Los Angeles — Jonathan Frid, the man known to fans around the world as Barnabas Collins, the suave vampire from the cult hit soap opera "Dark Shadows" has died at age 87.

The Hamilton Spectator, of Hamilton, Ontario, reports the Canadian actor died in his hometown of Hamilton at the Juravinski Hospital on Friday, April 13.

Frid's final screen role was a cameo in "Dark Shadows," the soap opera's upcoming big-screen revamp directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp as Barnabas.

Jonathan Frid was the reason I used to run home from school to watch ‘Dark Shadows,’” Depp said in a statement. “When I had the honor to finally meet him, as he so generously passed the torch of Barnabas to me, he was as elegant and magical as I had always imagined.  My deepest condolences to his family and friends. The world has lost a true original.

Jonathan Frid dead

Jonathan Frid, star of the original Dark Shadows, has died He was 87. The Canadian actor, who passed away Friday in his hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, played benign vampire Barnabas Collins on ABC’s gothic soap opera from 1967-71 and in the 1970 movie House Of Dark Shadows. Frid also has a cameo in Warner Bros’ upcoming Tim Burton-directed Dark Shadows reboot as an older version of Barnabas. In the movie, which comes out May 11, he meets up with the younger version of himself played by Johnny Depp.

Although Frid wasn’t in Dark Shadows when it first debuted in 1966, his elegantly fiendish Barnabas quickly became the star when he joined several months later. After the series ended, Frid returned to the theater, performing Edgar Allen Poe, William Shakespeare and a long run on Broadway in the 1980s in Arsenic And Old Lace. He also appeared in several films including Oliver Stone’s 1974 directorial debut Seizure. However, it wasDark Shadows for which the Yale-trained actor remained best known. Later in life, Frid, along with others from the show, became a frequent participant in Dark Shadow fan conventions.