Collins, who had always been obsessed with Angélique, confessed to "Alexis" that he had killed her sister. Angélique absorbed his life force, although it was not enough to keep her alive. In revenge for his daughter's destruction, Timothy Stokes set Collinwood ablaze, while Barnabas (crossing back with Julia to his own time via the parallel time room) was separated from Roxanne by a wall of flame.
Sure enough, Angélique (now going by the name Valerie) showed up at Barnabas' tomb with her gypsy manservant Laszlo. Apparently "Valerie" knew nothing of traveling to other timelines; this was the Angélique from 1795, still alive and supernaturally youthful, who had gone to Barnabas' tomb every year to see if he was still imprisoned. She was extremely jealous of Roxanne. Valerie promised to use magic to spare Roxanne, if Barnabas would pledge himself to her for all eternity. Barnabas assented, but it became apparent that he was more interested in Roxanne than Valerie. Thus, Valerie facilitated the complete transformation of Roxanne from human to vampire. She also had Julia kidnapped and held prisoner. Barnabas vowed to destroy Angélique if Julia was further harmed, he eventually rescued Julia, and Roxanne was killed via direct sunlight.
It was during this timeline that Valerie met up once again with Judah Zachary when his disembodied head was brought to Collinsport by Desmond Collins. Valerie soon began working with Barnabas in his efforts to find Judah, who - exhibiting Gerard Stiles' physical appearance - was responsible for the problems in 1970. Through a long sequence of events, Judah took away all of Valerie's powers, thus turning her into an ordinary human being. Fortunately, before her powers were revoked, Valerie began to show true signs of compassion. Included in her good deads were testifying for Quentin at his witchcraft trial, and removing the vampire curse from Barnabas. Barnabas realized after all the years of fighting and hating that he truly did love Angélique. Sadly, before they could begin a life together, a crazed Lamar Trask shot her. She died in Barnabas' arms as he told her how much he loved her. (Note: Barnabas and Julia's actions altered established history, as a result all of Angélique’s reincarnations after 1840 never happened, but the alterations and effects were never explored, as the series was never again set in the modern day.)
and Kate Jackson
in the MGM picture Night of Dark Shadows
. Parker once again played the role of Angélique, this time being the wicked witch wife of Gabriel Collins, of the early 19th century Collins Family. However, Angélique was having an affair with her brother-in-law Charles Collins (Selby). Subsequently, Angélique is tried for witchcraft and hung, while Charles is entombed alive with Angélique's corpse by a vengeful Gabriel. But Angélique returns a century-and-a-half later with the assistance of a girl named Sarah Castle reincarnated as Carlotta Drake (Grayson Hall). Angélique, with Carlotta's assistance attempts to turn Quentin Collins (also played by Selby) into his ancestor Charles, (Quentin apparently, being a reincarnation of Charles Collins). Angélique also attempts to kill or destroy Quentin's wife Tracy Collins (Jackson); as well as Alex and Claire Jenkins (John Karlen
and Nancy Barrett
), a husband and wife team of mystery writers who are the best friends of Quentin and Tracy.
in the 1991 NBC
revival of Dark Shadows. Angélique’s role in the revival was limited to an adaptation of the 1795 storyline.
and Elizabeth Massie
. This novel also featured Angélique prominently.
filmed a pilot for a Dark Shadows revival which was not picked up as a regular series. Bosnian
-born actress Ivana Milicevic
played the role of Angélique.
film, Angélique is portrayed by Eva Green
.
.
At times, Angélique displayed popularly ascribed voodoo-like powers in which she could affect another person by possessing a certain object or by making a small mark on them. She once used this ability to thwart an experiment by repeatedly impaling a doll that was linked to one of the scientists.
When Angélique needed information or a servant able to perform feats beyond the powers of living mortals, she was able to call the dead back from their graves. Resistant ghosts were threatened with the curse of never being able to return to their resting places. Occasionally a ghost would use this opportunity to take care of unfinished business, particularly if it would threaten Angélique.
Angélique also possessed the means of casting curse
s on individuals. This included the ability to delay some of the aforementioned physical impairments, which would only take effect if the target attempted a certain action. At the center of a well-known story line was a "dream curse"—a nightmare that invaded the sleep of whoever possessed it until they described the dream to someone else. The curse would be passed from person to person until it was either removed, or ended with the individual whose ears it was meant for. She also was shown having the ability to transform people into animals on rare occasions. She temporarily transformed Barnabas' father Joshua Collins into a cat in the original 1795 flashback storyline.
In addition, Angélique could use steady eye-contact to exert a degree of hypnosis
on someone, and could temporarily throw people into docile trance
s. With unbound hands, Angélique even proves capable of dispelling flames, preventing herself from being vanquished by them.
Curiously, even though she is easily able to enact spells to make Josette and Jeremiah Collins, and later Maggie and Quentin, fall in love with each other, she never attempts to use magic to make Barnabas (whom she is romantically obsessed with) fall in love with her. As a general trait, Angélique uses her magic for vindictive, destructive ends and not for actual material gains. Her powers, rooted in black magic, can only harm but not benefit anyone.
Although very formidable, Angélique did have limitations. While she was able to raise a revenant of Jeremiah Collins from the grave, she was ultimately unable to control the undead creature and it turned against her. Furthermore, she was unable to remove the vampire curse from Barnabas once she had placed it upon him. (Although in another contradictory moment in the 1840 storyline, "Valerie" is able to remove the vampirism curse with no trouble.) She is not as powerful as the warlocks Judah Zachary and Nicholas Blair, both of whom were able to remove her magical abilities, and to control her. She is shown to be wary of but ultimately stronger than the famed witch hunter Reverend Trask. The mysterious entity Diabolos is more powerful than Angélique, Nicholas and (presumably) Judah.
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the TV gothic horror-soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...
and its various adaptations. She is primarily portrayed as a powerful witch
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
driven by her vacillating love and hatred for the series' eventual protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
, Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins
Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, one of the feature characters in the ABC daytime serial Dark Shadows, which aired from 1966 to 1971. Originally played by Canadian actor Jonathan Frid, Barnabas Collins is a 200-year-old vampire who is in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette...
.
In the original TV series, the character was portrayed by Lara Parker
Lara Parker
Lara Parker is an American television, stage, and film actress best known for her role as Angelique on the cult ABC-TV serial Dark Shadows which aired from to...
, and appeared within several storylines of the series which aired from June 1966 through April 1971. Angélique was originally introduced to explain how Barnabas Collins became a vampire, but she proved popular enough in her own right to make many return appearances.
Origin of Angelique
Around 1690, a young woman named Miranda DuVal was coerced into joining the coven of the warlock Judah Zachary in Bedford, Mass (which later became part of the state of Maine). When the authorities tried to bring Judah Zachary to trial, no one would testify against him until Miranda was captured and offered immunity to do so. She did, and after he was beheaded she was sent to live in Martinique. She eventually became known as Angelique Bouchard and came to work as a maid for the DuPrés family, serving as a maid for Josette DuPrés. Circa 1794, she had a brief affair with Barnabas Collins of Collinsport, Maine, who had arrived in Martinique to teach Josette English. However, Barnabas was in love with Josette, and ended his relationship with Angelique upon learning that Josette shared his feelings.1795
When governess Victoria WintersVictoria Winters
Victoria Winters is a fictional character from the television Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows and its remakes of the same name. The role was originated by Alexandra Moltke on the ABC series from 1966–1968. After Moltke left to raise a family in 1968, actresses Betsy Durkin and Carolyn Groves briefly...
was transported back to the past, she soon met Barnabas Collins, followed by his fiancée Josette du Pres and her maid, Angélique Bouchard. Few realized Barnabas and Angélique had had a short fling while Barnabas was in her native Martinque, (on a business trip representing the Collins Family, hoping to do trade with the wealthy DuPres Family). When Barnabas fell in love with Josette, he told Angélique they could be no more. Angélique used her powers to get her revenge. At first she tries to kill Barnabas by causing him to choke. When she sees him near death, she can not bear to continue the spell. She casts a spell on the family servant, Ben Stokes, that makes him her slave. With Ben's help, she begins her plans to destroy Barnabas' love for Josette. Through a love spell she makes Josette fall in love with and marry Barnabas' uncle Jeremiah Collins. Jeremiah and Barnabas had a duel, which ended in Jeremiah's death.
Despite Josette's deception, Barnabas still loves her. Angélique continues to scheme to gain Barnabas' love. She casts a spell on Barnabas' beloved little sister Sarah that makes her very ill and takes her to the brink of death. Angélique makes a bargain with Barnabas that if she cures Sarah, Barnabas will marry her. She brews a tea that she tells Barnabas may cure Sarah. She then removes the curse from Sarah. When Angélique reminds Barnabas of their bargain, Barnabas tries to get out of the deal saying that he was too upset to think clearly. Angélique agrees to release him. Barnabas is moved by Angélique's devotion to him and agrees to marry her. Joshua Collins, Barnabas' father, is firmly against the marriage and tries to bribe Angélique to leave Collinsport. When she refuses, Joshua agrees to the marriage but only after a proper mourning period for Jeremiah. At first Angélique agrees to the stipulation, but she begins to fear that she will lose Barnabas. First she raises the ghost of Jeremiah Collins to haunt Josette and Barnabas. However, she is still afraid that Barnabas will change his mind so she pushes for the marriage to be performed immediately. Barnabas agrees and Joshua disowns him and tells them to leave Collinwood. Naomi Collins does not want her only son to leave, so she deeds him the Old House which has been in her name.
At first the idea of living in the Old House is very exciting to Angélique. As soon as Barnabas leaves for the minister, however, the ghost of Jeremiah appears to her and she is unable to return him to the grave. Jeremiah tries to stop the wedding, first by kidnapping Angélique. When Ben Stokes finds her, Jeremiah tries to scare the minister away from the house by knocking over furniture in poltergeist-like fashion, and being generally ghostly. After the ceremony he turns the champagne into blood. Later, he puts Josette's music box in Angélique's bedroom. When Barnabas finds Angélique playing the music box he becomes upset and walks out. The ghost of Jeremiah confronts Angélique one more time so she can not follow Barnabas.
Unable to sleep, Angélique wanders the halls of the Old House and discovers that Victoria Winters is hiding in her old room. Jealous and a bit afraid that Victoria may be controlling the ghost of Jeremiah, Angélique plots to have Victoria's hiding place discovered. First she sends a message to Sarah Collins in Victoria's voice calling Sarah to the Old House. Sarah tells her religiously fanatic Aunt Abigail and father Joshua that Miss Winters is calling her, and they follow her to the Old House. Barnabas allows them into the house but will not let them search for Victoria. While the adults are talking Sarah slips away to Victoria's room and takes her to a place to hide. Angélique is undaunted for Barnabas agrees to allow the witch-hunting Reverend Trask to perform a ritual to cleanse the house of witches. Barnabas agrees because he has nothing but contempt for Trask, and does not believe that he has any real power. However, as Trask performs his ritual, Angélique performs one of her own making Victoria believe that the house is on fire. Victoria flees the Old House and is captured by Trask. Unknown to Angélique, Barnabas passed the room where she was casting her spell and hears her. At first he does not pay much attention to the incident. Later, when Angélique says she was in another part of the house during Trask's ritual, Barnabas begins to suspect that Angélique is the witch that has been plaguing his family.
Barnabas confronts Ben Stokes about the identity of the witch. Ben is unable to say her name but writes the letter "A" in the dust. Barnabas then shot Angélique, and while injured and assuming she would die, she placed a curse on him and all he loved. A few moments later, a bat flew into the room and bit him. Angélique's wounds were not as serious as she had expected and she regretted her decision, but her attempts to remove Barnabas' curse failed and he died. When she went to his coffin to stake him, he strangled her.
Although she was technically dead, her spirit appeared to prevent Ben Stokes from staking Barnabas (as Barnabas had asked). Later, Barnabas bit Josette, with the intention of turning her into a vampire. Before he could complete the transformation, however, Angélique's spirit lured Josette to the peak of Widow's Hill and showed her a vision of herself as a vampire. Terrified at the thought of what she would become, Josette leapt to her death. Angélique was also indirectly the cause of death to both Naomi and Sarah as well, (Naomi, who had become an alcoholic, committed suicide by drinking poison upon realizing what Barnabas had become; Sarah died of pneumonia after following Barnabas into a rainstorm). Finally, Angélique’s spirit was able to assume corporeal form long enough to testify at Victoria's witchcraft trial, testimony which helped convict Victoria for Angélique’s own crimes. Victoria was hanged, but a time paradox caused her to return to her normal time (1968).
Cassandra, vampirism, 1796
When Victoria returned to 1968, Barnabas bit her, afraid of her possible knowledge of his secrets. At an old antique shop, Victoria bought a portrait of Angélique, which Barnabas unsuccessfully tried to destroy. Meanwhile, Barnabas was cured of his vampirism by a Doctor Eric Lang. Victoria became enamored of Dr. Lang's assistant Jeff Clark, who was a lookalike for Peter Bradford, her love interest in 1795. It soon became apparent that 'Jeff Clark' really was Peter, who had willed himself into the future in order to be reunited with Vicky. Angélique successfully willed herself into the future as well, using the portrait as her 'gateway': the portrait transfixed Roger and he tried to kill Dr. Lang. When this failed, the image of Angélique faded from the canvas, and Roger surprised everyone when he brought his new bride, Cassandra (really Angélique with a short black wig) to Collinwood. Cassandra finally succeeded in killing Lang, but his secret project (creating a FrankensteinFrankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...
-like creature, Adam, which shared a life force with Barnabas) lived on. Cassandra devised a "dream curse" to wend its way through the subconscious of various Collinsport residents. Victoria was the last person to suffer the curse, and tried her best to keep the dream from Barnabas. To spare her pain, Barnabas made her tell him the dream. He was bitten by a vampire bat, but instead of reverting to his curse, as had been Cassandra's intention, Barnabas lived. Upon confronting Angélique /Cassandra, Barnabas told her he would never forgive her for bringing about the deaths of the two women he loved most, Josette and his mother Naomi.
Diabolos had previously sent warlock Nicholas Blair (Humbert Allen Astredo) to keep an eye on Angélique’s plans. When she tried to kill Adam, Nicholas, who had plans for Adam, took away her powers and she rapidly aged into her true age of several hundred years. During a confrontation with Barnabas, the aged Angélique collapsed and died. Her body vanished from the drawing room of the Old House. Weeks later, Angélique returned as a vampire, a further punishment from Nicholas. (The abrupt disappearance of "Cassandra Collins" was not dwelled on by her husband, or the Collins family though). Several times, the brunette-wigged "Cassandra" had been seen by Collinwood residents in compromising positions with lawyer Tony Peterson. Although she had just put a spell on Tony to further her plots, it was assumed that she had become disenchanted with being Mrs. Roger Collins, and simply run out on him. Nicholas used her to bite Joe Haskell (Joel Crothers
Joel Crothers
Joel Anthony Crothers was an American actor who, in 1981, was noted by columnist Liz Smith to so strongly resemble Tom Selleck that they could be twin brothers...
), boyfriend of Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...
), whom Nicholas wanted for himself. Angélique also bit Tom Jennings (Don Briscoe
Don Briscoe
Cecil Donald "Don" Briscoe was an American soap opera actor, most notable for playing Tony Meritt on Days of Our Lives, and, from 1968–1970, for playing Chris Jennings, Tom Jennings, Timothy Shaw, and Chris Collins on Dark Shadows.Briscoe left Dark Shadows abruptly in 1970...
) repeatedly until she turned him into a vampire, then Victoria's boyfriend Jeff Clark (Roger Davis
Roger Davis
Roger Davis may refer to:*Roger Davis , American actor*Roger Davis , American actor in television series Dark Shadows and Alias Smith and Jones...
), and finally Barnabas himself. As much as she tried, she still could not make Barnabas love her. Eventually Angélique betrayed Nicholas to Diabolos, revealing that the warlock had fallen in love with Maggie Evans. Nicholas was soon after destroyed. She also returned later in her "Cassandra" guise to revitalize the curse she had placed on Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...
) that she would fear death until she became so paralyzed with fear that she would be buried alive.
In 1969, the time paradox flared up again and both Jeff/Peter and Victoria were returned to 1795 (now referred to as 1796), making this time travel disappearance right before the astonished eyes of both Barnabas and Elizabeth. Barnabas returns to his 1796 body to rescue Victoria. There, he encountered Angélique, who explained that she had been restored to human form (non-vampiric, but still with her witch powers) and sent back to her original point in time by Diabolos, as a favor for exposing Nicholas' treachery. Although Vicky had been hanged, Angélique had used witchcraft to keep her alive in suspended animation, in order to torment Barnabas. Ben Stokes set Angélique on fire, destroying her, which freed Victoria from the spell. Victoria and Peter then quietly fled from Collinwood to live out their lives in 1796, and Barnabas returned to 1968, assuming he had seen the last of Angélique.
1897
In 1897, Quentin Collins (David SelbyDavid Selby
David Lynn Selby is an American character and stage actor. He has worked in movies, soap operas and television. The naturally black-headed Selby is best known for playing the roles of Quentin Collins on the ABC-TV serial, Dark Shadows , and as the evil and compassionate...
) and Evan Hanley (Humbert Allen Astredo) used black magic to try to summon a power to defeat Barnabas Collins (who had travelled via the I-Ching to the past to find out why Quentin's ghost was haunting/possessing young David Collins (David Henesy
David Henesy
David Henesy Raised in New York City, Henesy was a child actor in film, television, and Broadway. He appeared in "Oliver!", "Jenny" , and daytime television series Dark Shadows in the roles of David Collins, Daniel Collins, Jamison Collins, and Tad Collins...
) and young Amy Jennings (Denise Nickerson
Denise Nickerson
Denise Nickerson is an American former child actress best known for her roles as the gum-chewing Violet Beauregarde in the 1971 movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Amy Jennings in the soap opera Dark Shadows.-Career:...
) - who had been adopted by both Elizabeth and Roger, upon the deaths of her two older, grown, twin brothers Chris and Tom Jennings; plus the realization that all three of the Jennings' were the great-grandchildren of Quentin Collins - in 1969). In response to their summons, Angélique appeared, and began manipulating Rachel Drummond (Kathryn Leigh Scott), Barnabas' newest love interest, until Barnabas gave Rachel an amulet for protection. Quentin was stabbed to death and Barnabas asked Angélique to bring him back to life. Instead, Angélique made him a zombie and told him to take Rachel to the grave with him. Eventually, she resurrected Quentin permanently. To protect Quentin from phoenix Laura (Diana Millay
Diana Millay
Diana Millay is an American actress. She is best known for her work in television, having guest starred in close to 200 primetime TV shows and later played continuing roles on two daytime offerings, Dark Shadows and The Secret Storm.Diana started her career as a model, first as a child for the...
), Barnabas agreed to introduce Angélique as his fiancée. After various schemes and plans on both sides, Laura tried to kill Barnabas, but Angélique stopped her. Laura then destroyed Angélique, or so she thought, but actually only destroyed a double Angélique had created of herself. Laura set a room on fire and tried to die with her children (Jamison and Nora), but Angélique cast a spell which caused Laura to age away to nothing. Later in the storyline, everyone found out Barnabas was a vampire, making him a wanted man. Meanwhile, Quentin had been cursed as a werewolf and begged Angélique to find the hand of Count Petofi and cure him. In return, he agreed to marry her, and for some time she was his fiancée. Angélique next became jealous of Kitty Hampshire (Kathryn Leigh Scott), who was revealed to be the reincarnation of Josette (she had willed herself into the future in much the same way that Peter Bradford was able to appear in 1968/69 as Jeff Clark). Angélique also created a doppelgänger for Barnabas which was staked, thus making everyone assume Barnabas was dead and allowing him breathing room. Angélique returned periodically to help Quentin battle Petofi, but after Quentin departed from Collinwood, she felt no desire to remain there.
Lady Kitty realized that she was really Josette, and like Jeff/Peter did, faded back to her original timeline. In an uncharacteristic move, Angélique used magic to enable Barnabas to travel even further into the past, back to 1796, and save her from the very tragic event that Angélique originally engineered. After which, she vanished, hinting that she would no longer pursue Barnabas or the Collins family. (Unfortunately, Angélique’s good deed was undone by the Leviathans, who used Barnabas to transport their leader from 1796 to 1969, and Kitty, believing her true love had deserted her, committed suicide.)
Leviathans
In 1970, Barnabas and several other Collinwood residents were mentally enslaved by the mystical Leviathans, who were seeking to return to Earth. Meanwhile, an amnesiac and still-young Quentin showed up in Collinsport. Dr. Julia Hoffman (Grayson HallGrayson Hall
Grayson Hall was an American television, film and stage actress. She was widely regarded for her avant garde theatrical performances in the 1960s-80s. Hall was nominated in 1964 for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the John Huston film The Night of the Iguana...
), Barnabas' confidant, deduced that Quentin's immortality was tied to an enchanted painting done of him. When Julia sought out the painting, she discovered it was owned by a certain Sky Rumson (Geoffrey Scott), whose wife was Angélique! No explanation was given to account for her activities since she last appeared, but Angélique insisted to Julia that she had given up witchcraft. As an indication of how much she had changed, she allowed the Collins family to hide out at her home from the Leviathans (after Barnabas turned against them, the Leviathans vowed retribution against him and everyone he loved), despite the fact that she feared the Collins family would recognize her as Cassandra. Angélique truly loved Sky and stayed loyal to him until Nicholas Blair, who had returned to aid the Leviathans in their plans for world domination, told Sky (who was a Leviathan agent) to kill her. Sky tried to set her on fire. Angélique used her powers to choke Sky and fled. Jealous of Barnabas' continued affection for Maggie Evans (who looked just like Josette), she cast a spell to make Maggie and Quentin fall in love. To get revenge on the Leviathan leader Jeb Hawkes, Angélique cast a shadow which would get bigger and bigger until it killed him. Desperate, Jeb agreed to do whatever she wanted him to do, which was to put the shadow on Nicholas. Nicholas died instantly, thus giving Angélique her long-awaited revenge against an old enemy. Afterward, she disappeared once again. (Chronologically, this would be Angélique’s last appearance on "Dark Shadows.")
Parallel time 1970
Dark Shadows used the term "parallel time" in reference to an alternative version of reality - shaped by different decisions and circumstances - existing simultaneously with the one of "our own" time. The alternative universe could be accessed in a particular room within the Collinwood mansion which, for reasons that were never explained, shifted unpredictably between the two coexisting realities. The Angélique in this timeline was not the same as the Angélique in the regular Dark Shadows timeline. She knew of no Barnabas Collins, as in this timeline he had died in the 19th century and Angélique was from the 20th century. Angélique was raised with her twin sister Alexis (Parker in a dual role) by their drunken, mad scientist stepfather Timothy Stokes (Thayer DavidThayer David
Thayer David was a film, stage and television actor. He was best known for his work on the cult ABC serial Dark Shadows and as the fight promoter George Jergens in the Oscar-winning movie Rocky . He also appeared as Count Arne Saknussemm in the film Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1959...
). Angélique had married Quentin, the head of the Collins family, and their marriage, while responsible for a son, Daniel, had been fraught with conflict. Angélique had flirted with any number of men from the effete composer Bruno Hess to Trask the family butler, frequently enraging Quentin, and intimidating the other members of the Collins family who lived on the estate. Angélique died during a séance in what was ruled by family friend and doctor Cyrus Longworth to be a stroke.
The storyline began six months after her death. Angélique's room, complete with a large portrait, served as the room which connected regular time and parallel time. Quentin returned to Collinwood with his new bride, Maggie Evans. Angélique’s faithful servant, Julia Hoffman, hated Maggie and constantly reminded her she could never compare to "the first Mrs. Collins". When Maggie saw Quentin with a woman who looked just like Angélique, she snapped and fled Collinwood. This woman was Alexis Stokes, Angélique’s twin, who was good-hearted and not interested in witchcraft, causing her to be estranged from everyone in her family. Many people suspected Alexis of being Angélique back from the dead, but she insisted otherwise. Alexis also demanded to know whether her sister died of natural causes or if she was murdered. Quentin, Alexis, and Cyrus opened the tomb and were shocked to see a perfectly preserved Angélique. The two men wanted to burn the corpse fearing she might return from the dead; eventually Alexis agreed, but asked for a few moments to say goodbye to her sister. When they left, Alexis touched Angélique's hand. To her horror, Angélique’s eyes opened, and Angélique revealed she could sustain her own life by draining others of their life force. Alexis was her first victim, and Angélique went back to Collinwood posing as Alexis, after witnessing the destruction by fire of her sister's lifeless body.
Angélique used her powers to make Quentin bring Maggie back to Collinwood, then pretended to be Maggie's friend while secretly sabotaging her (such as having her wear a ball gown Angélique once wore). Angélique also helped insane John Yaeger (Cyrus after a medical experiment gone wrong) kidnap Maggie. Around this time, Barnabas (from the regular timeline) broke free of the coffin in which he had been imprisoned since his arrival in parallel time, and soon grew suspicious of "Alexis". Barnabas used his powers on Angélique’s portrait - Angélique began to feel a burning on her neck and ran into the room to see what was happening. He told her he knew she had to be Angélique. She told him she suspected he was from the regular timeline (most of the people in parallel time had seen glimpses of the other timeline when Angélique’s room would periodically change back and forth to the deserted room of the regular time), which he denied. She had also heard about a "curse" he suffered from. Working with Hoffman, she tried to unravel his mysteries. While she was out of town, Hoffman found out Barnabas was a vampire and went to stake him in his coffin. Dr. Julia Hoffman, the version of her from the regular timeline and a close friend of Barnabas', heard about these plans and made it into the parallel time just in time to kill her doppelgänger. Julia then posed as Hoffman and spied on Angélique for Barnabas.
A more pressing concern for Angélique was her frequent need to absorb the life force of other people. She eventually went to see her stepfather, who told her he had a woman named Roxanne Drew (Donna Wandrey) comatose in order for Angélique to absorb energy from her without needing to feed from various people. Barnabas and Julia stole this young woman's body, planning to kill her. Barnabas was captivated by her beauty and decided instead to slowly try to revive her from her comatose state, thus allowing her to live while slowly but surely draining Angélique of life.
Angélique balanced this crisis with her constant attempts to destroy the lives of Maggie, and – after she read a journal entry from Cyrus which said (mistakenly, as was later revealed) Quentin had killed Angélique at the séance – Quentin. She convinced each that the other was responsible for the supernatural events causing so many problems at Collinwood, and she convinced Maggie that Quentin had killed Angélique. She used her powers to strangle Bruno Hess and frame Quentin for the crime, then convinced Quentin to escape from prison, thus making him look more guilty.
Eventually, Angélique discovered Julia was posing as Hoffman, and imprisoned her where she thought no one could find her, but Barnabas found Julia in time. Meanwhile, Quentin and Maggie learned of all the lies and deceptions and Quentin's name was cleared. Roxanne was fully revived, and Angélique died. Angélique did at least get revenge on the man who had killed her. Roger Collins, who had always been obsessed with Angélique, confessed to "Alexis" that he had killed her sister. Angélique absorbed his life force, although it was not enough to keep her alive. In revenge for his daughter's destruction, Timothy Stokes set Collinwood ablaze, while Barnabas (crossing back with Julia to his own time via the parallel time room) was separated from Roxanne by a wall of flame.
1840
Once again, a ghost from the past emerged as a threat in present time (1970) to possess David Collins. The ghost had the appearance of Gerard Stiles - a long-dead acquaintance of the Quentin Collins who had lived in 1840 - but Gerard's appearance was ultimately revealed to have been assumed, prior to his bodily death, by the warlock Judah Zachary. Julia and Barnabas had to fight off an army of zombies, and Julia fled via a time-warping stairway to the year 1840. She posed as Barnabas' sister (using the same ruse Barnabas had done in 1967 - claiming to be a long-lost cousin from England), and freed Barnabas from the coffin in which he had been chained in 1796. Julia had assumed that the Barnabas she was freeing would be the redeemed, heroic version she had become accustomed to in 1970. Unfortunately, this Barnabas was still evil and bit Roxanne Drew. Soon enough though, the spirit Barnabas from 1970 possessed his 1840 body and worked with Julia to try to figure out how to prevent the chaos of 1970 by acting against its root causes in 1840.Sure enough, Angélique (now going by the name Valerie) showed up at Barnabas' tomb with her gypsy manservant Laszlo. Apparently "Valerie" knew nothing of traveling to other timelines; this was the Angélique from 1795, still alive and supernaturally youthful, who had gone to Barnabas' tomb every year to see if he was still imprisoned. She was extremely jealous of Roxanne. Valerie promised to use magic to spare Roxanne, if Barnabas would pledge himself to her for all eternity. Barnabas assented, but it became apparent that he was more interested in Roxanne than Valerie. Thus, Valerie facilitated the complete transformation of Roxanne from human to vampire. She also had Julia kidnapped and held prisoner. Barnabas vowed to destroy Angélique if Julia was further harmed, he eventually rescued Julia, and Roxanne was killed via direct sunlight.
It was during this timeline that Valerie met up once again with Judah Zachary when his disembodied head was brought to Collinsport by Desmond Collins. Valerie soon began working with Barnabas in his efforts to find Judah, who - exhibiting Gerard Stiles' physical appearance - was responsible for the problems in 1970. Through a long sequence of events, Judah took away all of Valerie's powers, thus turning her into an ordinary human being. Fortunately, before her powers were revoked, Valerie began to show true signs of compassion. Included in her good deads were testifying for Quentin at his witchcraft trial, and removing the vampire curse from Barnabas. Barnabas realized after all the years of fighting and hating that he truly did love Angélique. Sadly, before they could begin a life together, a crazed Lamar Trask shot her. She died in Barnabas' arms as he told her how much he loved her. (Note: Barnabas and Julia's actions altered established history, as a result all of Angélique’s reincarnations after 1840 never happened, but the alterations and effects were never explored, as the series was never again set in the modern day.)
Night of Dark Shadows
In 1971, Lara Parker starred with David Selby, Grayson HallGrayson Hall
Grayson Hall was an American television, film and stage actress. She was widely regarded for her avant garde theatrical performances in the 1960s-80s. Hall was nominated in 1964 for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for the John Huston film The Night of the Iguana...
and Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson is an American actress, director, and producer, perhaps best known for her role as Sabrina Duncan in the popular 1970s television series Charlie's Angels...
in the MGM picture Night of Dark Shadows
Night of Dark Shadows
Night of Dark Shadows is a 1971 horror film by Dan Curtis. It is the sequel to House of Dark Shadows. It centers on the story of Quentin Collins and his bride Tracy at the Collinwood Mansion in Collinsport, Maine....
. Parker once again played the role of Angélique, this time being the wicked witch wife of Gabriel Collins, of the early 19th century Collins Family. However, Angélique was having an affair with her brother-in-law Charles Collins (Selby). Subsequently, Angélique is tried for witchcraft and hung, while Charles is entombed alive with Angélique's corpse by a vengeful Gabriel. But Angélique returns a century-and-a-half later with the assistance of a girl named Sarah Castle reincarnated as Carlotta Drake (Grayson Hall). Angélique, with Carlotta's assistance attempts to turn Quentin Collins (also played by Selby) into his ancestor Charles, (Quentin apparently, being a reincarnation of Charles Collins). Angélique also attempts to kill or destroy Quentin's wife Tracy Collins (Jackson); as well as Alex and Claire Jenkins (John Karlen
John Karlen
John Karlen is a character actor best known for playing Willie Loomis, Carl Collins, William H. Loomis, Desmond Collins, and Kendrick Young on the ABC serial Dark Shadows, in various episodes between 206 and 1245, which aired from 1966-1971. In 1971 Karlen starred as the male lead in "Daughters...
and Nancy Barrett
Nancy Barrett
Nancy Barrett, born , is an American actress. She is best known for her portrayal of "Carolyn Stoddard" in the popular 1960s Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows....
), a husband and wife team of mystery writers who are the best friends of Quentin and Tracy.
1991 revival
While the role of Angélique is most often identified with Lara Parker, she was played by Lysette AnthonyLysette Anthony
Lysette Anthony is an English film, television, and theatre actress.-Early life:Anthony was born Lysette Chodzko in Fulham, London, the only daughter of actors Michael Anthony, and Bernadette Milnes....
in the 1991 NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
revival of Dark Shadows. Angélique’s role in the revival was limited to an adaptation of the 1795 storyline.
Books
In 1998, Lara Parker made her writing debut with the novel Angélique's Descent, which focused on Angélique’s early years in Haiti and her love affair with Barnabas Collins. In 2006, she released a sequel, The Salem Branch. She also wrote the introduction to the novel Dark Shadows: Dreams of the Dark (1999), written by Stephen Mark RaineyStephen Mark Rainey
Stephen Mark Rainey is an author of novels, short stories, and various works of nonfiction. From 1987 to 1997, he edited Deathrealm, a magazine of horror and dark fantasy fiction, for which he won several awards for Best Editor.-Biography:...
and Elizabeth Massie
Elizabeth Massie
Elizabeth Massie is an American author.Elizabeth Massie is a two-time Bram Stoker Award-winning author of horror novels and short fiction. She won her awards for Sineater and Stephen. She has also written historical fiction for young adults....
. This novel also featured Angélique prominently.
2004 revival
In 2004, Warner Bros. TelevisionWarner Bros. Television
Warner Bros. Television is the television production arm of Warner Bros. Entertainment, itself part of Time Warner. Alongside CBS Television Studios, it serves as a television production arm of The CW Television Network , though it also produces shows for other networks, such as Shameless on...
filmed a pilot for a Dark Shadows revival which was not picked up as a regular series. Bosnian
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina , sometimes called Bosnia-Herzegovina or simply Bosnia, is a country in Southern Europe, on the Balkan Peninsula. Bordered by Croatia to the north, west and south, Serbia to the east, and Montenegro to the southeast, Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost landlocked, except for the...
-born actress Ivana Milicevic
Ivana Milicevic
-Early life:Miličević was born in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Croatian family, the daughter of Tonka, a homemaker, and Damir Miličević, a slaughterhouse worker and entrepreneur. She emigrated to the United States at the age of five and was raised in Michigan...
played the role of Angélique.
2012 film
In the 2012 Dark ShadowsDark Shadows (film)
Dark Shadows is an upcoming supernatural drama film based on the 1966-1971 gothic soap opera of the same name. The film is directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins. It is scheduled to be released on , 2012 in both conventional and IMAX theaters.-Synopsis:In 1752,...
film, Angélique is portrayed by Eva Green
Eva Green
Eva Gaëlle Green is a French actress and model.Green performed in theatre before making her film debut in The Dreamers , which generated controversy over her numerous nude scenes. She achieved greater fame for her parts in Kingdom of Heaven , and in the 2006 James Bond film Casino Royale, for...
.
Big Finish
In 2006, Lara Parker reprised the role of Angélique for a series of audio plays produced by Big Finish ProductionsBig Finish Productions
Big Finish Productions is a British company that produces books and audio plays based, primarily, on cult British science fiction properties...
.
Powers and abilities
Often reckoned with—particularly by Barnabas Collins and Victoria Winters—Angélique was depicted as having a wide and formidable assortment of powers throughout the course of the series. When faced with physical threats, she could immobilize others with a mere gesture of her hand, halting those who attempted to approach or flee. Additionally, she could rob a person of their ability to speak, create a force of pressure around one's throat, or intensify the beating of the human heart to a dangerous pace.At times, Angélique displayed popularly ascribed voodoo-like powers in which she could affect another person by possessing a certain object or by making a small mark on them. She once used this ability to thwart an experiment by repeatedly impaling a doll that was linked to one of the scientists.
When Angélique needed information or a servant able to perform feats beyond the powers of living mortals, she was able to call the dead back from their graves. Resistant ghosts were threatened with the curse of never being able to return to their resting places. Occasionally a ghost would use this opportunity to take care of unfinished business, particularly if it would threaten Angélique.
Angélique also possessed the means of casting curse
Curse
A curse is any expressed wish that some form of adversity or misfortune will befall or attach to some other entity—one or more persons, a place, or an object...
s on individuals. This included the ability to delay some of the aforementioned physical impairments, which would only take effect if the target attempted a certain action. At the center of a well-known story line was a "dream curse"—a nightmare that invaded the sleep of whoever possessed it until they described the dream to someone else. The curse would be passed from person to person until it was either removed, or ended with the individual whose ears it was meant for. She also was shown having the ability to transform people into animals on rare occasions. She temporarily transformed Barnabas' father Joshua Collins into a cat in the original 1795 flashback storyline.
In addition, Angélique could use steady eye-contact to exert a degree of hypnosis
Hypnosis
Hypnosis is "a trance state characterized by extreme suggestibility, relaxation and heightened imagination."It is a mental state or imaginative role-enactment . It is usually induced by a procedure known as a hypnotic induction, which is commonly composed of a long series of preliminary...
on someone, and could temporarily throw people into docile trance
Trance
Trance denotes a variety of processes, ecstasy, techniques, modalities and states of mind, awareness and consciousness. Trance states may occur involuntarily and unbidden.The term trance may be associated with meditation, magic, flow, and prayer...
s. With unbound hands, Angélique even proves capable of dispelling flames, preventing herself from being vanquished by them.
Curiously, even though she is easily able to enact spells to make Josette and Jeremiah Collins, and later Maggie and Quentin, fall in love with each other, she never attempts to use magic to make Barnabas (whom she is romantically obsessed with) fall in love with her. As a general trait, Angélique uses her magic for vindictive, destructive ends and not for actual material gains. Her powers, rooted in black magic, can only harm but not benefit anyone.
Although very formidable, Angélique did have limitations. While she was able to raise a revenant of Jeremiah Collins from the grave, she was ultimately unable to control the undead creature and it turned against her. Furthermore, she was unable to remove the vampire curse from Barnabas once she had placed it upon him. (Although in another contradictory moment in the 1840 storyline, "Valerie" is able to remove the vampirism curse with no trouble.) She is not as powerful as the warlocks Judah Zachary and Nicholas Blair, both of whom were able to remove her magical abilities, and to control her. She is shown to be wary of but ultimately stronger than the famed witch hunter Reverend Trask. The mysterious entity Diabolos is more powerful than Angélique, Nicholas and (presumably) Judah.