Julia Hoffman (PT)

Julia Hoffman (PT)
Production Information
Portrayed by	Grayson Hall
First appearance	969
Last appearance	1044
Episode count	24
Biographical Information
Name	Julia Hoffman
Also known as	Hoffman
Year of death	1970
Manner of death	Bludgeoned by parallel counterpart
Profession	Housekeeper
We have 2 images of Dark Shadows Julia Hoffman (PT)

Julia Hoffman, better known merely as "Hoffman," was the head of the housekeeping staff at Collinwood in 1970 Parallel Time. She was a close friend and ally of Angelique Stokes Collins, and therefore an enemy to both Maggie and Barnabas Collins.

Biography

Hoffman lived at Collinwood in the year 1970 in Parallel Time, where she had served as the head of the mansion's housekeeping staff under Angelique Stokes Collins (981). Prior to working at Collinwood, Hoffman worked in the home of the Richardson family, during which time she met and became friends with Inspector Hamilton and his wife, Jane. She remained close friends with the Hamiltons and attended Jane's funeral in the late 1960s (1048).

Hoffman had chosen to remain at Collinwood after Angelique's death in 1969 because she believed her friend would return from the grave. To that end, she kept Angelique's room exactly as it had been for the eventual reappearance of her mistress. Quentin Collins, the master of Collinwood, was gone for much of this time, and Hoffman was able to circumvent the wishes of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, who wanted to make changes to the room in preparation for the arrival of Quentin and his new bride, Maggie Evans Collins (969). She also demanded that the portrait of Angelique remain uncovered so that everyone could see it (970).

Hoffman confronted William Loomis when she found him digging through drawers in Angelique's bedroom parlor sometime later. Loomis spoke of Angelique being dead, and Hoffman angrily ordered him out of the room, claiming that she would give him the book he had been looking for if she came across it. Loomis found the book himself, and Hoffman claimed that Angelique had never wanted it. She ordered Loomis to leave again and threw the book out of the main entrance to the parlor, not realizing that it encountered a warp in time and crossed into the mainstream timeline, where it was picked up by Barnabas Collins (971).

Hoffman offered to speak to Chris Collins regarding the prompt arrival of Elizabeth Collins Stoddard and Roger Collins' monthly checks, which Elizabeth appreciated. Hoffman went to Angelique's suite in the east wing, heard voices from the room, and found Carolyn Stoddard Loomis seemingly alone in the room. Although Hoffman accused Carolyn of having brought someone with her, Carolyn was able to convince her that she had come to find the book Hoffman had thrown into the hallway. Hoffman did not discover Barnabas Collins, who was hiding in the room, having just arrived from his own time band. Shortly after, Quentin returned to Collinwood with his new wife, Maggie Collins, and Hoffman saw to it that the first meal Quentin and Maggie ate in the house consisted of Angelique's favorite foods, and that it was served where Angelique and Quentin used to eat together. When Quentin stormed out Collinwood in a rage, Hoffman merely stated that returning to the Great House seemed to have upset him (981). She checked on Maggie later, and suggested that she inspect her new suite of rooms. Maggie asked if Angelique's rooms had faced the sea as hers did, but Hoffman replied that they had not (982).

The next morning, Hoffman brought menus for Maggie to look over, and asked her opinion of the room she had stayed in. Hoffman also stated that Angelique's room was, in her opinion, the most beautiful room in the house. According to Hoffman, the sun seemed brighter there. She left, but returned later to ask if Maggie was planning to keep up the tradition of afternoon tea on the estate, a notion, she mentioned, that Angelique had been fond of. When Will Loomis arrived moments later, Maggie offered him tea, but Hoffman instead poured the writer an alcoholic drink, embarrassing Maggie for her ignorance of the man's preferences. Later, Maggie heard Hoffman talking about her in Angelique's room, laughing at how much Maggie had to learn. When Maggie asked, Hoffman brushed off her concern and claimed to have been talking to one of the estate's chambermaids (982).

Hoffman suggested that Maggie purchase a recording for Daniel Collins, knowing that the song, "Ode to Angelique", would enrage Quentin when he heard it. After speaking to Quentin, Hoffman apologized to Maggie, but took the time to speak again of how wonderful Angelique had been. Maggie challenged her, claiming to be learning how to deal with the things that were going on at Collinwood. Hoffman pleaded with Angelique's portrait, asking her to return from the grave if she could (984). Later that evening, Hoffman lost her composure and became excited when she saw Alexis Stokes in the drawing room. Thinking that Alexis was actually Angelique, Hoffman suggested that Alexis stay in Angelique's old room, where she attempted to trick Alexis into revealing she was truly the house's former mistress (985). Sometime later, Hoffman left the estate to see some of her friends (994).

Hoffman returned to Collinwood because she had a feeling that Angelique had returned. She did not know that Angelique had, indeed, revived and killed Alexis before switching places with her. Hoffman spoke to the portrait of Angelique, suggesting to it that she might have returned with the purpose of preparing Collinwood for Angelique's return. Angelique, who had heard much of Hoffman's outpouring, suggested, as Alexis, that Hoffman be a friend to her as she had been to Angelique. Angelique hinted that the two of them would need to work together to keep Quentin at Collinwood and away from Maggie Collins, who had fled the house shortly after Alexis' arrival, and Hoffman agreed. Later, she found Quentin outside Angelique's room, startled at having seen Dr. Julia Hoffman in the mainstream timeline through the room's doors (1007).

Not long after, Hoffman found that the portarit of Barnabas Collins had been removed from storage, and arranged for it to be hung in the foyer. She later assisted Quentin by participating in a séance to contact the spirit of Barnabas. When strange noises began during the ceremony, Hoffman panicked and ran from the drawing room (1008). She was later shocked to meet Barnabas Collins, who had esacaped his captivity at Loomis House and was posing as a cousin from South America. Although Hoffman had initially suspected Barnabas to be a fraud, she was unable to deny his identity upon meeting him (1012).

Hoffman remained suspicious of Angelique's behavior, and Angelique finally admitted her identity to her old friend. Although frightened of Angelique at first, Hoffman agreed to help her as she had before. Angelique had Hoffman assist her with voodoo on Quentin, incapacitating him (1015), and later had her sneak into Maggie's room while she slept. With Maggie upset, Hoffman placed the voodoo doll from Quentin's attack in Maggie's suitcase. When Hoffman heard Maggie discussing the idea of firing her, she proposed that Maggie might actually be he cause of the tension between them, and that she wanted Hoffman to leave Collinwood instead of the other way around (1018). Quentin later confronted Hoffman about the voodoo doll in Maggie's belongings, and the housekeeper denied any involvement. That night, Hoffman spoke with Angelique, and admitted that she hated taking orders from Maggie. Angelique soon began to feel the effects of her return from the grave, and needed the heat from a living person to survive. She demanded that Hoffman bring her a victim to kill, and Hoffman, fearful that Angelique would kill her, instead, left Collinwood to comply (1019).

Hoffman worked with Angelique to ensure that Maggie would wear the same gown Angelique had worn to the costume ball the previous year (1024). Hoffman laughed when she heard that Maggie blamed her for the situation. Later, Roger Collins accused Hoffman of knowing more about what was going on at Collinwood than she had revealed, which she denied (1025). When Angelique planned to coerce Maggie into committing suicide, Hoffman objected. She believed that Angelique's previous strategy had been working, and only agreed to help when Angelique demanded it (1025). Hoffman listened outside the doors to Angelique's room as Maggie was driven to nearly jumping out the window. When Elizabeth Collins Stoddard heard Maggie's screams and rushed to assist her, Hoffman pretended that she wanted to help Maggie as well (1026).

Later, Angelique began to feel burning in her eyes and claimed that someone was staring at her. Hoffman stated that no one else was in the room, but did not know that Angelique was under a supernatural attack from Barnabas Collins, who was using his powers on Angelique's portrait to reveal that she had come back from the dead (1026). As Barnabas began to openly oppose their plans, Hoffman and Angelique discussed destroying him, not knowing that Dr. Julia Hoffman saw them talking from the mainstream timeline (1031).

Not long after discovering that Barnabas had read Angelique's journal, Hoffman caught the vampire in Angelique's room looking for the journal again. Barnabas attempted to use hypnosis to force Hoffman into revealing Maggie Collins' location, but Angelique interrupted, saving her friend. Angelique decided to burn her journal at Hoffman's suggestion, and planned to discover Barnabas' secret so as to use his curse against him. Angelique sent Hoffman to follow Barnabas as she left town to spend time with Quentin. Complying, the housekeeper saw Barnabas enter the secert room in the Loomis House parlor (1032). Deciding it was unsafe to investigate the secret room immediately, Hoffman planned to return at another time (1033).

Shortly after, John Yeager nearly killed Elizabeth Collins Stoddard when she caught Yeager murdering Sabrina Stuart. Elizabeth frantically told Hoffman, and the housekeeper confirmed that Sabrina was dead. Hoffman rushed to Loomis House to call the police, and afterward used the opportunity to open the secret room. Inside, she found Barnabas' empty coffin. Barnabas walked into the house while Hoffman was inside, but she had already closed the secret room, and was able to distract Barnabas with the story of John Yeager (1034). Later, Hoffman called Angelique to tell her about the death of John Yeager, and informed her friend that she had uncovered something about Barnabas (1035).

Hoffman returned to Angelique's room at another point to find that it had changed to reveal events in the mainstream timeline. She heard Quentin Collins mention to her counterpart that Barnabas was a vampire, and began investigating the legends associated with the creatures of the night. At dawn, she went to Loomis House to stake Barnabas in his coffin (1035). As she raised the hammer to destroy Barnabas, Dr. Julia Hoffman, having arrived from the other time band, struck Hoffman from behind, killing her (1036).

Hoffman's disembodied ghostly voice attempted to stop Barnabas and Will Loomis from stealing the body Timothy Stokes was using to keep Angelique alive (1043). Barnabas reasoned that Hoffman's spirit wanted to be at rest with Angelique, with whom it had been so close, and convinced the voice to allow he and Will to proceed so that Angelique could be returned to the grave (1044).

Notes

Hoffman is directly based on the character of Mrs. Danvers from the novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier.