Joel Anthony Crothers (January 28, 1941 – November 6, 1985) was an American actor. His credits primarily included stage and television work, including a number of soap opera roles, the best known being Miles Cavanaugh on The Edge of Night, whom he played for eight years. He was also known for his roles as Joe Haskell and Lt. Nathan Forbes on Dark Shadows, Ken Stevens #2 on The Secret Storm, and pianist/newspaper editor Julian Cannell on Somerset. Early years Born January 28, 1941, in Cincinnati and raised in New York City, Crothers graduated from Birch Wathen School in 1958. His passion for performing emerged at the early age of nine. Crothers auditioned and won a role on the CBS religious TV series Lamp Unto My Feet. At the time, his father was a production supervisor on the show. Unbeknownst to him, his son auditioned for the show under a different name, apparently done as a practical joke. Nevertheless, by the age of twelve, he was taking Broadway bows alongside Burgess Meredith for his stage debut in 1954 in The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker at the Coronet Theatre. Career During the 1950s and 1960s, Crothers made guest appearances on numerous prime-time programs, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Defenders, Have Gun – Will Travel, Rescue 8, Zane Grey Theater, Studio One, Playhouse 90, Kraft Television Theatre, and Goodyear Playhouse. His later daytime television credits included First Ladies Diaries: Martha Washington. Crothers was cast in the 1960 episode, "3-7-77", of the syndicated anthology series, Death Valley Days hosted by Stanley Andrews. He played Jim Badger, a young man who tangles with corrupt lawmen and vigilantes. Crothers graduated from Harvard University, Phi Beta Kappa, in 1962. In 1966, he returned to Broadway in a starring role opposite Joan Van Ark in Barefoot in the Park, which he worked on simultaneously with his stint on Dark Shadows. From 1966 to 1969, he played Joe Haskell, boyfriend of Carolyn Stoddard (Nancy Barrett) and later boyfriend of Maggie Evans (Kathryn Leigh Scott). During the 1795 storyline, he played Lt. Nathan Forbes, a devious naval officer who blackmailed his way into the Collins family. After Nathan Forbes was killed off, Crothers's main character, Joe, was bitten by the vampire Angélique and placed under her thrall. Haunted by the apparition of his deceased cousin Tom (a victim of Angélique) and unable to cope with the revelation that Tom's twin brother