Lara Parker, best known for playing fan-favorite witch Angelique Bouchard on soap opera “Dark Shadows,” has died at 84.
Kathryn Leigh Scott, her costar on the 1960s gothic program, confirmed the news Monday on Facebook.
“I have sad news… My beautiful, beloved friend Lara Parker passed away Thursday, Oct. 12. I’m heartbroken, as all of us are who knew and loved her,” Scott wrote.
“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,” Scott concluded.
The actress died in her sleep at her home in Topanga Canyon, her daughter said.
The series ran on ABC from 1966 to 1971 and spawned several follow-up movies from creator Dan Curtis.
Parker, along with other surviving “Dark Shadows” stars, made cameos in Tim Burton’s 2012 big-screen adaptation of the same name.
As Parker told a fan site in 2007, she initially hoped to “shed” her sexy vampire image, but later embraced fans’ love of the character.
“After ‘Dark Shadows’ went off the air and I came to Hollywood to become a big movie star — because ‘Dark Shadows’ had been my first professional job — and all I wanted to do was shed the relationship with a vampire soap opera and shed the persona of a witch,” she told Knight at the Movies.
“But as the years went by and I didn’t become a movie star, ‘Dark Shadows’ became more important in my life and I began to really value the conventions and think of them as something I should be proud of rather than something I should try to forget about. And now that they’ve been going on so long, I guess I feel that I’m really fortunate that I was part of the show,” she said.
Parker’s other films include 1973’s “Save the Tiger” with Jack Lemmon and the 1975 horror film “Race With the Devil” alongside Peter Fonda, Warren Oates and Loretta Swit.
She guest starred on numerous TV shows in the ’70s and ’80s, including “Kung Fu,” “Police Woman,” “The Rockford Files,” “Emergency!,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” “Kojack,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “Remington Steele.”
Parker was also remembered on social media by Barbara Crampton, star of “You’re Next,” “Chopping Mall” and “Re-Animator.”
“Rest well in peace, Lara Parker. You were the first horror influence upon my life,” she wrote. “I wanted to be you when I grew up! You were iconic, beautiful and powerful. Magical as Angelique, you started out as a guest character and were so compelling you could not be denied a regular role.”
Parker is survived by her second husband Jim Hawkins, daughter Caitlin, sons Rick and Andy, and grandson Wesley. Her first husband was artist Tom Parker.
