John Karlen

John Karlen was an American actor who worked across television, film and theater. Born in Brooklyn, he trained on a scholarship at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. His earliest screen work included From These Roots and Kraft Television Theatre, and he began his Broadway career in 1959 in Sweet Bird of Youth. In 1967 he took a signature role on the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows, playing Willie Loomis, who released the vampire Barnabas Collins, and he stayed with the series for 182 episodes through 1971 while playing several other characters. He appeared in the Dark Shadows films House of Dark Shadows (1970) and Night of Dark Shadows (1971). From 1982 to 1988 he played Harvey Lacey Sr. on Cagney & Lacey, winning a Primetime Emmy Award in 1986 and receiving two further nominations, in 1985 and 1987. He later reprised Willie Loomis in Dark Shadows audio dramas from 2006 to 2019.