Dan Curtis

Creator

Dan Curtis

Born 1927-08-12 · Bridgeport, Connecticut, USA

Daniel Mayer Cherkoss (August 12, 1927 – March 27, 2006), known by his pen name Dan Curtis, was an American director and producer of television and film, best known for creating the horror soap Dark Shadows. Dark Shadows ran from 1966 to 1971 for a record-setting 1,225 episodes. Curtis also produced the 1991 revival, which was canceled after twelve episodes due to low ratings. He also served as executive producer for a WB reboot; however, it was canceled before the pilot episode aired. His series of macabre films include The Night Stalker (which inspired the series Kolchak: The Night Stalker), Intruders, The Night Strangler, House of Dark Shadows, Night of Dark Shadows, Burnt Offerings, Trilogy of Terror, The Norliss Tapes (a 1973 pilot for an unproduced series starring Roy Thinnes), Curse of the Black Widow, Dead of Night, Scream of the Wolf, and others. He worked frequently with sci-fi/horror writer Richard Matheson. Curtis was producer and/or director of a number of television adaptations of horror-related productions including Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and Turn of the Screw, all made between 1968 and 1975. In 1978, Curtis made a departure from his usual macabre offerings, when he wrote, produced, and directed the sentimental NBC television film When Every Day Was the Fourth of July. Although fictionalized, the film was semi-autobiographical, based on his childhood growing up in 1930s Bridgeport. The film was originally intended to be a pilot for a potential series, but when the series was not picked up by NBC, Curtis made a sequel, The Long Days of Summer, this time airing on ABC. In 1983, Curtis directed the epic seven-part miniseries The Winds of War, based on Herman Wouk's 1971 novel of the same name about the lives of the fictional Henry and Jastrow families as they intersect with the major global events of the early years of World War II. It won three Primetime Emmys (of 13 nominations) and was nominated for four Golden Globes, including Best Miniseries or Television Film. The success spawned a 1988 sequel miniseries, War and Remembrance, also based on a novel by Wouk. Curtis died of a brain tumor in his home on March 27, 2006, two weeks after the death of his wife Norma. Curtis' rights to Dark Shadows remain with his estate, who have signed a deal with Warner Bros. for a new Dark Shadows film, which released in March 2012 to mixed reviews. Description above from the Wikipedia article Dan Curtis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia

Acting credits

Behind the camera

The Night Strangler poster
6.7

After being run out of Las Vegas, reporter Carl Kolchak heads for Seattle and another reporting job with the local paper. It's not long before he’s on the trail of another string of bizarre murders. It seems that every 21 years, for the past century, a killer murders a certain number of people, drains them of their blood, and then disappears into the night. Kolchak is on his trail, but can he stop him?

The Night Strangler

1973

The Night Strangler poster
6.7

After being run out of Las Vegas, reporter Carl Kolchak heads for Seattle and another reporting job with the local paper. It's not long before he’s on the trail of another string of bizarre murders. It seems that every 21 years, for the past century, a killer murders a certain number of people, drains them of their blood, and then disappears into the night. Kolchak is on his trail, but can he stop him?

The Night Strangler

1973

The Love Letter poster
6.6

20th century computer games designer Scott, Civil War buff, buys an antique desk from that era and, while polishing it, he discovers a secret compartment in which sits an unmailed letter--a letter written by a young poet named Lizzie over a century earlier. Touched by her yearning for passion, he writes her back, egged on by his mystically inclined mother. Magically, his letter reaches Lizzie and they begin a correspondence that threatens Scott's impending marriage but promises to bring fulfilment to Lizzie. Spanning the Civil War to the present, the perils of Lizzie's war-torn situation threaten her safe passage into the future. Will their love endure the test of time?

The Love Letter

1998

The Love Letter poster
6.6

20th century computer games designer Scott, Civil War buff, buys an antique desk from that era and, while polishing it, he discovers a secret compartment in which sits an unmailed letter--a letter written by a young poet named Lizzie over a century earlier. Touched by her yearning for passion, he writes her back, egged on by his mystically inclined mother. Magically, his letter reaches Lizzie and they begin a correspondence that threatens Scott's impending marriage but promises to bring fulfilment to Lizzie. Spanning the Civil War to the present, the perils of Lizzie's war-torn situation threaten her safe passage into the future. Will their love endure the test of time?

The Love Letter

1998

Trilogy of Terror II poster
5.1

Three tales of terror: in "The Graveyard Rats" lovers murder the woman's older husband and encounter horror when they attempt to rob his grave; "Bobby" is the story of a woman who summons her son back from the dead; and in "He Who Kills" an African doll goes on a murderous rampage.

Trilogy of Terror II

1996

Trilogy of Terror II poster
5.1

Three tales of terror: in "The Graveyard Rats" lovers murder the woman's older husband and encounter horror when they attempt to rob his grave; "Bobby" is the story of a woman who summons her son back from the dead; and in "He Who Kills" an African doll goes on a murderous rampage.

Trilogy of Terror II

1996

Night of Dark Shadows poster
6.6

Recently married, Quentin and Tracy Collins have just moved into Collinwood, a New England estate that has long been in the Collins family and which Quentin has just inherited. They soon find themselves plagued by spirits of past residents.

Night of Dark Shadows

1971

Night of Dark Shadows poster
6.6

Recently married, Quentin and Tracy Collins have just moved into Collinwood, a New England estate that has long been in the Collins family and which Quentin has just inherited. They soon find themselves plagued by spirits of past residents.

Night of Dark Shadows

1971

The Night Stalker poster
6.9

Wisecracking reporter Carl Kolchak investigates a string of murders in Las Vegas and suspects the culprit is a vampire. His editor thinks he's crazy and the police think he's a nuisance, so Kolchak takes matters into his own hands.

The Night Stalker

1972

Burnt Offerings poster
6.5

A family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.

Burnt Offerings

1976

Burnt Offerings poster
6.5

A family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.

Burnt Offerings

1976

Burnt Offerings poster
6.5

A family moves into a large old mansion in the countryside which seems to have a mysterious and sinister power over its new residents.

Burnt Offerings

1976

Trilogy of Terror poster
6.2

A horror anthology containing three stories: a female college professor is aggressively pursued by one of her students; a prudish brunette determines that her free-spirited blonde sister is evil; and a woman's night turns upside down after she purchases an ancient Zuni fetish doll.

Trilogy of Terror

1975

Trilogy of Terror poster
6.2

A horror anthology containing three stories: a female college professor is aggressively pursued by one of her students; a prudish brunette determines that her free-spirited blonde sister is evil; and a woman's night turns upside down after she purchases an ancient Zuni fetish doll.

Trilogy of Terror

1975

Dracula poster
6.3

Dracula is searching for a woman who looks like his long dead wife.

Dracula

1974

Dracula poster
6.3

Dracula is searching for a woman who looks like his long dead wife.

Dracula

1974

Our Fathers poster
6.5

In the '80s, priests and especially the Father Geoghan arrested for sexual abuse of minors. Cardinal Law, also indicted, and the diocese was aware of the actions of these men of the church and was kept secret for years, until the victims decide to seek redress.

Our Fathers

2005

House of Dark Shadows poster
6.6

Barnabas Collins searches for a cure for vampirism in order to marry a woman resembling his long-lost fiancée Josette.

House of Dark Shadows

1970

House of Dark Shadows poster
6.6

Barnabas Collins searches for a cure for vampirism in order to marry a woman resembling his long-lost fiancée Josette.

House of Dark Shadows

1970

Dead of Night poster
6.2

This anthology tells three stories: a man buys a car that takes him back and forth through time; a tale of vampires; and a distraught mother asks for her drowned son to come back to life and gets more than she bargained for.

Dead of Night

1977

Dead of Night poster
6.2

This anthology tells three stories: a man buys a car that takes him back and forth through time; a tale of vampires; and a distraught mother asks for her drowned son to come back to life and gets more than she bargained for.

Dead of Night

1977

Curse of the Black Widow poster
5.2

Tony Franciosa plays a detective who's on the trail of a murderer whose mutilated and predominantly male victims are found encased in silken cocoons...

Curse of the Black Widow

1977

The Kansas City Massacre poster
5.8

Gangsters free one of their colleagues being escorted to prison and kill several FBI agents and local police officers in the attempt. FBI agent Melvin Purvis puts together a special squad to track down and capture the men responsible.

The Kansas City Massacre

1975

The Kansas City Massacre poster
5.8

Gangsters free one of their colleagues being escorted to prison and kill several FBI agents and local police officers in the attempt. FBI agent Melvin Purvis puts together a special squad to track down and capture the men responsible.

The Kansas City Massacre

1975