Actor Jonathan Frid, best known for playing vampire Barnabas Collins in late '60s-early '70s supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows, died of natural causes on April 13 in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario. He was 87.

Frid's performance as Collins inspired Johnny Depp's take on the character in Tim Burton's Dark Shadows remake, which opens May 11.

"I do remember, very vividly, practically sprinting home from school in the afternoon to see Jonathan Frid play Barnabas Collins. Even then, at that age, I knew – this has got to be weird," Depp said.

After the show was cancelled, Frid made regular appearances at Dark Shadows conventions, and appeared on the big screen in Oliver Stone's first film, 1974's Seizure.

His final screen appearance was a cameo in the Burton version of Dark Shadows.

[ew.]