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Quentin Collins Gallery
Quentin Collins
Production Information
Portrayed by

David Selby
Thayer David

First appearance

646

Last appearance

1113

Episode count

183

Audio appearances

Return to Collinwood
The House of Despair
The Book of Temptation
The Christmas Presence
The Rage Beneath
Kingdom of the Dead
Bloodlust
The Skin Walkers
The Path of Fate
Blood Dance
London's Burning
The Creeping Fog
The Crimson Pearl
The Fall of the House of Trask
Operation Victor
The Haunted Refrain
The Darkest Shadow
Panic
Bloodline

Biographical Information
Name

Quentin Collins

Also known as

Grant Douglas

Age

27 (1897)
100 (1970)
113 (1983)
125 (1995)

Date of birth

1870

Year of death

1897 (negated time-line)

Manner of death

Shot by Beth Chavez (negated time-line)

Origin

Maine, New England, USA

Supernatural abilities

Lycanthropy
Immortality
Ghost (negated time-line)

Family members

Geoffrey Collins (Father)
Anna Collins (Mother)
Edith Collins (Grandmother)
Gabriel Collins (Grandfather)
Judith Collins (Sister)
Edward Collins (Brother)
Carl Collins (Brother)
Jamison Collins (Nephew)
Nora Collins (Niece)
Jenny Collins (Wife)
Lenore Collins (Daughter)
Chris Jennings (Great-grandson)
Tom Jennings (Great-grandson)
Amy Jennings (Great-granddaughter)
Tom Cunningham(Great-great-grandson)

We have 12 images of Dark Shadows Quentin Collins

This article is about Quentin Collins who was born in the 1870s and was still alive in 1995. For his great-uncle see Quentin Collins (1840). His Parallel Time equivalent was Quentin Collins (1970 PT) and his great uncle in Parallel Time was represented by Quentin Collins (1841 PT)

Quentin Benjamin Collins II (born 1870) (695) was the son of Geoffrey Collins and Anna Collins and the grandson of Edith Collins and Gabriel Collins.

Quentin's brothers were Carl Collins and Edward Collins, and his elder sister was Judith Collins. He was brother-in-law to Laura Collins, Magda Rakosi, and Gregory Trask.

Quentin was evidently named after an ancestor, his great-uncle Quentin. This makes him one of the very few cases in the Collins family where a name was actually repeated across the generations (despite claims to the contrary by Barnabas Collins).

Original Timeline[]

Childhood and Marriage[]

Quentin Collins was born 1870, in the town of Collinsport, Maine, as the fourth and youngest son of the next-in-line patriarch of the Collins family estate, Geoffrey and his mistress, Anna Collins. His mother died in a boating accident, when he was two years old. He had a lonely childhood. His father according to Judith, was “a god fearing man”, who was very distant with his each of his children. (864) Geoffrey died when Quentin was a boy. Edith raised him after his fathers’ death. According to Edith, Quentin was the black sheep of the Collins’ family, since he was a child. (704) In his late teens, he became acquainted with a lawyer named Evan Hanley, who taught him about the occult. Edith was suspicious about Hanley.

Magda Jenny Quentin

.Quentin with his wife and daughter

Quentin married Jenny Collins in the early 1890s. Jenny had fallen desperately in love with Quentin and hid her gypsy heritage from him. (She was actually the sister of Magda Rakosi who lived in the Old House.)

In 1896, Quentin had an extramarital affair with Edward's wife, Laura Collins. She fled Collinwood with him to Alexandria, Egypt. There, Quentin, working as a spy for the Egyptian police, turned her over to a cult which chose her as a human sacrifice. Had he not offered her, he would have been chosen (732). 

Unknown to Quentin, Jenny was pregnant at the time of his departure from Collinwood. While he was away she gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. Edward and Judith Collins arranged for the children to be taken away, and the loss drove Jenny insane.

Return From Collinwood[]

In 1897, Quentin returned to Collinwood after Jamison Collins convinced Edith Collins to allow him to return. After Edith died, he conspired with Evan Hanley to get Sandor Rakosi to edit Edith's will to leave him the entire fortune instead of just leaving him a place to live in Collinwood as long as he wanted. Quentin attempts to learn the family secret from Edith by threatening her. Edward returns to Collinsport with a new governess, Rachel Drummond, for his children Jamison and Nora Collins. Quentin plans to make sure that he gets something in Edith's will even if he has to have it changed; he finds out from Magda Rakosi, a Gypsy and Edith's fortune teller and the wife of Sandor, that the will is hidden in Edith's coffin. Quentin is tormented by the ghost of Edith; she warns him to return the will. Evan Hanley, the Collins family lawyer and a Satanist, approaches Sandor to hire him to help forge a new will.

Magda's curse[]

753ks

Quentin as a werewolf.

When Jenny Collins escaped from her room at Collinwood, she saw Quentin and Beth kissing. Jenny tried to kill them, but Quentin strangled her to death. When Edward Collins told Magda about the accident, she went to see her sister's body. Magda found a button from Quentin's Jacket in Jenny's hand and knew that Quentin had killed her. Magda then placed a curse on Quentin. The curse would change Quentin and the first-born male of each generation of his descendants into werewolves (763). That night, Quentin transformed into a werewolf and brutally murdered Dorcas Trilling, a teacher at Worthington Hall. For the next few months, Quentin transformed into a werewolf and terrorized Collinsport, killing several of the villagers. Every morning, Quentin would be haunted by the ghosts of his slaughtered victims. This nearly drove him insane.

Beth revealed to Magda that Jenny had borne Quentin's children - and therefore Magda had cursed her own kin when she cursed Quentin. Magda tried everything she could to take the werewolf curse off of him. One day, she stole the magical hand of Count Petofi, who had been an extremely powerful warlock who had also suffered the curse of the werewolf. When Magda and Quentin performed a ceremony to remove the curse, they lost control and the Hand nearly killed him. However, Quentin transformed into a werewolf and ran out of the room.

The werewolf killed many people who were hunting for him but eventually got stuck in a bear trap. The werewolf was then taken to the Collinsport jail were he struggled to break free. When the dawn came, the werewolf transformed into Quentin, but he was not identified because he was deformed from the Hand. 

Quentin then roamed the woods and countryside, transforming into a werewolf when the moon rose and killing people much more brutally than before. When the deformed Quentin finally came to his senses, he stole the Hand from his friend Evan Hanley. Quentin was later captured by a mysterious stranger named Aristede, who claimed that he knew his secret. It turned out that Aristede was working for Count Petofi himself! When Petofi arrived in Collinsport to reclaim his hand, Quentin had restored his face. When Quentin transformed into a werewolf, he nearly killed Aristede. But he was stopped by Petofi, who seemed to have some kind of control over the werewolf, and tricked him into being kidnapped.

Quentin later escaped from the place where Petofi was holding him, and tried his best to destroy him. He joined forces with Magda, Together, they tried to destroy Petofi countless times, but each attempt failed because Petofi had reclaimed the Hand. Petofi eventually brought a painter named Charles Delaware Tate to Collinsport and had him paint a portrait of Quentin. When Charity Trask witnessed Quentin transform into the werewolf and maul a girl from the village, she began to believe that she was a woman named Pansy Faye. When Quentin's portrait was finished, he found that the portrait transformed into a werewolf and he did not. The portrait also aged while he did not, rendering Quentin effectively immortal.

Death[]

On September 10th of that same year, Beth is informed that Quentin and she will not marry. Beth, distraught, runs from the room and attempts to take her own life by poison. Jamison stops her, and confronts Quentin about his engagement to Angelique and breaking his word to Jamison, but Quentin rebuffs him. Jamison, wounded, tells Quentin that he never wants to see him again, which fulfills the third key event that, it has been foretold, shall herald Quentin's death, the loss of his one true love.

In a jealous rage, Beth shoots Quentin first in the Drawing Room, and again after following him as he staggers to the Tower Room, where he then dies. Beth takes her own life the following morning.

Haunting Collinwood[]

In late 1968, Chris Jennings arrives in Collinsport with the intention of finding out how his brother Tom Jennings died. Chris meets with his young sister, Amy Jennings who has been at Windcliff Sanitarium since the death of Tom. Chris is disturbed by the news that a full moon will be that night. Strange noises can be heard in Chris’ room at the Collinsport Inn, and the innkeeper is attacked and killed. Whilst in the woods Elizabeth Collins Stoddard hears a growling noise coming toward her. Amy appears and “whatever it was” goes away. Elizabeth describes “it” as an animal dressed as a man.

David Collins shows Amy the West wing of Collinwood, she talks to a ghost named Quentin Collins on an old telephone they find. Chris cuts short a date with Carolyn Stoddard in order to go back to his room where he turns into a werewolf. During a séance, the spirit of a woman named Magda Rakosi speaks through Carolyn with a warning. Chris interrupts the séance before anything substantial can be learned. David and Amy return to the West wing where several strange things happen to them; they discover a sealed off room belonging to Quentin. In the secret room they find a skeleton. They get a cradle from the Old House and put it in the secret room, as they were “instructed” to. They plan to play "the game” with Quentin and his ghost along with that of Beth Chavez, a servant at Collinwood during the latter part of the 19th century. Amy and David dress up and pretend to be Beth and Quentin. They bury the skeleton from the secret room and David strings a wire across the staircase, causing Roger Collins to fall down the stairs.

Meanwhile, Professor Timothy Eliot Stokes believes that Collinwood is possessed and brings Janet Findley, a medium, to investigate. David and Amy warn Quentin that Janet Findley's arrival. Janet sees the sign of the pentagram in Joe Haskell's face. She warns Joe to be careful of an animal that walks as a man. David and Amy trick Janet into going through the secret passage from the drawing room to the west wing. She discovers Quentin's room and is tormented by his spirits while trapped in there. When Janet next appears she falls down the stairs to her death. Joe learns Chris is a werewolf and shoots Chris after he changes; however, the bullets do not injure him. Joe goes insane and kidnaps Amy to “protect” her from Chris.

Dr. Julia Hoffman has Joe sent to Windcliff for treatment. Julia and Barnabas Collinsalso discover that Chris is a werewolf. Barnabas locks Chris in the secret room in the Collins mausoleum so he will not be able to hurt anyone when he transforms. David visits and distracts Chris while Quentin poisons his drink. The ghost of Beth leads Julia and Barnabas to the Cottage where they find Chris dying. David tells Quentin he does not want to play "the game" anymore, Quentin touches his arm and makes it feel like it is on fire. Maggie Evans hears David screaming and the sound of a man's laughter. Ned Stuart shows up at Collinwood looking for Chris and reveals that Chris was engaged to his sister, Sabrina Stuart. Chris and Julia visit Sabrina and find she has been in a state of shock for the last two years since the last time she saw Chris. The ghost of Quentin chases everyone out of Collinwood and into the Old House. Barnabas and Julia go to the mausoleum to release Chris, however, he is still a werewolf despite the absence of a full moon. Julia thinks there must be some connection between the ghost of Quentin and Chris’ werewolf condition. While searching Quentin's room, Professor Stokes finds I-Ching wands and is convinced they may be the key to understanding Quentin. Maggie goes to Collinwood to find David, when she does he falls unconscious; later Julia informs everyone that David is in a coma and will die soon.

Alternate Timeline[]

An attempt to save David Collins from the ghost of Quentin, Barnabas Collins uses the I-Ching wands to make a mental journey which transports his consciousness back in time to 1897. In this year, Quentin Collins returns to Collinwood after some time away. Quentin's grandmother Edith Collins, the mistress of Collinwood, is on her death bed and is expected to tell the family secret to the next in line, her grandson and Quentin's older brother, Edward Collins. Barnabas materializes in his coffin at the Collins family crypt and is released by a Gypsy handyman and con artist, named Sandor Rakosi, whom Barnabas (a vampire once again) bites him and makes Sandor his human slave and daytime protector. Barnabas then arrives at Collinwood and introduces himself as a cousin from England (as he did in the contemporary time back in 1967), and then begins to investigate Quentin.

Quentin attempts to learn the family secret from Edith by threatening her. Edward returns to Collinsport with a new governess, Rachel Drummond, for his children Jamison and Nora Collins. Barnabas meets with Edith; she is shocked and declares that he is the family secret; the vampire son of the late Joshua and Naomi Collins imprisoned in a coffin in the family crypt. She is unable to tell Edward the secret and dies. Quentin plans to make sure that he gets something in Edith's will even if he has to have it changed; he finds out from Magda Rakosi, a Gypsy and Edith's fortune teller and the wife of Sandor, that the will is hidden in Edith's coffin. Quentin is tormented by the ghost of Edith; she warns him to return the will. Evan Hanley, the Collins family lawyer and a Satanist, approaches Sandor to hire him to help forge a new will. In order to stop Barnabas from interfering with their plans, Quentin and Evan hold a ceremony which brings the witch Angelique Collinsback into existence. Judith Collins, Quentin's older sister, finds Edith's real will and learns that Edith has left her everything. She is the new mistress of Collinwood.

While continuing to investigate Quentin Collins, Barnabas meets Edward's estranged wife Laura Collins, who ran away to Egypt with Quentin some years ago. Barnabas recognizes Laura as the Phoenix from his lifetime in the 18th century and she has returned to reclaim her children, Jamison and Nora, and whom she sets fire to Worthington Hall. Barnabas also meets and bites Charity Trask, Gregory Trask's daughter, and makes her his slave to keep tabs on Reverend Trask and of his intentions. Quentin teams up with Barnabas to investigate Laura and find a way to stop her from taking Jamison and Nora away. Laura then meets Dirk Wilkins, a Collinwood employee, to do her bidding while Quentin teams up with Barnabas' rival Angelique to fight against Laura's powers, which eventually ends with Angelique turning Laura into an old version of herself and being burned alive (as in the 1967 storyline Laura the Phoenix), saving Jamison and Nora.

Things take a turn when Dirk Wilkins discovers that Barnabas is a vampire. Barnabas attacks him; Dirk dies and rises as a vampire. Dirk attacks Judith; under his control she shoots and kills Rachel. Edward follows Judith, finds Dirk's coffin and kills him by driving a wooden stake through his heart. Meanwhile, Gregory gets Evan Hanley to brainwash Tim to kill on command. They have him kill Minerva. Gregory asks Judith to marry him, she agrees and they are married that night. With Evan's help, Gregory summons up the spirit of Minerva in order to make Judith think she is going insane. She is committed to a sanitarium, giving Gregory full control over the Collins estate.

Barnabas attempts to return to 1969 using the I-Ching, however, Edward disrupts Barnabas’ I-Ching trance causing his body in 1969 to disappear. Now trapped in the year 1897, Barnabas writes a letter explaining everything and leaves it to be found in the future. In 1969, Dr. Julia Hoffman reads the letter and goes to Collinwood to find out more about Quentin. The ghost of Beth explains to Julia that she killed Quentin back in 1897. Julia uses the I-Ching wands to travel back to 1897. Events unfold just as Julia had learned, however Count Petofi intervenes and stops Beth before she kills Quentin. Julia is able to see David Collins’ funeral in 1969, she sees David come alive and the ghosts of Quentin and Beth have gone. Count Petofi forces Julia to tell him that the I-Ching wands are the key to time travel. He realizes he must have a body in the future if he wishes to travel there. He causes Beth to see a vision of the future and Quentin is there. Julia starts to feel strange and hears voices from 1969. She is called back and disappears.

Count Petofi enters a trance, which causes his and Quentin's minds to switch bodies. He tells Quentin that he will be using his body to travel to the future. He then enters the I-Ching trance and arrives in 1969, however, Beth disrupts it and causes him to return to 1897. Still in the body of Quentin, he finds the hand isn't working anymore. Its power is back in his original body that Quentin inhabits. Quentin uses the powers of the hand to switch bodies back with Count Petofi. The vengeful ghost of Garth Blackwood sets Charles's studio on fire with Count Petofi inside; he is presumed dead.

Leaving Collinsport[]

Quentin's happiness from having his curse transferred to his portrait was short-lived when he discovered that Charity Trask, possessed by Pansy Faye, prophesied that he would be murdered on September 10th, 1897.  Quentin found out that not only would he be murdered, but that Jamison would turn against him (837); Quentin made up to Jamison. He later had a mind switch with Count Petofi but was able to reverse it. The fate of Quentin Collins and Beth Chavez changed because Count Petofi stopped Beth from killing Quentin. Petofi planned to use Quentin's body to travel to the future. Beth later worked as the maid for Petofi to escape from her feelings toward Quentin, but she still loved him. Petofi later stole Quentin's body without her realizing it until later. Quentin was able to reverse Petofi's magic and switched bodies again. Shortly thereafter, he found Beth on Widows' Hill. He tried to tell Beth that he wasn't Petofi and had switched back, but she didn't believe him. She jumped off the cliff to her death (876). Eventually, he left Collinsport to meet with Amanda Harris in New York, but something happened and they were never together.

In 1899, while still in New York, he became deeply emotionally involved with a woman named Caitlin and her children, but the relationship ended tragically (The Skin Walkers).

20th century[]

Post-werewolf life[]

What happened to Quentin afterwards over the following decades is for the most part unknown, but he was known to be in Chicago in 1929 (Blood Dance), London in both 1906 and 1941 during the Blitz (London's Burning, The Creeping Fog), and Los Angeles in 1958 (The Missing Reel). It is rumoured that he was recruited (albeit unwillingly) by the British Secret Service for a special mission into Nazi Germany involving a mysterious Professor Moloch (Operation Victor). Eventually, he and Amanda reunited on the set for a movie about Collinwood but were separated when a witch trapped him in a gramophone (The Darkest Shadow). After a woman called Barbara Douglas helped him escape, he lost all memory of his life, and assumed the identity of Barbara's dead husband, Grant (The Haunted Refrain).

Return to Collinsport[]

905l

Quentin in the hospital in 1969.

In 1969, Quentin appeared in Collinsport, using the name of Grant Douglas. After visiting the Todds' antique shop in Collinsport, he was hit by a car that Barnabas was driving and lost his memory (905). As he recovered, Quentin believed that his name truly was Grant Douglas. Julia Hoffman and an actress named Olivia Corey tried the best they could to help Grant get his memory back. Unknown to Grant and Julia, Olivia was an alias of his lover, Amanda Harris. 

Julia discovered that Charles Delaware Tate was still alive in 1969. Chris Jennings (Quentin's own great-grandson) and Grant went to see him, hoping to persuade the painter to create another magical portrait that would remove Chris' own werewolf curse, inherited from Grant/Quentin. This proved unsuccessful (as Count Petofi had been instrumental in imbuing the portrait with its mystical abilities), and Chris transformed into the werewolf and killed Tate. He would have also killed Grant if he had not been scared away when Grant defended himself with a silver candlestick. When Grant told Julia this, she knew that only Quentin Collins would know that werewolves are afraid of silver, having been a werewolf himself. Julia then found that Quentin's portrait (now hidden under a landscape painting) was in the hands of a wealthy man named Sky Rumson, Angelique's latest husband (who was unaware of her witchcraft). Angelique gave Julia the portrait on the condition she (Angelique) would not be involved in subsequent events, and she arranged for its restoration. When she showed it to Grant, his memory was restored.

Quentin's happiness was short-lived when his lover, Amanda Harris, was taken away by a stranger named Mr. Best. Mr. Best turned out to be a manifestation of Death himself, and brought her to the land of the dead. Desperate for Amanda's love, Quentin made a deal with Death to bring Amanda back to the land of the living. However, he was unable to uphold his part of the bargain, and he lost her forever.

Quentin eventually moved on from Amanda and helped Barnabas, Julia, and Chris fight (and eventually defeat) an ancient race called the Leviathans.

Later Life[]

In 1982, following another period of traveling, Quentin returned to Collinsport where he encountered the villainous Strix (The House of Despair).

Post-Show Imaginings[]

In the TV Guide article written by Dark Shadows head writer Sam Hall revealing the outline the show would've taken had it not been cancelled sooner than expected, Quentin resumed his wanderings in an attempt to find a permanent solution to his lycanthropy, knowing he could not destroy his portrait without becoming a werewolf again. Although often tempted to return to Collinsport, destroy the portrait and then commit suicide before the next full moon triggered a transformation, he did not; he had heard rumors of Count Petofi's survival and continued to search for him in the hope the Count could help him.

In the 2003 audio play Return to Collinwood, Quentin returns to Collinwood after unsuccessfully searching for David in South America. He became Maggie Evans' boyfriend. Their romance is explored further in the Big Finish miniseries, Maggie & Quentin - The Lovers' Refrain.

Relationships[]

Quentin married Jenny Collins in the 1890s and she bore his two children. Quentin was unaware of her gypsy origins until after her death.

He had an affair with his sister-in-law, Laura Collins, that ended in tragedy.

In 1897, Quentin met and fell in love with Amanda Harris, a beautiful woman with no past. She was pursued at the same time by Tim Shaw, Charles Delaware Tate and others, although she truly loved Quentin more than anyone. He pursued her even beyond the grave but eventually lost her in a battle against Death (932).

He later reappeared in the 20th century using the name Grant Douglas. He met and charmed Carolyn Stoddard, who was still on the rebound from Chris Jennings (Quentin's own great-grandson!). Their relationship soon turned to a warm friendship.

Angelique briefly orchestrated a romance between him and Maggie Evans, but it did not last.

In 1970, he became obsessed with the beautiful spirit of Daphne Harridge.

Background information and notes[]

  • Although his son's name was never officially revealed, Quentin referred to him as "another Quentin Collins" implying that his name may have also been Quentin.
  • Although Quentin is first seen in episode 646 (as a ghost), his voice isn't heard until an off-screen laugh in 689. He has no actual dialogue until episode 701.
  • During the Count Petofi storyline, the Count switches his mind with that of Quentin; during that time Quentin was played by Thayer David and Petofi by David Selby.
  • According to Sam Hall's article Quentin never destroyed his portrait because he would again become a werewolf. Yet surely if he destroyed the portrait, his chronological age would catch up with him and he would die on the spot? He was a hundred years old when the series ended, and over 130 years old in Return to Collinwood.

Source Material[]

Appearances[]

646, 669, 676, 679, 680, 681, 682, 684, 685, 689, 690, 691, 693, 694, 696, 699, 701, 702, 703, 704, 705, 707, 708, 709, 710, 711, 714, 718, 719, 720, 721, 722, 723, 724, 725, 726, 727, 728, 729, 730, 731, 732, 733, 736, 737, 738, 741, 742, 743, 744, 745, 746, 747, 748, 749, 750, 751, 752, 755, 757, 758, 759, 761, 762, 763, 766, 767, 768, 779, 780, 785, 786, 788, 790, 791, 792, 793, 795, 796, 797, 798, 799, 800, 801/802, 803, 804, 806, 808, 809, 810, 811, 812, 814, 815, 816, 817, 818, 819, 823/824, 825, 828, 829, 830, 831, 832, 833, 836, 837, 838, 839, 840, 844, 845, 847, 848, 849, 850, 851, 852, 853, 854, 855, 856, 857, 858, 859, 860, 861, 862, 863, 864, 865, 866, 867, 868, 869, 870, 871, 872, 873, 874, 875, 876, 877, 880, 881, 882, 884, 902, 904, 905, 907, 909, 910, 911, 916, 918, 919/920/921, 922, 931, 932, 933, 934, 935, 937, 940, 941, 949, 950, 951, 955, 956, 958, 962, 964, 965, 973, 978, 1035, 1052, 1065, 1066, 1067, 1068, 1069, 1071, 1075, 1076, 1077, 1078, 1079, 1085, 1086, 1087, 1088, 1096, 1097, 1098, 1099, 1102, 1103, 1107, 1109, 1113

External Links[]

Terror at Collinwood Episode 72: Quentin’s 55th Anniversary with David Selby

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