Ronald Sproat (2 November 1932 – 6 November 2009 in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

) was an American screenwriter and playwright known for ''

Dark Shadows ''Dark Shadows'' is an American Gothic fiction, Gothic soap opera that aired weekdays on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC television network from June 27, 1966, to April 2, 1971. The show depicted the lives, loves, trials, and tribulatio ...

''.

Biography

Career

Sproat is best known for his work on ''

'', the 1960s

ABC Daytime ABC Daytime (sometimes shortened to ABC-D or ABCD) is a division responsible for the daytime television programming block on the American Broadcasting Company, ABC Network and syndicated programming. The block has historically encompassed soap o ...

gothic soap opera. Sproat created the vampire character

Barnabas Collins Barnabas Collins is a fictional character, a featured role in the ABC daytime serial ''Dark Shadows'', which aired from 1966 to 1971. Barnabas is a 175-year-old vampire in search of fresh blood and his lost love, Josette. The character, origina ...

portrayed by

Jonathan Frid Jonathan Frid (December 2, 1924 – April 14, 2012) was a Canadian actor, best known for his role as vampire Barnabas Collins on the gothic television soap opera ''Dark Shadows''. The introduction in 1967 of Frid's reluctant, guilt-ridden ...

, and turned the low-rated show into a huge national success. Sproat worked on the show from October 1966 through January 1969. Sproat also worked on several other soap operas, including ''

Never Too Young ''Never Too Young'' is an American daytime serial that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from September 27, 1965 to June 24, 1966 and was the first soap opera geared towards a teen audience. The show premiered on ABC on the same day as ' ...

'', a 1965-1966

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

soap aimed at teenagers, '' Where the Heart Is'', a 1969-1973

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

family melodrama, and '' Strange Paradise'', a Canadian soap opera that aired in syndication in the United States from 1969 to 1970, as well as ''

Love of Life ''Love of Life'' is an American soap opera televised on CBS from September 24, 1951, to February 1, 1980. It was created by Roy Winsor, whose previous creation '' Search for Tomorrow'' premiered three weeks before ''Love of Life''; he created ...

'', '' The Doctors'', and ''

The Secret Storm ''The Secret Storm'' is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from February 1, 1954, to February 8, 1974. It was created by Roy Winsor, who also created the long-running soap operas '' Search for Tomorrow'' and '' Love of Life''. ...

''. In addition to television writing, Sproat penned the play '' The Dry Season'' which was performed in 1954 by The Hamilton College Charlatans. He also wrote for

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatre, theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, ...

including ''Abie's Island Rose'' and ''Back Home: The War Brides Musical'', both of which ran

off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

. Both shows had lyrics by Sproat's longtime partner, Frank Evans, who died in 2016.

Education

Sproat received his MA from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, and performed undergraduate work at

Hamilton College Hamilton College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Clinton, Oneida County, New York, Clinton, New York. It was established as the Hamilton-Oneida Academy in 1793 and received its c ...

. While at Hamilton College, he won the William Duncan Saunders Award for creative writing. Sproat also attended

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

, where he earned a MFA. While attending Michigan, Sproat was also the recipient of the Avery Hopwood Award.

References

External links

* 1932 births 2009 deaths Hamilton College (New York) alumni University of Michigan alumni David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University alumni American male screenwriters 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American soap opera writers Place of birth missing American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights American male television writers American television writers American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers Screenwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American screenwriters 20th-century American LGBTQ people {{US-playwright-stub