Victoria Winters
Encyclopedia
Victoria Winters is a fictional character
Character (arts)
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from the television Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows
Dark Shadows is a gothic soap opera that originally aired weekdays on the ABC television network, from June 27, 1966 to April 2, 1971. The show was created by Dan Curtis. The story bible, which was written by Art Wallace, does not mention any supernatural elements...

and its remakes of the same name. The role was originated by Alexandra Moltke
Alexandra Isles
Countess Alexandra Moltke or Alexandra M. Isles is an actress and documentary filmmaker. She is best known for her role as the original Victoria Winters from 1966–68 on the cult TV serial Dark Shadows, which aired on ABC TV from 1966–1971.Isles was born in Uppsala, Sweden to Mab Wilson Wright and...

 on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...

 series from 1966–1968. After Moltke left to raise a family in 1968, actresses Betsy Durkin and Carolyn Groves briefly replaced her for only a handful of episodes, before Victoria was written out completely. In the 1991 remake, which aired on NBC, actress Joanna Going
Joanna Going
Joanna C. Going is an American actress.-Early life and education:Born in Washington, D.C., she is the oldest of six children of Lorraine M...

 assumed the part. The character was subsequently portrayed by Marley Shelton
Marley Shelton
Marley Eve Shelton is an American film and television actress.Shelton began her acting career in her late teens, and appeared in several 1990s' television movies and shows. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed drama Grand Canyon , and was cast in the films The Sandlot , Nixon , and...

 in a 2004 pilot
Dark Shadows (2004)
Dark Shadows is a one hour pilot that was a remake of the 1966–1971 series Dark Shadows. The pilot was commissioned by The WB Television Network and produced in 2004. Directed by P. J. Hogan, it was filmed at the Greystone Mansion, which also served as the Collinwood Mansion for the previous...

. For the 2012 film adaptation
Dark Shadows (film)
Dark Shadows is an upcoming supernatural drama film based on the 1966-1971 gothic soap opera of the same name. The film is directed by Tim Burton and stars Johnny Depp as the vampire Barnabas Collins. It is scheduled to be released on , 2012 in both conventional and IMAX theaters.-Synopsis:In 1752,...

, Victoria will be played by Bella Heathcote
Bella Heathcote
Isabella "Bella" Heathcote is an Australian actress. She is best known for playing Amanda Fowler on the Australian television soap opera Neighbours.- Career :...

. A good-natured governess with a mysterious past, she is the de facto female lead in the various incarnations of the story.

Arrival and early days

Vicki was the prominent character on Dark Shadows for its first year of existence. For that year, each episode's opening narration began with, "My name is Victoria Winters..."

Vicki had been left at a foundling home in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

, and thus, never knew her true parents—although monthly sums of money began to arrive mysteriously when she turned two. Vicki received her surname from the season in which she arrived in New York.

Evidently, Vicki attended some college before accepting the offer of a governess position in Collinsport, Maine. Upon her arrival in Collinsport, she met the brooding Burke Devlin (first played by Mitchell Ryan
Mitchell Ryan
Mitchell Ryan is an American actor most recently known for playing Edward Montgomery on the sitcom Dharma & Greg. He also worked with his on-screen wife from Dharma & Greg, Susan Sullivan, in the short-lived series Julie Farr, M.D..Ryan was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and raised in Louisville,...

, later briefly portrayed by Anthony George
Anthony George
Anthony George was an American actor mostly seen on television. He is best known for roles of Don Corley in Checkmate, Burke Devlin and Jeremiah Collins on Dark Shadows, and Dr. Will Vernon on One Life to Live....

), with whom she would eventually become romantically involved. During the first episode, she also met a young waitress named Maggie Evans
Maggie Evans
Maggie Evans was a character most prominently played by Kathryn Leigh Scott on the 1960s ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera serial Dark Shadows and in the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows.-Early days:...

 (Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott
Kathryn Leigh Scott is an American television and film actress who is best remembered for playing Maggie Evans, Josette DuPres Collins, Rachel Drummond, Lady Kitty Soames Hampshire, and Maggie Evans PT on Dark Shadows.-Early life:Scott was born Marlene Kringstad in Robbinsdale, Minnesota in 1943...

) at the Collinsport Inn. Although Maggie derided Vicki for accepting the job at the Collinwood estate, the two girls eventually became very good friends.

Victoria Winters quickly became indispensable to Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard
Elizabeth Collins Stoddard was a fictional character played by Joan Bennett on the cult television ABC-TV Gothic horror soap opera Dark Shadows from 1966-1971. Jean Simmons portrayed the character in the reival series in 1991, Blair Brown took over the role in the WB pilot and will be played by...

 (played by Joan Bennett
Joan Bennett
Joan Geraldine Bennett was an American stage, film and television actress. Besides acting on the stage, Bennett appeared in more than 70 motion pictures from the era of silent movies well into the sound era...

), both as governess to Elizabeth's young nephew David Collins and companion to Elizabeth herself, (although her initial quest to learn her true identity dismayed the family matriarch). Unsurprisingly, Mrs. Stoddard did not wish Vicki to learn the truth because in all likelihood, Vicki was her illegitimate daughter (although never acknowledged or explained). Vicki also became important as family peacemaker, not to mention a stabilizing influence on Elizabeth's daughter, the rebellious Carolyn Stoddard and on the troubled David, son of Elizabeth's pompous and rather emotionally-cold younger brother, Roger (Louis Edmonds
Louis Edmonds
Louis Edmonds was an American actor from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He was best known for his roles in Dark Shadows and All My Children....

).

Slowly but surely, Vicki managed to form a bond with David. As she grew closer to Burke, she became embroiled in his old feud with the Collins family, all while she attempted to discover her origins. One early plotline involved Roger nearly dying in a car accident due to a part being taken from his car. Burke was a key suspect, but when Roger learned his own son David was the culprit, he dropped the investigation.

When fisherman Bill Malloy threatened to reveal Roger Collins's guilt in the manslaughter charge that led to Burke Devlin's wrongful conviction, he was murdered. Eventually, Vicki realized the killer was the disturbed caretaker Matthew Morgan (Thayer David
Thayer David
Thayer David was a film, stage and television actor. He was best known for his work on the cult ABC serial Dark Shadows and as the fight promoter George Jergens in the Oscar-winning movie Rocky . He also appeared as Count Arne Saknussemm in the film Journey to the Center of the Earth in 1959...

). He kidnapped her and planned to kill her, but was frightened to death by the ghosts of Malloy, the Widows (women who had jumped from the cliffs after their husbands died), and Josette du Pres Collins. Josette would later become a key figure in Vicki's life, as well as Dark Shadows history.

Soon after Morgan's death, David's presumed-dead mother, Laura (Diana Millay
Diana Millay
Diana Millay is an American actress. She is best known for her work in television, having guest starred in close to 200 primetime TV shows and later played continuing roles on two daytime offerings, Dark Shadows and The Secret Storm.Diana started her career as a model, first as a child for the...

) arrived, wanting to reunite with her son. Roger was reluctant, but Laura worked her charm on David, who was overjoyed to have a mother again. With the help of Josette's ghost and others, a suspicious Vicki realized Laura was a phoenix who planned to take herself and David to fiery deaths. Vicki saved him just in time. David was safe, the threat was gone, and Burke had settled his vendetta against the Collins family. David truly loved and trusted Vicki now, where before he had been hostile and spiteful toward her. Things were better than they had been for Vicki in some time, but that was not to last.

Enter Barnabas Collins

A mysterious man named Jason McGuire arrived in Collinsport and immediately convinced Elizabeth to let him stay at Collinwood. Vicki and the family were shocked (especially Carolyn), and put on the defensive when his out of control drifter friend Willie Loomis (John Karlen
John Karlen
John Karlen is a character actor best known for playing Willie Loomis, Carl Collins, William H. Loomis, Desmond Collins, and Kendrick Young on the ABC serial Dark Shadows, in various episodes between 206 and 1245, which aired from 1966-1971. In 1971 Karlen starred as the male lead in "Daughters...

) joined him. Willie (who was a basically a bit of a small-time, two-bit crook) soon proved too much for even Jason to put up with, and he told Willie to get out of town. Before leaving, Willie opened a secret crypt in the family mausoleum which he hoped would contain the long-missing jewels of Naomi Collins. Instead, the figure of Barnabas Collins, a vampire who had been chained up for nearly 200 years, emerged, and bit him. Willie became Barnabas's slave. Barnabas introduced himself to the family as a cousin from England. Vicki was charmed, but more concerned with Jason's hold on Elizabeth. Finally, on their wedding day, Elizabeth could take no more and told everyone that over 18 years prior to Jason's return, she had killed her husband, Paul Stoddard, and Jason had buried his body in the basement. Jason had blackmailed her with this information. However, when they went to the basement, the trunk contained nothing but old clothes. Jason sheepishly revealed that Paul had only been stunned, and Jason had lied to Elizabeth in order to get blackmail money. Elizabeth was furious, and Jason planned to flee town. He tried to rob the Old House, Barnabas's property on Collinwood, and met his end via strangulation at the hands of Barnabas.

Vicki grew concerned about her friend Maggie, who became withdrawn and moody to everyone around her. Maggie was, in actuality, being enslaved by Barnabas due to her strong resemblance to his true love, Josette du Pres Collins. Barnabas kidnapped Maggie and planned to make her his bride by forcibly hypnotizing or brain washing her into being Josette, but with the help of the ghost of his little sister Sarah Collins, Maggie escaped. She was institutionalized and afterward well-guarded for some months. Barnabas gave up on Maggie and began to pursue Vicki. Burke did not trust Barnabas and began an investigation of him which ended only when Vicki begged him to stop. The men reached an uneasy truce, and she and Burke became engaged before Devlin went on an ill-fated plane trip to South America in 1967. Vicki believed that he had somehow survived when they could not locate Burke's body. With Burke gone, Barnabas began to more actively pursue Vicki.

Time travel


During the second year of Dark Shadows, Victoria becomes unwittingly involved in Barnabas's sinister plans. After a séance to contact Barnabas' sister, Sarah Collins, Victoria is magically transported to an alternate past in 1795. A time paradox between the years 1795 and 1967 causes a rift
Rift
In geology, a rift or chasm is a place where the Earth's crust and lithosphere are being pulled apart and is an example of extensional tectonics....

 in the timeband; a carriage overturns in 1795, exchanging Victoria with its occupant, Phyllis Wick, a governess
Governess
A governess is a girl or woman employed to teach and train children in a private household. In contrast to a nanny or a babysitter, she concentrates on teaching children, not on meeting their physical needs...

 hired by Naomi Collins
Naomi Collins
Naomi Collins was a fictional character on the daytime drama, Dark Shadows. Naomi was an elegant and distinguished member of the Collins family of Collinsport, Maine in the latter half of the 18th century. She was the wife of Joshua Collins and the mother to Barnabas Collins and Sarah Collins...

. Victoria arrives at the Old Collins House and meets Collins ancestors who look just like the family she knows, but with different names, personalities, and relationships.

During this storyline, the truth behind Barnabas's unwilling transformation into a vampire is revealed. Unfortunately, Victoria makes the mistake of describing the future to the denizens of the past; she is soon seized by the fanatical Reverend Trask and accused of witchcraft. Despite the best efforts of Peter Bradford, a law student and jailer who came to know Vicki and defended her at her trial, Victoria is sentenced to hang in 1796.

Though five months pass for Victoria in the past, Phyllis Wick experiences only five minutes in 1967. Realizing she is from the 18th century, the 20th century Collins family bombards her with questions, but Phyllis soon collapses in pain, clutching at her throat. At the exact time of Victoria's "execution" she once again changes places with Phyllis, who dies in her place.

Jeff Clark, goodbye

When Vicki returned, a worried Barnabas bit her before she could tell anyone of her memories of 1795. He convinced her to elope with him, even though she still had feelings for Peter Bradford. On their way out of town, Vicki and Barnabas were involved in a car accident after seeing a man (Roger Davis
Roger Davis
Roger Davis may refer to:*Roger Davis , American actor*Roger Davis , American actor in television series Dark Shadows and Alias Smith and Jones...

) who resembled Peter. After the accident, the mysterious Dr. Eric Lang (Addison Powell
Addison Powell
Addison Powell was an American actor whose numerous television, stage and film credits included Dark Shadows, The Thomas Crown Affair and Three Days of the Condor. He was best known for playing Dr. Eric Lang, a mad scientist who created Adam, on Dark Shadows.Powell was born in 1921 in Belmont,...

) cured Barnabas of his vampirism, and Barnabas's hold over Vicki's mind was gone.

Now known as Jeff Clark, Peter worked for Lang and became involved with Vicki before learning his true identity. Peter/Jeff helped Lang build a Frankenstein
Frankenstein
Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus is a novel about a failed experiment that produced a monster, written by Mary Shelley, with inserts of poems by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Shelley started writing the story when she was eighteen, and the novel was published when she was twenty-one. The first...

-like creature named Adam who tried to kidnap Vicki and make her his monster bride. During this time, Roger's new wife Cassandra (actually Angelique in disguise) created a Dream Curse that one person would pass on to another by telling them the dream. The dream would get worse for each person until finally Barnabas would be told. When Vicki had the dream, she did her best to keep it from Barnabas, but to stop her pain, Barnabas made her tell him. He then had the dream, woke up, and was bitten by a vampire bat, but survived.

After Dr. Lang was killed, Barnabas and his ally Dr. Julia Hoffman were forced to make a mate for Adam. That mate, Eve (Marie Wallace
Marie Wallace
Marie Wallace is an American stage and television actress, best known for her performances in the cult Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows.-Early life and career:...

), had the life force of Peter's evil lover from the 18th century. She made him realize his true identity and planned to reunite with him, but Adam strangled her. After finding out he was Peter, Jeff faded away into 1795. A despondent Vicki soon followed. Barnabas rescued them both from the machinations of Reverend Trask and the evil witch Angelique
Angelique
Angelique may refer to:* Angélique * Angélique , also called angelica or angel lute, a theorbo with up to 17 single strings, tuned in diatonical order* Angelique, a tree used in boatbuilding...

.

It was later hinted at one point that Vicki married Peter Bradford in the past, and that the two of them had a child who would eventually become an ancestor of the present day Collins Family. Thus Vicki would've really and truly been part of the Collins Family. Vicki was thought to have lived happily ever after, but in 1970, the ghost of Peter Bradford appeared and told antique store owner Phillip Todd that Vicki had apparently been killed by the Leviathans, the same otherworldly creatures which were battling Barnabas Collins at that time. The ghost tried to convince Todd to destroy the Leviathan leader, Jeb Hawkes. Angelique found out about what was going on and told Peter Bradford to return to his grave, as she was going to get her own vengeance against Jeb and the Leviathans (which she did).

Vicki's position as governess went to the former waitress, Maggie Evans
Maggie Evans
Maggie Evans was a character most prominently played by Kathryn Leigh Scott on the 1960s ABC-TV gothic horror soap opera serial Dark Shadows and in the 1970 film House of Dark Shadows.-Early days:...

. She was last mentioned in 1970 when the ghost of Gerard Stiles haunted Collinwood. Barnabas asked a possessed David to name the governess he had had before Maggie (David couldn't). They then gave ghost Daphne Harridge, recently come to life, some of Vicki's old clothes to wear.

1991 revival

In the NBC primetime revival of the series, Victoria Winters was played by Joanna Going
Joanna Going
Joanna C. Going is an American actress.-Early life and education:Born in Washington, D.C., she is the oldest of six children of Lorraine M...

. The first and only season consisted of a retelling of the early Barnabas and 1795 saga, with the main difference being that this time, Vicki, not Maggie, was the spitting image of Josette.

Return to Collinwood

In 2003 Dan Curtis Productions
Dan Curtis
Dan Curtis was an American director and producer of television and film, probably best known for his miniseries The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, his afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, and the made for TV movie, . Dark Shadows originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication...

 approved a full-cast audio drama. During the reading of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard's will, the mystery surrounding Victoria Winters (which was never revealed in the TV series) is finally resolved. Carolyn learns that her mother had a child out of wedlock; Victoria is actually Carolyn's older sister. In the late 1960s, Victoria was transported into the past and has not been seen since. In the will, Elizabeth implores Carolyn to find Victoria and bring her home.

2004 pilot

In the unaired WB pilot episode for a potential new series, Victoria Winters was played by Marley Shelton
Marley Shelton
Marley Eve Shelton is an American film and television actress.Shelton began her acting career in her late teens, and appeared in several 1990s' television movies and shows. She made her film debut in the critically acclaimed drama Grand Canyon , and was cast in the films The Sandlot , Nixon , and...

. For the first time, the character was depicted as a blond.

2012 feature film

In the upcoming Tim Burton
Tim Burton
Timothy William "Tim" Burton is an American film director, film producer, writer and artist. He is famous for dark, quirky-themed movies such as Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Ed Wood, Sleepy Hollow, Corpse Bride and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet...

-Johnny Depp
Johnny Depp
John Christopher "Johnny" Depp II is an American actor, producer and musician. He has won the Golden Globe Award and Screen Actors Guild award for Best Actor. Depp rose to prominence on the 1980s television series 21 Jump Street, becoming a teen idol...

 big screen adaptation of Dark Shadows, Victoria Winters will be played by Bella Heathcote
Bella Heathcote
Isabella "Bella" Heathcote is an Australian actress. She is best known for playing Amanda Fowler on the Australian television soap opera Neighbours.- Career :...

.
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