Eric Lang
Eric Lang
Aliases:	Doctor Eric Lang
Series:	Dark Shadows
Gender:	Male
Notability:	Supporting character
Occupation:	Scientist
Location:	Collinsport, Maine
Relatives:	Adam [1]
Status:	Deceased
Born:	1913
Died:	1968
First:	Episode 466
Final:	Episode 546
Actor:	Addison Powell

Eric Lang is a fictional scientist featured on the original Gothic daytime soap opera television series Dark Shadows. He is a character presented in the main timeline and is a major figure in the "The Birth of Adam" storyline. He is also one of the affected parties in "The Dream Curse" storyline. The character was played by actor Addison Powell and first appeared in episode 466 in 1968. He made eighteen on-screen appearances in the series in total.

Biography

Eric Lang was a scientist who was born sometime around the year 1913. When he was in his mid-fifties, he was operating out of a laboratory in Collinsport, Maine. Eric Lang became obsessed with the concept of creating new life and committed all of his efforts towards developing the perfect human organism, which would be culled from body parts from cadavars. To this end, he hired an underling named Jeff Clark to steal bodies for him, which he would use in his experiments.

Doctor Lang supplemented his income by working as a physician at a hospital. One evening in 1968, he was brought in two patients by the name of Barnabas Collins and Victoria Winters. Lang quickly discovered that Barnabas was a vampire. Lang was so brilliant that he actually devised a cure for Barnabas, which involved transferring the vampiric elements of his body into that of his creation, which came to be known as Adam.

Barnabas' nemesis was a witch named Angelique, who didn't want Lang helping Barnabas, so she used a voodoo doll to simulate Lang having a heart attack. Before he died however, he left behind a voice recording with a cryptic warning. Were Adam to die, then Barnabas would become a vampire once again.

Doctor Lang's legacy lived on through the voice recording. It was recorded on the back-end of some classical music, which Barnabas and his colleagues Julia Hoffman and Willie Loomis would play for Adam to keep him amused. Leaving Adam alone with the recording, the creature would listen to Eric Lang's recording over and over again, eventually determining the meaning behind his warning.

Notes & Trivia

• The character of Eric Lang was created by director John Sedwick and writer Sam Hall based on concepts developed by Dan Curtis and Art Wallace.

• Eric Lang was developed as a pastiche of Victor Frankenstein, the Swiss scientist from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, who created new life by stitching together parts from cadavers.

• Eric Lang made seventeen on-screen appearances as a living person. He made one on-screen appearance as a ghost. Audio archival clips of Lang's voice were used in seven episodes as part of a tape recording, but the actor had no involvement in these scenes.

• The Dark Shadows Wikia indicates that Eric Lang was born in 1913. Actor Addison Powell was born in 1921, making him considerably younger than the character he portrayed.

• During "The Dream Curse" storyline, Doctor Lang told the dream to Julia Hoffman.

• Actor Addison Powell also lent his voice talents as the ghost of Jeremiah Collins in four episodes of the series. This was during the "1795 Flashback" storyline, which occurred prior to his work as Doctor Lang.

• Addison Powell also played the role of Judge Madigan in episode 404.

• Addison Powell also played the role of Judge Wiley in episode 1162. This was the actor's final work on the series.

• As punishment for trying to help Barnabas Collins, Angelique used voodoo to simulate a heart attack. ^[2]

• Coincidentally, actor Addison Powell would go onto portray another doctor named Eric. He played Eric Kerwin in the 1980 movie Doctor Franken, which was likewise inspired by the Frankenstein story.

Appearances

Dark Shadows: 466 (1st appearance) Dark Shadows: 467 Dark Shadows: 468 Dark Shadows: 469 Dark Shadows: 470 Dark Shadows: 471 Dark Shadows: 472 Dark Shadows: 475 Dark Shadows: 476 Dark Shadows: 475 Dark Shadows: 476 Dark Shadows: 478 Dark Shadows: 479 Dark Shadows: 480 Dark Shadows: 481 Dark Shadows: 482 Dark Shadows: 484 Dark Shadows: 485 Dark Shadows: 486 (Final regular appearance; death) Dark Shadows: 488 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 494 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 496 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 498 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 500 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 505 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 506 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 539 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 540 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 541 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 543 (As a ghost) Dark Shadows: 545 (As an audio recording only) Dark Shadows: 546 (As an audio recording only)

See also

The World of Dark Shadows

Dark Shadows items Dark Shadows locations Dark Shadows characters

Dark Shadows episodes Dark Shadows storylines Dark Shadows chronologies

Gallery of Shadows

Dark Shadows 1-100 Dark Shadows 101-200 Dark Shadows 201-300 Dark Shadows 301-400 Dark Shadows 401-500 Dark Shadows 501-600

Dark Shadows 601-700 Dark Shadows 701-800 Dark Shadows 801-900 Dark Shadows 901-1000 Dark Shadows 1001-1100 Dark Shadows 1101-1245

Miscellaneous

Dark Shadows portal Dark Shadows images Dark Shadows appearances

Dark Shadows home video Dark Shadows cast & crew Dark Shadows miscellaneous

External links

• Eric Lang at the Dark Shadows Wiki

References