Lara Parker, the witch Angelique on Dark Shadows, dies at 84

Lara Parker, the actress best known for her role as the witch Angelique on the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, died Thursday at the age of 84.

Parker died in her sleep at her home in Los Angeles, her daughter Caitlin told The Hollywood Reporter.

Born Mary Lamar Rickey in Knoxville, Tenn., Parker's first acting gig was as the vengeful Angelique on Dan Curtis' ABC soap, centered on Jonathan Frid's vampire Barnabas Collins. Angelique dooms Barnabas, unaware that she is a witch, to eternal life as a vampire after he seduces and abandons her. The series ran for five seasons, between 1966 and 1971.

The hit series brought Parker a legion of fans, ones that either feared or were in awe of her. "Everywhere we went [the cast was] recognized," she previously shared. "There was a huge crowd outside the [Manhattan] studio when we finished in the afternoon of autograph seekers. People would show up, the same people every single day, day after day. They worshipped some of us and would walk us to the subway."

"I can remember standing on the subway when school got out and seeing 200 or 300 kids all waiting to take the train," Parker continued. "They would see me and start screaming and run to the other end of the platform! They were so terrified because I was so evil." Of the feminists who admired the witch, she added, "She was coming in at the beginning of the women's movement and she was very independent. They sort of missed the fact that she was obsessed with her love for Barnabas and that was destroying her."

Parker's costar Kathryn Leigh Scott paid homage to her on Facebook. "I'm heartbroken, as all of us are who knew and loved her," Scott wrote on Monday. "She graced our lives with her beauty and talent, and we are all richer for having had her in our lives. Family meant more than anything to Lara, and they have wanted these few days since her passing to themselves. Rest in peace, my cherished friend."

Parker also appeared in episodes of One Life to Live, The Rockford Files, S.W.A.T., Emergency!, Kojak, and The Fall Guy. On the big screen, she starred in Save the Tiger, Race With the Devil, The Lazarus Syndrome, and Hi, Mom!, the latter of which starred a young Robert De Niro. Parker also reprised her role as Angelique in the panned Night of Dark Shadows and cameoed alongside Frid and Scott in Tim Burton's 2012 Dark Shadows film adaptation starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter.

Parker, who had a master's in creative writing, also authored four Dark Shadows novels: Angelique's Descent, The Salem Branch, Wolf Moon Rising, and Heiress of Collinwood.

She is survived by second husband Jimmy Hawkins and her three children.

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