Magda Rakosi

Magda Rakosi is a recurring character featured in the 1960s daytime Gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Played by actress Grayson Hall, she was introduced in episode 701 in a storyline commonly referred to as the "1897 Flashback".

Biography
Magda Rakosi was a Gyspy woman and a fortune teller. She was married to a man named Sandor and was the older sister of Jenny Rakosi. Magda and Sandor once worked at a traveling carnival where she assisted him as a knife thrower. As they grew older, Magda achieved some success with fortune telling and used a crystal ball and tarot cards as the instruments of her craft.

By the late 19th century, Magda had become the spiritual adviser to old Edith Collins of Collinsport, Maine. Though none of the other family members held any regard for the Gypsies, Edith valued Magda's skills immensely. To this end, she allowed Magda and Sandor to stay at the dilapidated ruins of the Old House on the Collinwood estate.

As Edith came closer to death, Sandor and Magda knew that they were quickly coming to the end of their easy lifestyle. To prepare for their eventual removal from the estate, Magda had Sandor break into the Great House in search of the fabled Collins family jewels. When this failed to produce the desired results, Magda consulted her crystal ball. She saw an image of a chained coffin inside of a secret room in the Collins family mausoleum. She sent Sandor to the cemetery to investigate it, but what he found in the coffin was not jewels, but rather an awakened vampire named Barnabas Collins.

Barnabas used his vampire powers to take control of Sandor, who brought him back to the Old House. Magda immediately recognized the "Mark of Death" upon him and correctly identified him as a vampire. Seeing as how the Gypsy's greed overwhelmed her own fear of the vampire, Barnabas offered her a meager portion of the Collins family jewels in exchange for her cooperation in protecting his secret.

Notes & Trivia



 * Actress Grayson Hall is best known for playing the role of Julia Hoffman on Dark Shadows.


 * Allthough the character of Magda Rakosi is of Gypsy origin, actress Grayson Hall played her with a stereotypical Italian accent.