Mitchell Ryan was the one and only Burke Devlin. Wish he had been able to stay with the show until the end. Thank you so much Collinsport1966 for sharing this interview with him.
When you watch the show towards the end of his tenure, you can see him forgetting his lines and struggling. So glad he went on to enjoy sobriety and revive his career.
I am watching Dark Shadows The Beginnings right now, and am so in love with him! I hated when he left the show. He was such an excellent actor and so gorgeous. Still so good-looking.
@@adelgado75 I think it was a regular problem that he showed up for work drunk. Luckily for him, he got his drinking under control and went on in his chosen career.
Probably one of my top 5 dark shadows actors, seriously right up there with Jonathan Frid, Thayer David, And David Selby. Loved him as Burke Devlin and I really wish he had stuck around, at least until after the stuff in 1795. The whole cast was good but he was one of the only really macho guys on the cast. Jonathon Frid and the others were great, Barnabas Collins is one of the greatest vampires in all of film and Frid deserves a lot of the credit, but I always thought that Ryan provided a great contrast as a really believable tough guy as opposed to the more Shakespearean Barnabas and Quentin. Would have been great to see him in more scenes with those guys, Anthony George was a good actor but he never had the same kind of presence or charisma
You have brought up an excellent observation not-often discussed but nevertheless true: Mitchell Ryan was really one of the rare few identifiable masculine actors the show had. That could have been utilized to a real advantage down the line had he been able to stay around for the show's prime period. Anthony George was seasoned and resembled him but he did not "boom" or command like Ryan did and ultimately did not work as Burke Devlin. Ryan is just a tremendous actor with big and commanding presence. You knew by watching him that he was good and that we would see him again somewhere - and we did...in Hollywood!
Yes, I can agree that Joel Crothers (Joe Haskell) displayed some good masculinity as well. It is such a shame that the writers had to abuse his character as much as they did towards his end and give him such an ignoble exit by going insane and being taken away to Windcliff. Even Crothers himself once inferred that it was a sad way to wind up his character. Unfortunately, they did do that to a few of them we liked, such as Ben Stokes and Amanda Harris, Sam Evans and Roxanne Drew, perhaps even Angelique herself too.
theearthmovesagain I can't speak for those as I haven't gotten than far yet, but I've read ahead in the wiki and the original characters all seem to disappear or get used very little as it goes on. it's a weird paradox, because I started watching because I saw the 2012 movie and wanted to see more of the super natural elements, but now I'm not interested in the none supernatural elements.
But he keeps saying, I can't remember...like he's trying to cover up his screw up for coming to work on the DS set drunk on a few occasions....not good!
I also loved him as Greg's father in Dharma & Greg! A great actor. And as for him not remembering alot I think his memory is quite sharp. As he was in his 80's(?) here. And trying to recollect a show that happened almost 50 years earlier.
Thanks for posting this! I recently acquired the Dark Shadows full DVD set. I am half-ways through watching the first season, having never seen it before. I have to say Mr. Ryan as "Burke Devlin" absolutely dominates the first season. Seeing this interview and listening to him speak, I'm immediately thinking "That's Burke Devlin!" I especially enjoyed a touching scene between him and David Henesy. Where he takes a fatherly role. Trying to re-assure the troubled-boy David. . It was fascinating to listen to! It's a shame that he got fired from the show, as he was one of the strongest and most memorable characters on it. I'm not justifying his drinking, but plenty of other actors could have been canned for showing up drunk on the set. Richard Burton and Peter O'Toole sometimes showed-up inebriated. Robert Shaw was almost constantly sloshed during the filming of Jaws.
Yes, but those were movies with huge budgets that weren't taped live on a strict schedule. Also, Burton, O'Toole, and Shaw were big stars in their day, whose names -- especially the first two -- drew huge audiences and lots of money. Not the case for this little TV show, whose most important stars were Jonathan Frid and David Selby.
The character of Burke Devlin, like that of Victoria Winters, was intended for the original format of Dark Shadows, that being a standard but somewhat more macabre (though not supernatural) soap opera. But when the show took the more supernatural route, both characters became marginalized in favor of Angelique, Barnabas, Julia, etc. The after school kids audience (which replaced the original housewife audience) was also upset when Burke reconciled with the Collins family, as the reason for his character in the first place was to exact revenge upon them. Essentially, the character of Burke was watered down, and when Barnabas developed an interest in Victoria, it became obvious that the show was not big enough for both men. The departures of both Mitchell Ryan and Alexandra Moltke proved to be the undoing of Burke and Victoria, the replacement actors could not fill the void, and both characters were ultimately killed off.
Alexandra Moltke(Victoria)wanted to leave the show because she was having a baby. In my binge watching of 'Dark Shadows' I'm nowhere near the episode, I believe it was 666, where she was killed off, so I don't want to know the spoiler in how Victoria is killed off, though I'm pretty sure it was Barnabas that killed her. My guess is Barnabas tried to turn Victoria into Josette after he failed to make Maggie be Josette, and when he couldn't change Victoria into Josette, he killed her. I won't come back to the comments section of this video until after I've watched Victoria's final 'Dark Shadows' episode, which could be several months from now.
Ryan's alcohol abuse became an issue, and reached a breaking point when he showed up intoxicated at the studio. That was when the decision was made to make the change. Burke Devlin was supposed to be a rough edged and resentful character, and Anthony George simply was too mellow to perpetuate that demeanor. The producers soon realized this, and that is when the character of Burke was killed off. I am not certain as to whether they were contemplating bringing him back, as Burke was "lost" in a plane crash in Brazil. His body was never found, so I have to assume that the producers were keeping the option of bringing him back. However, it was not long before the character of Victoria Winters (his fiancée) was also written out of the show, so that put to rest any ideas of bringing back Burke.
In actuality Ryan did not show up on the set one day do do the alcoholism unfortunately and it was an important day for the character. Then Curtis had to substitute Joel Crothers in a scene with Alexandra moltke is Vicky and actually the lines that Joel Crothers had made him appear more like Burke even though he was still Joe Haskell in the scene. I understand Curtis was Furious and he fired him because of that. The actors were very sympathetic and try to help him through it while he was having this issue. Later on Mitchell Ryan was very contrite and sorry that it happened I believe he spoke publicly about it
If the show returns on the WB or whatever they call it now, maybe Burke will return in the present day the same age as he was when he vanished, having been transported into the future which is our own time.
@@joanngreen7059 No way. I wouldn't watch if they just did a reboot of the old series for the midern day. They would have to change too much of the old story to keep it fresh, new and exciting. Otherwise, everyone would know what was going to happen.. And I for one want the old Dark Shadiws canonical stories to be respected and remain part of Collinwood history. They should make it a continuation. Roger and Elizabeth are dead, as is Willie Loomis, Professir Stokes and Doctor Hoffman. David and Amy are middle-aged adults now and if Carolyn is alive, she is an old woman. Chris committed suicide years ago after his werewolf self killed Sabrena Stewart. Only Quentin and Barnabas should be the same age. Maybe Julia, if Barnabas temporarily made her a vampire at some point, then cures her..
Anthony George softened the character of Burke to an unacceptable degree. He made him almost wimpy. Alas, Mitchell was having a serious problem with alcohol at the time, and had to be let go.
R I P Mr. Ryan the first Burke Devlin on Dark Shadows. He passed away on March 4th, 2022. His book is called "Fall of the Sparrow" Just this last Xtmas he performed in the Dark Shadows zoom video of A Christmas Carol which is posted on RU-vid as well.
I agree 100%; DS took unfortunately IMO a major conceptual change and three very significant character changes in its history. Conceptual change was to go from "humans" vs. "evil creatures" which was established as of the Phoenix cycle-who was not intrinsically evil-just very dangerous to the "Barnabas-Angelique-Julia" show; character changes were eventually downplaying Victoria Winters and writing her out-and killing off Burke Devlin and writing out the "ghost" of Josette Collins.
Willie should have put up a better fight in my opinion though of course Burke had to win. Ironically, Willie went on to become one of the most well-loved characters on the series but at that time he was the most hated, probably even more than Jason.
@@secondcomingofbast9908 that coz the first Willie was just so super creepy and predatory. They switched to John Karlen just a few episodes before the fight and he was definitely a new man after he opened Barnabas' tomb!
He seems to have forgotten a lot of the details haha!! He was really good in the role of Burke Devlin and, as fans know, played in the very first scene of the very first episode where he and Victoria Winters happen to be on the same train heading to Collinsport and meet at the station. I was afraid he had forgotten David Hennesy who he did have many, many scenes with, but he snuck him in at the end with a nice compliment.
He ' s a very atractive man. Collinsport ' s most manly man . He should have returned to DS , a new plot : " Burke Devlin is back in town " ... And Vicky and Burke together ... They loocked great . I allways missed him.
The only problem with the 2nd Dark Shadows was it went on the same US Iraq gulf war started most everyone was glued to the news I missed it because my wife wanted to watch the gulf war 24/7 the same woman that would not let me buy army men toys or anything like it for our boys
It's too bad he couldn't get his drinking under control I like him as Burke. Charlie Sheen did the same thing to himself on Two and a Half Men. Mackenzie Phillips also got fired from a show One Day at a Time because of her drinking and drugs
Apples and oranges. They were major motion picture stars who drew in big audiences at the box office, and whose lines could be dubbed in later; plus, movies are shot out of sequence, and sometimes an actor's absence can be shot around. DS was a little, low-budget TV show with a very strict shooting schedule, they didn't do re-shoots and couldn't dub in dialogue later. Plus, Dan Curtis was a no-nonsense guy, from all reports.
Wish one of these new audio plays or the books by Laura Parker or someone else would do something with the Burke Devlin character, he sometimes seems almost forgotten and that totally isn't fair
Burke was actually "resurrected" in one of the Marion Ross novellas entitled "The Curse Of Collinwood", published after the characters of Burke and Victoria had been written out of the show. In the book, Burke and Victoria team up to stop the zombie couple of Derek and Esther Collins.
Mitch was the perfect alpha Burke, handsome, manly but a bit intimidating, and should have never been fired. Viewers din't care about his drinking,, Curtis came up with premise of the show but he also made mistakes, HE was not responsible for hiring or even wanting Jonathan Frid, it was a man Frid knew previously. Who in the world decided on Anthony George, and when he kisses Vickie I fast forward it.
I also agree the Ben Cross version was very good and was disappointed it didn't last. Word is the CW is working on a reboot hopefully that fares better.
Funny as i looked that show up last night and turned it off within 10 mins after seeing that Willie Loomis character. That was too much and too far from the original. Cheers~
@@azapp4761 I have actually been binge watching the original on Amazon Prime and have watched over 300 episodes since September starting from the very beginning. Even better than I remembered. For the reboot I only saw it when it first came out. I'll have to take another peek at it and see if I have changed my mind.
@@soxfan1957 You and me both! I did the WHOLE Dark Shadows With Barnabas and am now doing the original shows that started it. I don't remember them at all. Its been a joy to see them all! Thank Goodness for Prime right? All the best to you! Cheers~ Annie
Mitchell Ryan was the one and only Burke Devlin. to bad his alcohol problem was the reason for him being fired. he then years later when on to play the Head Doctor in Halloween 6 and having to watch over Michael Myers.
I just watched the episode of him and Carolyn kissing on the couch. Really fun to hear his take on it. I never could figure out how old Carolyn was supposed to be. Nancy Barrett, in a 2012-ish interview, said 17 or 18, certainly not 20, but she sure didn't look that young at the time. Anyway I thought it was gross for her to be with her uncle's age peer, ew.
yes, I think in the beginning there was someone who could start fires with their mind or something like that. an idea which Stephen King happily ripped off for his book, "Firestarter."
I believe you are referring to the character of Laura Collins, Roger's wife, who was a supernatural character called a "Phoenix". She was fascinated by fire because her body is consumed by fire every 100 years and then reborn from the ashes. She had supernatural mind control abilities but she could not start fires with her mind.
He was Burke Devlin but was a drunk at the time. Watching the shows cast interviews I'm sure it had to be bad. Because I'm sure in that time people were sneaking sips in between takes? Maybe. Anthony George played a good Jeremiah Collins but a terrible Burke. I'm glad they killed off the character.
I believe that the writers strike was going on at that time and several actors were let go the gentleman that played the Doctor. Gehringer, I think his name was, he worked with Julia , he was let go I believe the caretaker and a couple other people along with Mitchell Ryan I wasn't aware of any kind of drinking problem that people referred to , maybe who knows but he lived to be an old man and he was a extremely handsome man he was a very good actor that worked many parts and I loved him . he was a man's man he was a strong Vero masculine man . Barnabas , Jonathan Frid he got his at the time boyfriend which was Anthony George he looks very masculine.. that's over 50 years ago now it was very interesting very well put together .. I love the bloopers they're even great I miss them all Joan Bennett was an extremely beautiful woman she had some sadness in her life with her husband's and of course the murder.. it was a special time and I miss it I miss the innocence of it .😍
Canned for arriving drunk on the set...often I guess. If he was pretty sauced saying his lines, "microphone" aside, he held it together pretty well when the camera was rolling. Ryan embodied more of the feral, angry, rustic nature of Burke than George did, although I didn't mind the latter's portrayal. It just wasn't what Ryan brought to the table.
Hey Rocky, Well I'm totally with ya on Connery. And while I loved Moore too, his portrayal of JB was more polite and genteel compared to Connery's (IMHO at least).
Seems like Mitchell regrets being written out of the show. Coming to work drunk is not a good thing! Hard to watch Mitchell trying to cover up his mess up. He keeps saying, I can't remember....like he knows but he's trying to make it look like it wasn't a big deal back then to get canned.
Yea, I know. Robert Shaw during the filming of Jaws was drunk everyday as well. It happens but I still think Robert Michell really added a lot to the character of Burke Devlin, He was working 2 jobs and the stress probably got to him.
