Louis Edmonds

Louis Stirling Edmonds, born September 24, 1923, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, was an American actor whose career spanned stage, television, and national touring productions. The son of Walter R. Edmonds and Katherine L. Stirling, he served in the United States Navy during World War II before pursuing a career in performance. He died of respiratory failure on March 3, 2001, in Port Jefferson, New York.

Edmonds began his stage career off-Broadway in the 1950s, working primarily in light comedy and classical productions. His Broadway career ran from 1956 to 1969 and included appearances in the comedy Maybe Tuesday, A Passage to India, The Taming of the Shrew, and The Duchess of Malfi. He played Max in the original Broadway production of Leonard Bernstein's Candide, though a temporary illness prevented him from appearing on the cast recording. In 1960, he originated the role of Algernon Moncrieff in Ernest in Love, a musical adaptation of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, which was produced off-Broadway. In the 1970s and 1980s, Edmonds appeared in national touring productions, including Man of La Mancha, in which he played Miguel de Cervantes and Don Quixote, and My Fair Lady, in which he played Henry Higgins.

On television, Edmonds became widely recognized for his work in daytime drama. From 1966 to 1971, he appeared on the supernatural soap opera Dark Shadows as Roger Collins, along with several additional roles: Joshua Collins, the father of Barnabas Collins; Edward Collins, the older brother of Quentin Collins; Roger Collins PT and Joshua Collins PT, opposite-self versions of those characters in 1970 Parallel Time; the adult Daniel Collins; Amadeus Collins, a lawyer who served as the main prosecutor in the 1692 trial of Judah Zachary; and Brutus Collins, a ghost associated with a secret locked room in 1841 Parallel Time.

Beginning in 1979, Edmonds joined the cast of All My Children, where he played Langley Wallingford, also known as Lenny Wlasuk, a character married to Phoebe Tyler, portrayed by Ruth Warrick. He remained under contract on the series until 1992 and returned for special appearances through 1995, including the show's 25th anniversary special. His performance earned him three consecutive Daytime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, in 1984, 1985, and 1986, as well as Soap Opera Digest Award nominations in 1989 and 1990. He eventually retired from the show due to ill health.

Details of Edmonds's personal life were documented in the biography Big Lou by Craig Hamrick, published while Edmonds was in his seventies, in which he discussed his life as a gay man.