How’s the family?
Carolyn Jones (Morticia Addams)
AS the sultry raven-haired mum, she loved tending her carnivorous plants.
In real life, Texas-born Carolyn grew up suffering from severe asthma but went on to star in movie Invasion Of The Body Snatchers before landing her Addams Family role.
She later had cameos on shows like Wonder Woman and was wed four times, including to top
TV exec and Beverly Hills 90210 creator
Aaron Spelling.
Tragically, she was diagnosed with terminal colon cancer in 1981 but kept her illness a secret while working on a soap opera. Carolyn died from the disease aged 53 in 1983.
Lisa Loring (Wednesday)
THE Addams’ daughter was famous for her black plaits, keeping spiders and playing with a headless doll.
Lisa’s own life would have its dark side too… She’d marry at 16, have a baby daughter then get divorced.
Lisa would go on to have another child by her second husband, but divorced three more times, including splitting from porn star Jerry Butler.
Lisa later went into rehab for drug addiction.
Making a comeback in TV soap opera As The World
Turns and some slasher movies, she died in 2023 aged 64 from a stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure.
Ken Weatherwax (Pugsley)
THE Addams’ chubby son was obsessed with gadgets and playing with his pet octopus.
In real life Ken was born into a showbiz family and got his break in a toothpaste advert.
But he gave up acting after starring in the show to join the US army, though did return to the role of Pugsley in the 1977 reunion film Halloween With The New Addams
Family.
He later worked as a movie set builder, but sadly died from a heart attack at his
California home in
2014 aged 59.
Blossom Rock (Grandmama Addams)
BEFORE playing the wizened witch, Blossom was a glamorous movie siren in the 1930s.
But shortly after The Addams Family’s run, in 1967 the widowed star suffered a stroke that affected her speech and she retired.
She died in 1978 aged 82 in California.
“THEY’RE creepy and they’re kooky” – but the Addams Family have been keeping us entertained on screen for 60 years Since the black comedy clan first appeared on the box on September 18, 1964, they’ve spawned animated shows and films, as well as movies starring Anjelica Huston. Hit Netflix series Wednesday, featuring Jenna Ortega (inset), will soon return for a second series too, which was filmed in Ireland. But what happened to the stars of that original US series The Addams Family, with its catchy theme tune?
Here JAMES MOORE clicks his fingers to discover their fates…
Ted Cassidy (Lurch)
AS well as playing the lofty, grunting butler famous for his catchphrase “You rang?”, Ted also featured as the show’s disembodied hand, known as Thing.
The 6ft 9in, married dad-of-two started out as a DJ and would later work on TV shows like Star Trek and The Incredible Hulk.
He had acromegaly – a disorder of excess growth hormone – which resulted in his striking features and led to a benign tumour on his heart. He died aged 46 in 1979 from complications of surgery to have it removed.
Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester )
FANS loved Morticia’s bubbly bald uncle who slept on a bed of nails.
Jackie first found fame as the child in Charlie Chaplin 1921 classic The Kid.
He later sued his mother and stepfather for his movie earnings and survived a horror car crash. An ex-World War Two glider pilot and dad-of-four, he was married four times – his first wife was movie pin-up Betty Grable.
He also starred in shows like Hawaii Five-O, before dying aged 69, in 1984, from heart failure.
John Astin (Gomez Addams)
AS the original dapper millionaire dad, John would return as the loved-up Latino in a TV film, the animated 1990s series and as Grandpapa Addams in The New Addams Family.
Married three times, the dad-of-five also appeared in movies like Freaky Friday and adopted ex-wife Parry Duke’s son Sean Astin, who found fame as Samwise Gamgee in the
Lord Of The Rings movies.
The oldest surviving member of the original cast, he’s now 94!