Sproat is best known for his work on Dark Shadows, the 1960s ABC Daytime gothic soap opera.
Sproat created the vampire character Barnabas Collins portrayed by Jonathan Frid, and turned the low-rated show into a huge national success.
[6] In addition to television writing, Sproat penned the play The Dry Season which was performed in 1954 by The Hamilton College Charlatans.
[9] Sproat received his MA from the University of Michigan, and performed undergraduate work at Hamilton College.
While at Hamilton College, he won the William Duncan Saunders Award for creative writing.