Noah Gifford

Noah Gifford was a minor character featured on the original 1960s gothic soap opera Dark Shadows. Played by actor Craig Slocum, he was introduced in episode 439 and appeared in five episodes total.

Biography
Noah Gifford was a soldier during the American Revolution and an ally of Lieutenant Nathan Forbes. He was present in Collinsport when Forbes manipulated his way into the Collins family fortune by marrying a young woman named Millicent Collins. Shortly after their wedding however, Forbes learned that Millicent had relinquished all of her assets to her young brother Daniel and had little money of her own. Forbes realized that if Daniel were out of the way, then the rights to the fortune would revert back to Millicent, and thus to him as well. Nathan wanted to Noah to murder Daniel by abducting him and taking him out to sea where his body would be dumped into the ocean. Noah refused to murder anyone, let alone a child, but Forbes threatened to go to the police with false stories about Noah's past should he refuse to cooperate. He knew that Nathan's sterling reputation would carry greater weight than his own testimony and so he reluctantly agreed to follow Nathan's orders.

Noah found Daniel Collins wandering in the woods out near Eagle Hill Cemetery. He captured him and brought him back to an old fishing shack on the Collins family estate. Daniel escaped however and Noah chased after him. He caught up with the young boy, but Daniel's former governess, the time-displaced fugitive Victoria Winters saw them and shot Gifford, killing him. Victoria fled with Daniel and Noah's murder was blamed on her lover, another fugitive named Peter Bradford.

Notes & Trivia

 * Actor Craig Slocum also played the role of Harry Johnson in the modern-era episodes of Dark Shadows.


 * Although Noah Gifford existed during the "1795 flashback" storyline, the episode in which he died actually took place in the year 1796.