Charles Samuel Addams (January 7, 1912–September 29, 1988) was an American cartoonist known for his particularly black humor and macabre characters. Some of the recurring characters, who became known as The Addams Family, became the basis for two live-action television series, two cartoon series, and three motion pictures. Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (490 × 653 pixel, file size: 108 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Template:Fair use in Charles Addams Web source: http://community. ... Image File history File links Metadata Size of this preview: 450 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (490 × 653 pixel, file size: 108 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) Template:Fair use in Charles Addams Web source: http://community. ... is the 7th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1912 (MCMXII) was a leap year starting on Monday in the Gregorian calendar (or a leap year starting on Tuesday in the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... is the 272nd day of the year (273rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link displays 1988 Gregorian calendar). ... Cartoonist Jack Elrod at work. ... Black comedy, also known as black humor, is a subgenre of comedy and satire that deals with serious subjects – death, divorce, drug abuse, et cetera in a humorous manner. ... For the TV series, see The Addams Family (TV series). ...

Cartoons

His cartoons regularly appeared in The New Yorker, and he also created a syndicated comic strip, Out of This World, which ran in 1956. There are many collections of his work, including Drawn and Quartered (1942) and Dear Dead Days (1959). Typical of his work, one cartoon shows two men standing in a room labeled "Patent Attorney." One is pointing a bizarre gun out the window toward the street and saying, "Death ray, fiddlesticks! It doesn't even slow them up!" The New Yorker is an American magazine that publishes reportage, criticism, essays, cartoons, poetry and fiction. ...

He drew more than 1,300 cartoons over the course of his life. Those that didn't appear in The New Yorker were often in Collier's and TV Guide.^[1] In 1961, Addams received, from the Mystery Writers of America, a Special Edgar Award for his body of work. His cartoons appeared in books, calendars and other merchandising. Singer-guitarist Dean Gitter's 1957 recording, Ghost Ballads (Riverside, RLP 12-636), folk songs with supernatural themes, was packaged with album art by Addams showing a haunted house. November 24, 1917 cover Colliers Weekly was an American magazine that was published between 1888 and 1957. ... TV Guide is the name of two North American weekly magazines about television programming, one in the United States and one in Canada. ... Mystery Writers of America is an organization for mystery writers, based in New York. ... The Edgar Allan Poe Awards (popularly called the Edgars), named after Edgar Allan Poe, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America. ... Dean Gitter, a key developer in the Catskills, was once involved in the entertainment industry as a producer, singer and theater owner. ...

Addams collected crossbows and used a little girl's tombstone for a coffee table, but Janet Maslin, in a review of an Addams biography for The New York Times, wrote, "Addams persona sounds cooked up for the benefit of feature writers ... was at least partly a character contrived for the public eye", noting that one outre publicity photo showed the humorist wearing a suit of armor at home, "but the shelves behind him hold books about painting and antiques, as well as a novel by John Updike."^[2] A crossbow is a type of weapon that fires projectiles called quarrels. ... Janet Maslin is a book critic for the daily New York Times. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... John Hoyer Updike (born March 18, 1932 in Shillington, Pennsylvania) is an American writer. ...

Life

Addams was born in Westfield, New Jersey, and had a happy, sociable, perhaps somewhat bland childhood there, providing few clues as to the macabre character of his humor. He was "known as something of a rascal around the neighborhood" and "there was always a little group of boys at his house, doing things," as childhood friends recalled.^[2] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Map of Westfield in Union County Westfield is a town in Union County, New Jersey, United States. ... “NJ” redirects here. ...

There were a few, but not many, forebodings of dark oddity to come during his childhood: His nickname was "Chill", and a chalk drawing of a skeleton in the garage behind one of the homes his family lived in at the time is said to have been drawn by him. That house at 552 Elm Street (now a local landmark), and another on Dudley Avenue in which police once caught him breaking into, are said to be the inspiration for the Addams family mansion in his cartoons (though scholars have pointed to a three-way resemblance among the Addams Family mansion, the house in Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and the Victorian building depicted in Edward Hopper's "House by the Railroad" [6]). He was fond of visiting the Presbyterian Cemetery on Mountain Avenue.^[1] One friend said of him, "His sense of humor was a little different from everybody else's". He was also artistically inclined, "drawing with a happy vengeance" according to a biographer.^[2] Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... Psycho is a 1960 suspense/horror film directed by auteur Alfred Hitchcock from the screenplay by Joseph Stefano about a psychotic killer. ... Nighthawks. ...

Before graduating from Westfield High School in 1929, he drew many cartoons for the Weathervane student newspaper.^[1] Westfield Senior High School, or simply, Westfield High School (abbreviated as WHS) is the only public high school located in Westfield, in Union County, New Jersey and is part of the Westfield Public Schools. ...

Addams studied at Colgate University and at the University of Pennsylvania where a fine-arts building on campus is named for him. In front of the building is a sculpture of the silhouettes of Addams family characters. He also studied at Grand Central School of Art^[1] in New York City. Colgate in fall. ... The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn[3][4]) is a private, coeducational research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. ...

His first drawing in The New Yorker ran on February 6, 1932 (a sketch of a window washer), and his cartoons ran regularly in the magazine from 1938 until his death. He was a freelancer throughout that time.^[2] is the 37th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1932 (MCMXXXII) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link will display full 1932 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

During World War II, Addams served at the Signal Corps Photographic Center in New York, where he made animated training films for the Army. Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000...

In late 1942, he met his first wife, Barbara Jean Day, who looked like the cartoon Morticia Addams. The marriage ended eight years later, after Addams, who hated small children, refused to adopt one.

He married his second wife, Barbara Barb (Estelle B. Barb), in 1954. A practicing lawyer, she "combined Morticia-like looks with diabolical legal scheming" in which she wound up controlling the "Addams Family" television and movie franchises and persuaded her husband to give away other legal rights.^[2] At one point, she got her husband to take out a $100,000 insurance policy. Addams consulted a lawyer on the sly, who later humorously wrote, "I told him the last time I had word of such a move was in a picture called Double Indemnity starring Barbara Stanwyck, which I called to his attention." In the movie, Stanwyck's character plotted her husband's murder.^[2] No one has accused Barbara Barb Addams of attempting the same. They divorced in 1956.^[3] Double Indemnity is a 1944 film noir. ... Barbara Stanwyck (July 16, 1907 – January 20, 1990) was an American actress of film, stage, and screen . ...

The Addams Family television series began after David Levy, a television producer, approached Addams with an offer to create it with a little help from the humorist. All Addams had to do was give his characters names and more characteristics for the actors to use in portrayals. The series ran on ABC for two seasons, from 1964 to 1966.^[1] Four major characters from the original television adaptation: Thing (foreground) with Uncle Fester, Morticia and Gomez Addams The Addams Family is the creation of American cartoonist Charles Addams. ... David H. Levy is an American astronomer. ...

Addams was "sociable and debonair", and described by a biographer as "A well-dressed, courtly man with silvery back-combed hair and a gentle manner, he bore no resemblance to a fiend." Figuratively a lady killer, Addams squired celebrities such as Greta Garbo, Joan Fontaine and Jacqueline Kennedy on social occasions.^[2] Greta Garbo (September 18, 1905 – April 15, 1990) was a Swedish-born actress during Hollywoods silent film period and part of its Golden Age. ... Joan Fontaine (born October 22, 1917) is an Academy Award-winning British American actress, who became an American citizen in April 1943. ... First official White House portrait. ...

Later, he married his third and last wife, "Tee" (1926–2002)— in a pet cemetery. In 1985, the Addamses moved to Sagaponack, New York, where they named their estate "The Swamp". Sagaponack is a census-designated place located in Suffolk County, New York. ...

On September 29, 1988, Addams, a sports car enthusiast, had just driven back to his apartment in Manhattan from a visit to friends in Connecticut when he parked his Audi 4000 in front of the apartment building. He was struck by a fatal heart attack while still behind the wheel.^[4] The Audi 80 was an automobile from Audi produced between 1972 and 1995 and initially shared its platform with the Volkswagen Passat. ... Acute myocardial infarction (AMI or MI), more commonly known as a heart attack, is a disease state that occurs when the blood supply to a part of the heart is interrupted. ...

Trivia

Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines. (June 2007) The article could be improved by integrating relevant items into other sections and removing inappropriate items.

• A cartoon of his was (allegedly) used to gauge incipient lunacy in an asylum, depending on how long it took the subject to see why it is funny. You can see it here.
• Addams was distantly related to John Adams and John Quincy Adams, despite the different spellings of their last names,^[2] and was a first cousin twice removed to Jane Addams, the noted social reformer.^[5]
• In Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest, Cary Grant references Charles Addams in the auction scene. Upon discovering Eve with Mr. Vandamm and Leonard, he says "The three of you together. Now that's a picture only Charles Addams could draw."
• Charles Addams is a member of Theta Chi fraternity.

Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... For other persons named John Adams, see John Adams (disambiguation). ... John Quincy Adams (July 11, 1569 – February 23, 1985) was a diplomat, politician, and the sixth President of the United States (March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829). ... Jane Addams (September 6, 1860 – May 21, 1935) was a founder of the U.S. Settlement House Movement and a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. ... Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock KBE (August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980) was an iconic and highly influential British-born film director and producer who pioneered many techniques in the suspense and thriller genres. ... North by Northwest is a 1959 MGM comic thriller by Alfred Hitchcock and is generally considered one of his best works. ... This article is about the British actor. ...

Books

By Addams

Books of Addams' drawings or illustrated by him (Kobler's anthology):^[6]

• Drawn and Quartered (1942), first anthology of drawings (Random House)
• Addams and Evil (1947), second anthology of drawings (Random House)
• (illustrations) Afternoon in the Attic (1950), John Kobler’s anthology of short stories
• Monster Rally (1950) his third anthology of drawings (Simon & Schuster)
• Homebodies (1954) fourth anthology of drawings (Simon & Schuster)
• Nightcrawlers (1957), fifth anthology of drawings (Simon & Schuster)
• Dear Dead Days (1959) compilations book
• Black Maria (1960), sixth anthology of drawings (Simon & Schuster)
• Drawn and Quartered (1962) rereleased (Simon & Schuster)
• The Groaning Board (1964) seventh anthology of drawings
• The Chas Addams Mother Goose (1967) Windmill Books
• My Crowd (1970), eighth anthology of drawings (Simon & Schuster)
• Favorite Haunts (1976), ninth anthology of drawings (Simon & Schuster)
• Creature Comforts, (1981), drawings
• The World of Charles Addams, by Charles Addams (1991), posthumously compiled from works with the copyright owned by his second wife, later named Lady Barbara Cloyton (Knopf) ISBN 0-394-58822-3

Homebodies is the third episode from the fourth season of the popular American forensic crime drama CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, which is set in Las Vegas, Nevada. ...

About Addams

• Davis, Linda H., Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life, (2006), Random House, 382 pages

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} [1]MacCloskey, Ron, "Charles Addams" pages at the WestfieldNJ.com Web site, accessed October 26, 2006
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} [2]Maslin, Janet, In Search of the Dark Muse Of a Master of the Macabre, a "Books of the Times" book review, The New York Times, Arts section, October 26, 2006, page E9, accessed October 26, 2006
3. ^ [3]"The Unofficial Addams Family World Wide Web Site", Web page titled "The Unofficial Addams Family FAQ", accessed October 26, 2006
4. ^ [4]Unofficial Addams Family World Wide Web Site", Web page titled "The Unofficial Addams Family History: Charles Addams", accessed October 26, 2006
5. ^ Davis, Linda H. Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life. Random House, Inc. 2006.
6. ^ [5]Tee and Charles Museum Web site, page titled "Career Biography of Charles Samuel Addams", accessed October 26, 2006

• Obituary, New York Times, Sept. 30, 1988, p. A1
• Strickler, Dave. Syndicated Comic Strips and Artists, 1924-1995: The Complete Index. Cambria, CA: Comics Access, 1995. ISBN 0-9700077-0-1.

is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The New York Times is a daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed internationally. ... is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

External links

• Charles Addams (1912-1988)
• Charles Addams Foundation – "Dedicated to advancing the artistic achievement of Charles Addams". Includes biography, photos and gallery.
• NYT article about the legends surrounding Chas Addams