The live-action series ended in 1966 after two seasons, paving the way for more creepy, kooky screen adaptations of the gothic clan

NEED TO KNOW

• The Addams Family premiered on ABC in 1964
• The black-and-white sitcom only lasted for two seasons, but it’s lived on in numerous iterations, including beloved 1990s films and the Netflix series Wednesday
• John Astin is the only surviving cast member of the live-action series

It’s been 60 years since we last saw the original mysterious and spooky, altogether ooky Addams family on TV.

The ABC series The Addams Family, based on cartoonist Charles Addams’ characters in the New Yorker magazine, premiered on Sept. 18, 1964. Previously unnamed, the characters gained personalities and backstories when they appeared on the small screen as parents Gomez and Morticia, son Pugsley, daughter Wednesday, Uncle Fester, Grandmama, their loyal butler Lurch and their lovely yet disturbing hand-servant Thing.

Though the black-and-white comedy lasted only two seasons — concluding on April 8, 1966 — its supernatural characters and macabre aesthetic have lived on in several pop-culture iterations. In 1973, Hanna-Barbera Productions created a Saturday morning cartoon version of the show, and many members of the original live-action cast returned for the 1977 TV movie Halloween with the New Addams Family.

New actors took on the iconic roles in the hit 1991 movie The Addams Family, with Anjelica Huston, Christina Ricci and Christopher Lloyd embodying their own versions of the characters. That cast also returned for 1993’s Addams Family Values. MGM also produced a full-length animated Addams Family movie in 2019 and a sequel in 2021. The property’s popularity grew even more immensely with the release of Tim Burton’s Netflix series Wednesday in 2022.

Find out what happened to the original cast of The Addams Family after the show ended, including John Astin, the last living cast member.

01 of 07

John Astin as Gomez Addams

Before landing the role of the wealthy and extravagant Gomez Addams, Astin starred alongside James Garner and Lee Remick in 1963’s The Wheeler Dealers. In a 2015 interview with the Television Academy Foundation, Astin recalled that his performance in the film was well-received. 

“I get a call from Filmways; they produced that movie,” Astin recounted. “They said, ‘When we were previewing this movie, we got a large response on you from the people who filled out their preview cards. We want to make a deal.’ ”

The studio presented three possible projects for Astin: the movies The Americanization of Emily and The Loved One, or a TV project based on The Addams Family cartoons. Coincidentally, Astin was a “tremendous fan” of Charles Addams and had his comic panels on the wall as decorations during college. As he could only choose one project, Astin chose the fastest-moving one: The Addams Family. 

“I’m really lucky that’s what I ended up doing because many things have happened to me that are good as a result of The Addams Family,” he added.

Among those “good” things were roles on Operation Petticoat and Night Court and in films like National Lampoon’s European Vacation (1985), Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) and The Frighteners (1996), as well as the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes franchise. He also took on several voice-acting roles for animated series, including Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Problem Child and Recess, as well as landed minor parts on shows like Welcome Back, Kotter, The Love Boat, Facts of Life, Murder, She Wrote and The Nanny.

He reprised his role as Gomez in the TV movie Halloween with the New Addams Family and in the 1992 season of the animated series The Addams Family, then portrayed Grandpapa Addams on two episodes of the short-lived The New Addams Family in the late ‘90s.

In May 2022, Astin told the A.V. Club that he was retiring from acting and teaching at Johns Hopkins University. He did come out of retirement, however, to reprise his role as mad scientist Professor Nicholas Mortimer Gangreen in 2026’s Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Organic Intelligence, per Deadline.

Astin has five children. He shares sons David, Allen and Tom with his first wife, Suzanna Hahn, and welcomed son Mackenzie with his second wife, Patty Duke. He also adopted Duke’s son, Lord of the Rings star Sean Astin, while they were married. Astin married his third wife, Valerie Ann Sandobal, in 1989.

02 of 07

Carolyn Jones as Morticia Addams

Carolyn Jones was already a prolific actress before landing the role of matriarch Morticia Addams, including earning an Oscar nomination for 1957’s The Bachelor Party.

After her two seasons on The Addams Family, she landed a role as Marsha, Queen of Diamonds on the Batman TV series. Her DC Comics roles didn’t end there — she played Queen Hippolyta, the mother of Wonder Woman, on the action series. Jones also had guest roles on shows like The New Perry Mason, Ironside, The Love Boat and Quincy, M.E., and appeared on the history-making miniseries Roots in 1977.

After some difficulty booking roles, Jones decided to pursue another art form: writing. In 1971, she released her debut novel Twice Upon A Time.

Along with much of the original cast, she reprised her Addams Family role in the 1977 TV movie Halloween with the New Addams Family.

In 1981, Jones was diagnosed with colon cancer. After she entered remission, Jones joined the cast of the daytime soap opera Capitol in 1982. Shortly after the start of the show, Jones’ doctors discovered her cancer had returned. She was often in a wheelchair and ultimately left the series in February 1983.

Jones died on Aug. 3, 1983. She was 53. At the time of her death, she was married to her fourth husband, Peter Bailey-Britton.

03 of 07

Ken Weatherwax as Pugsley Addams

When The Addams Family began, Ken Weatherwax was in third grade and played Pugsley, Gomez and Morticia’s kind-hearted and lovable son. After the series ended, Weatherwax had two more acting credits: a small role on Wagon Train and as Pugsley Sr. in 1977’s Halloween with the New Addams Family.

The Los Angeles native said he interviewed and auditioned for more roles but believes he was “typecast” as Pugsley.

From ages 10 to 16, Weatherwax was constantly recognized, but that recognition disappeared after he shaved his head as a cadet.

“[The Addams Family] didn’t have very much of an effect until after the show was over and I had to go back to public school and deal with it,” he told Bill O’Reilly during a 2008 appearance on The O’Reilly Factor. “Frankly, I didn’t deal with it very well. I was kicked out of six or seven schools and ended up in the service at the age of 17.”

Per The Hollywood Reporter, he later worked behind the camera as a grip and set builder.

On Dec. 7, 2014, Weatherwax died from a heart attack at the age of 59, the BBC reported.

04 of 07

Lisa Loring as Wednesday Addams

At 6 years old, Lisa Loring began playing the death-obsessed Wednesday Addams. Loring was the first actress to don the iconic pigtails, black dress and white collar that have become synonymous with the character.

Following the series finale, Loring had a short stint on The Pruitts of Southampton and played Cricket Montgomery on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns. She also appeared on shows like The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Fantasy Island and Barnaby Jones and in the 1987 B-movie Savage Harbor. Her last credited roles were in three horror films: Iced (1989), Way Down in Chinatown (2014) and Doctor Spine (2015).

In 2022, Loring made headlines as part of Jenna Ortega’s inspiration for the famous dance scene on Netflix’s Wednesday.

“I knew there were certain things that I wanted to do,” Ortega told Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. “I paid homage to Lisa Loring, the first Wednesday Addams. I did a little bit of her shuffle that she does. Of course, they cut [it] out of camera when I did do it, but it’s there, I know it is.”

Loring was married four times. She shared one child, daughter Vanessa Foumberg, with her first husband, Farrell Foumberg, and also had a younger daughter, Marianne Stevenson, per The Hollywood Reporter.

On Jan. 28, 2023, Loring died of complications from a stroke. She was 64.

05 of 07

Ted Cassidy as Lurch

Ted Cassidy began his career as a radio disc jockey in Dallas. His breakout role came on The Addams Family, and at 6 feet, 9 inches, he seemed destined to play loyal butler Lurch. The character was originally intended to remain mute, but after Cassidy ad-libbed the famous line “You rang?”, his deep, entrancing voice and humorous delivery led to more lines for Lurch.

Unbeknownst to many viewers, Cassidy often played the Thing, a dismembered hand that assists the family. When Lurch and Thing were in a scene, other crew members would step in, most notably assistant director Jack Voglin.

Cassidy went on to appear in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), Mackenna’s Gold (1969), Harry and Walter Go to New York (1976) and The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977). On TV, he starred on The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and appeared on Star Trek, Bonanza, The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man.

The West Virginia native later made a name for himself as a voice actor for cartoons like Super Friends, Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle and Godzilla. He also narrated the 1977 movie The Incredible Hulk and the 1978 TV series.

Cassidy returned to reprise his role as Lurch in the TV movie Halloween with the New Addams Family and the short-lived Hanna-Barbera animated show The Addams Family. His last role came posthumously in the 1982 animated TV movie Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All.

The Stetson University alum shared two children with ex-wife Margaret Helen Jesse, son Sean and daughter Cameron. During a Q&A session at Lurchfest 2023, held annually in Cassidy’s hometown of Philippi, W.V., Sean debunked the rumor that his dad suffered from gigantism.

Per CBS News, Cassidy died from complications following open-heart surgery for a benign tumor on Jan. 16, 1979. He was 46.

06 of 07

Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester

Jackie Coogan’s acting career started long before his role as Uncle Fester on The Addams Family. As a child actor, he played the titular character in Oliver Twist (1922) and Tom Sawyer (1930). He also starred alongside Charlie Chaplin in the 1921 film The Kid. His first regular TV role was as Sergeant Barnes on McKeever and the Colonel.

After The Addams Family, Coogan appeared on a variety of iconic TV sitcoms, including I Dream of Jeannie, The Brady Bunch and The Partridge Family.

He returned to play Uncle Fester in both the TV movie and Hanna-Barbera series. His last film roles were The Escape Artist (1982) and The Prey (1983).

Coogan died of heart failure on March 1, 1984, in Santa Monica, Calif., per The New York Times. He was 69.

07 of 07

Marie Blake as Grandmama Addams

Blossom Rock, who adopted the name Marie Blake for her film career, was cast in various film roles throughout the ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s, starring alongside Hollywood greats like Judy Garland, Joan Crawford and Mickey Rooney. 

After The Addams Family wrapped, Blake suffered a stroke in 1967 that permanently impacted her speech. She died on Jan. 14, 1978, at age 82.

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