R. Daniel Curtis (August 12 1927 - March 27 2006) was an American director and producer of television and film, probably best known for the afternoon TV series Dark Shadows, which originally aired from 1966 to 1971 and has aired in syndication for the last thirty years. He also did the 1991 remake of Dark Shadows, but was cancelled due to low ratings. And was the executive producer, for Dark Shadows (2004) , for the The WB Television Network . However was canceled before airing the pilot.
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), and others. He worked frequently with sci-fi/horror writer Richard Matheson.
His miniseries The Winds of War was nominated for four Emmy Awards.
He also directed the War and Remembrance mini-series which was the continuation of The Winds of War. This mini-series was so long that it had to be broken up into two segments. Chapters 1-Vll and Vll the final chapter. The whole mini-series was 30 hours in all. This series received 15 Emmy Award nominations and won for best miniseries, special effects and single-camera production editing. The miniseries was nominated for Emmy Awards for best actor (John Gielgud), actress (Jane Seymour) and supporting actress (Polly Bergen).
He died of brain cancer on March 27, 2006, twenty days after the death of his wife Norma. He was 78.
The rights of Dark Shadows closed with his estate so another Dark Shadows movie could be made. Warner Brothers is developing the movie. The new Dark Shadows movie is reported to star Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins.
His wife, Norma, passed away March 7, 2006, from heart disease. She was 75 years old. She and Mr. Curtis had been married 54 years and had 3 daughters.
Dan and Norma Curtis's daughters are Cathy (Kate) Curtis, Tracy Curtis, and the late Linda Curtis (deceased prior to her mother.)
Died 21 days after the death of his wife, Norma Mae Klein.
Father of actresses Tracy Curtis (II) and Linda Curtis (I).
