**Link to the n*de photos**

During the hippie era, what kid didn't run home from school every day to catch the last ten or fifteen minutes of the Gothic soap Dark Shadows (1966-71)? It wasn't enough time to comprehend most of the plotlines, but you could get a glimpse of the blatant romance between brooding vampire Barnabas Collins (Jonathan Frid) and his boyfriend..um...hired hand, Willie Loomis (John Karlen). Probably not deliberate in the late 1960s, but since Jonathan Frid and several other cast members were gay and John Karlen arguably bi, it's a possibility.

I've already covered the romance in detail, but I thought it was high time for a profile of John Karlen.

John was born in Brooklyn in 1933, to Polish immigrant parents. After high school he served in the Korean War, then attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, graduating in 1958.

Between 1958 and 1965, John made his mark on Broadway with roles in Sweet Bird of Youth, Invitation to a March, Arturo Ui, The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here, All in Good Time, and Postmark Zero. Wow, Tennessee Williams, Bertolt Brecht...classy.

Plus episodes of those standalone dramas that they broadcast in the early days of television, before they figured out that ongoing situations would draw in more viewers: Kraft Theater, Armstrong Circle Theater, Camera Three.

The boy was 34 years old, and on his way to a serious dramatic career. Then, for a reason lost to history, he switched to soap operas.

John appeared in 74 episodes of the CBS soap Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1967-68) as "sneering playboy" Jock Porter. He begins dating Chinese-American medical student Mia while she is "on a break" from her regular boyfriend (without telling him). But she discovers that Jock paid for his previous girlfriend's illegal operation, dumps him and returns to Hong Kong.

When he wasn't on the CBS call sheet, John walked three blocks over to ABC, to play con man Jason Maguire's "friend," Willie Loomis on Dark Shadows. When Barnabas Collins was introduced, he was upgraded to vampire companion, and appeared on 179 episodes (1967-71).

He also buddy-bonded with the vampire as Desmond Collins in 1840, and as the flamboyant "green carnation" Carl Collins in 1897.

After Dark Shadows, John's vampire background got him a starring role in the "erotic horror" Daughters of Darkness (1971). Stefan (John) falls in love with Valerie, and says that they have to elope because his "mother" will disapprove. Surprise! He's in a gay relationship with Fons Rademaker, who of course disapproves of being dumped for a girl.

The newlyweds check into a hotel in Belgium, where they meet the famous real-life vampire Elizabeth Báthory and her lesbian girlfriend. Romances, bedroom stuff, psychological games, and murder follow. Only Valerie survives.

I don't recommend it because it's nonstop n*de ladies, but there's a gay connection, and we get to see John's backside. Several times (on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends).

And his d*ck, but it's too small and blurry for a decent screen capture, so I posted Malcolm McDowall instead? A Clockwork Orange premiered in 1971, also.

More after the break

John stayed busy during the seventies, acting in movies and tv shows, most vampire free: Mannix, Hawaii Five-O, The Waltons, The Streets of San Francisco, The Rockford Files, All in the Family. I didn't check individual episodes, since there were almost no gay characters on tv at the time.

His most significant post-vampire role was in.Cagney & Lacey (1982-88), a lesbian-subtext buddy cop drama pairing wild, unpredictable butch Cagney (Sharon Gless) and with the respectable, by-the-books, femme Lacey (Tyne Daly). John played Lacey's husband, Harvey, in 125 episodes plus some movies.

Plus two of his movies have gay interest. In Racing with the Moon (1984): Sean Penn and Nicolas Cage prepare to go off to fight in World War II. They both have girlfriends, but their gay-subtext buddy bond overwhelms the hetero-romance. John plays Sean's dad.

In Impulse (1984): A toxic waste spill makes residents of a small town act bizarre. Including Tim Matheson, who shows his backside, causing a lot of gay awakenings among the teenage boys in audience. John plays Tim's dad.

He also appeared in Surf Ninjas, Terror in the Tower, two Perry Mason movies, three episodes of Mad About You, and four episodes of Murder She Wrote before retiring from acting

John continued to play Willie Loomis in some of the radio dramas based on the show: Return to Collinwood, The House of Despair, The Book of Temptation, The Christmas Presence, The Rage Beneath, and Echoes of Insanity (where he also provided the voice of Dr. Julia Hoffman). In the new stories, Barnabas is married to Julia Hoffman, and Willie is married to Jessica Griffin, the owner of the Blue Whale pub. Bummer.

He also attended many Dark Shadows fan conventions and events. When asked about the gay subtext on the show, he said "It was always me and Quentin (David Selby)." Joking, since Desmond Collins was Quentin's brother.