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The Addams Family is the creation of American cartoonist Charles Addams. A satirical inversion of the ideal of the perfect American nuclear family, they are an eccentric wealthy family who delight in everything grotesque and macabre, and are never really aware that people find them bizarre or frightening. In fact, they themselves are often terrified by "normal" people. A cartoonist at work. ...
Charles Samuel Addams (January 7, 1912 - September 28, 1988) was an American cartoonist known for his particularly black humor and macabre characters. ...
The term nuclear family was developed in the western world to distinguish the family group consisting of parents and their children, usually a father, mother, and children, from what is known as an extended family. ...
When commonly used, grotesque means strange, fantastic, ugly or bizarre, and thus is often used to describe shapes and distorted forms such as Halloween masks or gargoyles on churches. ...
The neutrality of this article is disputed. ...
Addams's cartoons in The New Yorker magazine gained popularity in the 1930s. Addams was noted for his morbid sense of humor, and over the years various bizarre people and creatures who lived in a huge decaying Second Empire house became recurring characters. A 2004 cover with dandy Eustace Tilly, who debuted on the first cover and reappears on anniversary issues. ...
Black comedy, also known as black humor or dark comedy, is a sub-genre of comedy and satire where topics and events normally treated seriously â death, mass murder, sickness, madness, terror, drug abuse, rape, war etc. ...
The canonical example of Second Empire style is the Opéra Garnier, in which Neo-Baroque meets Neo-Renaissance. ...
Premise The Addamses are the descendants of a very long line of witches, freaks, ghouls, and other assorted social outcasts. The family that the cartoons, movies, and shows are based around are said to be but one surviving branch of the Addams clan. Many other "Addams families" exist all over the world. Their family credo, according to the film version, is Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc (Latin: "We gladly feast on those who would subdue us"). This article is part of the Witchcraft series. ...
In current usage, the word freak is used to refer a person with an unusual personality. ...
A ghoul is a monster from ancient Arabian folklore that dwells in graveyards and other uninhabited places. ...
Latin is an ancient Indo-European language. ...
Gomez Alonzo Addams studied to be a lawyer, but rarely practices while taking absurd pride in losing his cases. He is wealthy from inheritance and extensive investments, though seems to have little regard for money. Gomez is of Castilian origin and loves to smoke cigars and play destructively with his model trains. Though head of the household, he is also the most naïve and childish member of the family, with a short attention span and endless optimism. Despite his macabre sense of humor, he is extremely generous and known for going out of his way to help those he considers friends. Gomez is married to Morticia A. Addams (née Frump), a vampish woman who dresses only in long, black gowns, and trims flowers by clipping off buds and leaving only the stems ("live heading" them instead of "dead heading" where you cut off the flower after all the petals have fallen). Morticia, who speaks French fluently, can easily seduce her husband with just a few words of the language. She too comes from a long line of deviants, freaks, and maniacs. Castilian is a noun and adjective that refers to the region and former kingdom of Spain; in particular, it refers to the language of this region, and is therefore considered by many to be a synonym of Spanish, though with different nuances. ...
This page is about the tobacco product; for other meanings of Cigar, see Cigar (disambiguation). ...
This article needs cleanup. ...
Vamp is a colloquial term applied to describe a particular type of femme fatale, popular in silent films. ...
The mansion is full of unusual decorations and oddities like a mounted swordfish with a man's foot sticking out its mouth, and a polar bear skin rug on the floor in the entryway that roars when unwary visitors step on it. Binomial name Xiphias gladius Linnaeus, 1758 Swordfish (Xiphias gladius) are large, highly migratory, predatory fish characterized by a long, flat bill in contrast to the smooth, round bill of the marlins. ...
Gomez and Morticia have two children, Pugsley and Wednesday. Wednesday, whose middle name is Friday, was originally—as her name suggests—a quiet, somewhat pathetic child, full of woe. In the TV show she was a sweet-natured, happy child, largely concerned with her pet spiders. A favorite toy was her Marie Antoinette doll, which she had guillotined, and which she often showed to visitors. The movies gave her a serious personality with a deadpan wit, and a morbid fascination with trying to physically harm or possibly murder her brother (she was seen strapping him into an electric chair, for example, and preparing to pull the switch). She is apparently often successful, but Pugsley never dies. Like most members of the family he seems to live in a semi-immortal state. The god Woden, after whom Wednesday was named. ...
Marie-Antoinette, Queen of France and Archduchess of Austria (born November 1755 – executed 16 October 1793) Daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria, wife of Louis XVI and mother of Louis XVII. She was guillotined at the height of the French Revolution. ...
For his part, Pugsley is largely either oblivious of the harm his sister tries to inflict on him, or an enthusiastic supporter of it. In his first incarnation, Pugsley (originally to be called Pubert) was depicted as a diabolical, malevolent child next door. In the TV series, he was a devoted older brother and an inventive and mechanical genius, although his brilliance was lost in the movies, in which he appears to be of below-average intelligence. In the most recent animated series, Pugsley's and Wednesday's personalities seem to be a mix of their previous ones, with Wednesday being back to her happy and somewhat optimistic child, while retaining her sophisticated manner from the movies and Pugsley having regained some of his genius when it comes to chemistry and machines, but his intelligence still seems to be rather underdeveloped at times. In Addams Family Values, Gomez and Morticia had a third child, a son named Pubert (voiced by Cheryl Chase), a moustachioed and seemingly indestructible baby with the ability to shoot flaming arrows. Cheryl Chase is an American voice actress best known as the voice of Angelica Pickles on Rugrats and All Grown Up. ...
Edgar Allan Poe had a simple moustache. ...
Other members of the family who live with Gomez and Morticia include Uncle Fester and Grandmama. In the original television series, Fester was Morticia's uncle, and therefore technically not an Addams, although at times he claims the family name as his own (in one episode, Fester became confused when someone asked what his last name was, implying that he had none at all). In all other animated and filmed content, Fester became Gomez's older brother, and therefore the uncle of Wednesday and Pugsley. Grandmama is Gomez's mother in only the 1960s live-action TV series and the 1990s animated TV series (Starring John Astin, Nancy Lanri, Rip Taylor, Jim Cummings and Carol Channing). In all other content, Grandmama is Morticia's mother (in fact, both animated TV series have one episode each where Grandmama's surname is mentioned as "Frump"). In the original TV series, Mother Frump exists as a separate character from Grandmama. A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ...
John Astin starring as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family. ...
Rip Taylor Charles Elmer Rip Taylor (born January 13, 1934 in Washington D.C.), is an American actor and comedian known as The Crying Comic. Known for his high voice, zany hair, bushy handlebar mustache over a perpetual toothy grin and his heavyset physique, his schtick is to toss handfuls...
Jim Cummings. ...
Carol Channing photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1956 Carol Channing (born on January 31, 1921 in Seattle, Washington) is an American actress whose career was built largely on two roles, Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello Dolly!. She is easily recognized by her distinctive...
The family has a servant in the form of a disembodied hand named "Thing". Thing has been Gomez's friend since childhood. He (it is implied that he is male) often performs common, everyday tasks such as retrieving the mail. They also have a tall, ghoulish manservant named Lurch. Morticia and Gomez summon him by means of a bell pull in the form of a hangman's noose which produces a crashing gong that shakes the house, to which Lurch responds instantly with "You rang?" He is also very adept at playing the harpsichord. Lurch has ejected several visitors from the premises. Gomez also has a Cousin Itt who often visits the family; his long hair covers his body entirely, from scalp to floor, and it is unclear what, if anything, is beneath the hair. Itt's speech consists of unintelligible chatter, which the family members have no trouble understanding. Hangmans knot The hangmans knot or hangmans noose (also known as a collar during Elizabethan times) is a well-known knot most often associated with its use in hanging. ...
Harpsichord in Flemish style; for more info, click the image. ...
Other guests include Morticia's older sister Ophelia (also played by Carolyn Jones in the sitcom) and Morticia's mother (and Fester's sister), Hester Frump (played in the sitcom by Margaret Hamilton, best known for her portrayal of the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz). The Addamses have many other eccentric relatives who, in the sitcom, were described but never shown. Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz (1939) Margaret Hamilton (December 9, 1902 â May 16, 1985) was an American film actress. ...
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. ...
The nature of The Addamses The exact nature of the Addamses is never established. They all seem to share a bond with the occult and supernatural. Uncle Fester is often portrayed as something of a mad scientist, and Grandmama as a fortune-teller, but these activities don't really explain the Addamses' seemingly immortal state. The food they live on is inedible or outright deadly for normal humans to eat, and there is also the family's interest in painful activities like walking across minefields, and having a sharp pendulum cut them in half. Of course, these activities are most certainly just added to the shows to point out the Addamses' personalities. In the 1960s television series, virtually every member of the family demonstrated some uniquely "non-human" trait. Morticia is able to light candles with the touch of a fingertip and relaxes by literally "smoking," curls of smoke emitting from her body. Gomez is remarkably athletic and can perform complicated calculations in his head, which makes a mechanical sound as he does so. Fester can generate both electricity and magnetism, while Grandmama, in addition to being able to whip up potions of varying effects, can fly on a broom (although she is not considered a witch by the family's standards, since the episode "Halloween, Addams Style" is partially devoted to a neighbor raising doubts in the children's minds about whether or not witches exist). Pugsley is able to hang from tree branches by his teeth (although this trait is only referred to and not seen), while six-year-old Wednesday is strong enough to bring her father down with a judo hold. Lurch is superhumanly strong, and Thing (whose paranormal nature speaks for itself) can apparently teleport from box to box almost instantaneously, since he emerges from various boxes throughout the house. None of these traits are considered unusual by any others in the family but treated simply as individual talents that anyone might possess by chance or development. All are capable of enduring such experiences as lying on a bed of nails, being stretched on a rack, and so on without pain and, indeed, derive pleasure from such experiences; Fester can survive a cannonball directly to the head with minimal effect. This article is part of the Witchcraft series. ...
The Addamses are a close-knit and loving family. Morticia and Gomez remain passionately in love, and it drives Gomez crazy when she speaks French. She sometimes calls him "Bubbele" (German dialect: Little Boy), which he responds to by kissing her up and down her arms. They are deeply concerned with the well-being of their children. Though they all share an obsession and interest in death, dying, and other gothic and macabre subjects, the Addamses cannot be considered evil people; in several of the TV episodes, Gomez is willing to donate remarkably large sums to worthy causes, to the shock of the already disturbed visitors. They are unfailingly friendly to anyone they happen to meet, whether the other party likes it or not. German (called Deutsch in German; in German the term germanisch is equivalent to English Germanic), is a member of the western group of Germanic languages and is one of the worlds major languages. ...
NYC goth band The Naked and the Dead (1985). ...
The neutrality of this article is disputed. ...
Most of the Addamses' neighbors are less than understanding, however. Within the larger community, the Addamses are viewed as oddballs, dangerous, or worse. Both the TV shows and movies deal with outsiders attempting to understand and "correct" the behavior of the family, and remain frustrated and horrified by the things that the Addamses find amusing. The Addamses, for their part, are just the opposite, and are often shocked and horrified at the actions of "mainstream" society. The underlying moral premise of the series thus seems to be a message against being judgmental and trying to impose universal standards of morality. A moral is a one sentence remark made at the end of many childrens stories that expresses the intended meaning, or the moral message, of the tale. ...
Although the Addamses are frequently labeled as nonconformists, this is not really the case. While they have little use for conformity, they do not consider their tastes to be nonconformist per se, since they are under the impression that most people share them and, thus, when an unsuspecting visitor reacts with shock to some of the disturbing artifacts and activities in the house, they invariably attribute the reaction to another cause, since the notion that anyone might find such things odd simply does not occur to them. Occasionally, the 1960s series featured guest characters who shared the Addamses' tastes, which, along with the fact that the family obviously purchases its yak meat, explosives, etc. from somewhere, implies an entire subculture of people who share the family's tastes (as seen in several Charles Addams cartoons). In contrast, the Addamses themselves consider such things as daisies, chocolate fudge, the Boy Scouts, and other such traditionally "wholesome" things—as well as any distaste for such things as swamps, octopuses, and hanging upside-down from the ceiling—to be odd, if not outright disturbing. Fester once cited a neighbor family's meticulous petunia patches as evidence that they were "nothing but riff-raff." For professional sport scouts, see Scout (sport). ...
Families 14 in two suborders, see text. ...
Television, film, and games
Title card from the 1964–66 television series. For cast listings in each medium, see "Cast" below. Image File history File links Addamstitle. ...
Image File history File links Addamstitle. ...
Live-action In 1964, a network television series was spawned with actors playing characters from Addams' cartoons, entitled The Addams Family. The 30 minute series aired in black-and-white for two seasons in 64 installments on ABC (September 18, 1964 – September 2, 1966). Like Star Trek, it was not particularly successful during its original broadcasts but became hugely popular when repeated in wide TV syndication after its cancellation. It was originally produced by Filmways TV. Today, successor company Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (via Sony Pictures Television) owns the rights to the ABC shows. A television program is the content of television broadcasting. ...
Black-and-white or black and white) can refer to a general term used in photography, film, and other media (see black-and-white). ...
This article is about the American network, for the Australian network, see Australian Broadcasting Corporation The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is a television and radio network in the United States. ...
September 18 is the 261st day of the year (262nd in leap years). ...
1964 (MCMLXIV) was a leap year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1964 calendar). ...
September 2 is the 245th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (246th in leap years). ...
1966 (MCMLXVI) was a common year starting on Saturday (the link is to a full 1966 calendar). ...
The starship Enterprise as it appeared on Star Trek Star Trek is a culturally significant science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry in the 1960s. ...
In the television industry (as in radio), syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast television programs to multiple television stations, without going through a broadcast network. ...
Filmways, Inc. ...
For alternate meanings of MGM, see MGM (disambiguation). ...
SPT logo Sony Pictures Television, Inc. ...
Compared to the cartoons, the series was restrained in how gruesome the humor be portrayed due to contemporary content restrictions. However, many television critics noted with some amusement that Gomez and Morticia had a strong marriage that was obviously so much more passionately loving than the typical married couple on American television that it was noted that they appeared to be the only couple in the medium capable of having children. The Munsters, a series which shared a similar gothic look, but featured broader and less sophisticated humor, ran for the same two television seasons (on CBS), although The Munsters scored better ratings than The Addams Family in its original run. A TV reunion movie, Halloween With The New Addams Family, aired on CBS in October 1977. It featuring most of the original cast, except Blossom Rock, who had played Grandmama but was very ill at the time; she was replaced by Jane Rose. The Munsters - Herman, Lily, Grandpa, Marilyn and Eddie The Munsters was an American television sitcom, depicting the home life of a family of horror movie monsters. ...
CBS (formerly an abbreviation for Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ...
CBS (formerly an abbreviation for Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ...
Credited as Blossom Rock and Marie Blake, Edith Marie Blossom (McDonald) Rock (1895-1978) was an American actress and older sister of actress Jeanette MacDonald. ...
In the 1990s, Orion Pictures (which by then had inherited the rights to the series) developed a film version, The Addams Family. Due to the studio's financial troubles at the time, Orion sold the film to Paramount Pictures. Upon the film's initial success, two sequels followed: Addams Family Values (1993), and Addams Family Reunion (1998). Loosened content restrictions allowed the films to use far more grotesque humor that strove to keep the original spirit of the Addams cartoons. The second film's title is a piece of word play on family values, the Addamses seeming to represent values the polar opposite from the term's usual meaning (in fact, the Addams exhibit many laudable values; in particular, they are a close-knit, loving family). The third film was released direct-to-video, this time by Warner Bros. through its video division. Assuming it takes place in the same movie continuum as the first two films, its events would occur shortly after the events of the first film, since Fester is with the family, and Morticia is not yet showing her pregnancy with Pubert. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
The Paramount Pictures logo used since 2003. ...
Addams Family Values (1993) is a sequel to the 1991 comedy The Addams Family movie. ...
The Addams Family is the creation of American cartoonist Charles Addams. ...
Word play is a literary technique in which the nature of the words used themselves become part of the subject of the work. ...
This article discusses family values as a moral and political concept. ...
A film that is released direct-to-video (also straight-to-video) is one which has been released to the public on home video formats first rather than first being released in movie theaters. ...
Warner Bros. ...
A second live-action television version, The New Addams Family, produced and shot in Canada, ran during the 1998–1999 season on Fox Family. Most episodes were remakes of the original series' episodes, although some re-scripting was done to account for the new relations between characters, and the more macabre versions of Wednesday and Pugsley, to try and fit the episodes into the movies' universe. John Astin returned to the franchise in specific episodes of this series, albeit as Grandpa Addams (Gomez's grandfather, a character introduced in Addams Family Reunion). ABC Family is an American cable television network currently owned by Disney/ABC. // History Beginnings The network was founded by Pat Robertson in April 1977 as CBN Cable, an arm of his Christian Broadcasting Network. ...
Animation
The Addams family in the second animated series. From top to bottom: Wednesday, Grandmama, Uncle Fester, Cousin Itt, Pugsley, Gomez, Morticia, and Lurch with Thing on his shoulder. Two animated television spin-offs and an animated guest appearance have also been produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Image File history File links AdamnsFamilyCartoon. ...
12 drawings per second is the typical rate for an animated cartoon. ...
A spin-off (or spinoff) is a new organization or entity formed by a split from a larger one such as a new company formed from a university research group. ...
Cartoon Network Studios, the successor to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ...
The Addams Family's first animated appearance was on the third episode of Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies, "Scooby-Doo Meets the Addams Family" (a.k.a. "Wednesday is Missing"), which first aired on CBS Saturday morning September 23, 1972. Four of the original cast (John Astin, the late Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, and Ted Cassidy) returned for the special which involved the Addamses in a mystery with the Scooby-Doo gang. The Addams Family characters were drawn to the specifications of the original Charles Addams comics. After the episode aired, fans wanted more animated adventures featuring the Addamses, and Hanna-Barbera responded in kind. The New Scooby-Doo Movies (sometimes called The New Scooby-Doo Comedy Movies) was the second incarnation of the long-running Hanna-Barbera Saturday morning cartoon Scooby-Doo. ...
CBS (formerly an abbreviation for Columbia Broadcasting System, its former legal name) is one of the largest television networks, and formerly one of the largest radio networks, in the United States. ...
Saturday morning is the block of animated television programming during Saturday mornings. ...
September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). ...
1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday. ...
John Astin starring as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family. ...
Carolyn Jones (April 28, 1929 - August 3, 1983) was an American actress. ...
Jackie Coogan (1914-1984) in 1921 Jackie Coogan (October 26, 1914 - March 1, 1984) was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. ...
Theodore Crawford Ted Cassidy (born July 31, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - January 16, 1979 in Los Angeles, California) was an American actor who played Lurch (in which role he was able to demonstrate his genuine skill on the harpsichord) and Thing on The Addams Family. ...
Scooby-doo is also British naval divers slang for civilian sport scuba diver. Scooby-Doo is an important character in animation up to this day Scooby-Doo is a long-running animated series produced for television by Hanna-Barbera Productions from 1969 to 1986, 1988 to 1991, and from 2002...
The first animated series ran on Saturday mornings from 1973–1975 on NBC. In a departure from the original series, this series took the Addamses on the road in a Victorian-style RV. This series also marked the point where the relations between characters were retconned so that Fester was now Gomez' brother, and Grandmama was now Morticia's mother (though the old relations would be revisited in the 1977 TV-movie, to keep continuous with the original sitcom). Although Coogan and Cassidy reprised their roles, Astin and Jones did not, their parts being re-cast with Hanna-Barbera voice talents Lennie Weinrib as Gomez and Janet Waldo as Morticia, while none other than an eight-year-old Jodie Foster provided the voice of Pugsley. Again, the characters were drawn to the specifications of the original Charles Addams comics. One season was produced, with the season rerunning the following year. NBC, (Formerly an acronym for the National Broadcasting Company until 2004), is an American television and radio network based in New York Citys Rockefeller Center. ...
A modern double-wide manufactured home Mobile homes (or manufactured homes) are housing units built in factories, rather than on site, and then taken to the place where they will be occupied, usually by being carried by tractor-trailers over public highways. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with List of retcons. ...
Jackie Coogan (1914-1984) in 1921 Jackie Coogan (October 26, 1914 - March 1, 1984) was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. ...
Theodore Crawford Ted Cassidy (born July 31, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - January 16, 1979 in Los Angeles, California) was an American actor who played Lurch (in which role he was able to demonstrate his genuine skill on the harpsichord) and Thing on The Addams Family. ...
John Astin starring as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family. ...
Carolyn Jones (April 28, 1929 - August 3, 1983) was an American actress. ...
Leonard Weinrib (April 29, 1935 â June 28, 2006) was an American actor, voice actor and writer. ...
Janet Waldo (born February 4, 1918 in Grandview, Washington) is a former actress and voice artist. ...
Jodie Foster (born November 19, 1962) is a two-time Academy Awardâwinning American actress, director, and producer. ...
The second animated series ran on Saturday mornings from 1992–1995 on ABC after producers realized the success of the 1991 Addams Family movie. This series returned to the familiar format of the original series, with the Addams Family facing their sitcom situations at home. John Astin returned to the role of Gomez, and celebrities Rip Taylor and Carol Channing took over the roles of Fester and Grandmama respectively. New artistic models of the characters were used for this series, though still having a passing resemblance to the original comics. Two seasons were produced, with the third year containing reruns. Oddly in this series, Wednesday maintained her macabre, brooding attitude from the Addams Family movies, but her facial expressions and body language conveyed the happy-go-lucky, fun attitude of her portrayal in the original television show. A sitcom or situation comedy is a genre of comedy performance originally devised for radio but today typically found on television. ...
John Astin starring as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family. ...
Rip Taylor Charles Elmer Rip Taylor (born January 13, 1934 in Washington D.C.), is an American actor and comedian known as The Crying Comic. Known for his high voice, zany hair, bushy handlebar mustache over a perpetual toothy grin and his heavyset physique, his schtick is to toss handfuls...
Carol Channing photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1956 Carol Channing (born on January 31, 1921 in Seattle, Washington) is an American actress whose career was built largely on two roles, Lorelei Lee in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Dolly Gallagher Levi in Hello Dolly!. She is easily recognized by her distinctive...
Games Six video games released from 1989 to 1994 were based on The Addams Family. Fester's Quest (1989) was a top-down shooter that featured Uncle Fester. The Addams Family platformer was released for Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy, with later ports for Sega Genesis (based on the Super NES version), Master System and Game Gear (both based on the NES version but with different graphics) and TurboGrafx-CD (developed separately); these games, released by Ocean Software (Flying Edge in the case of the Sega consoles ports) (ICOM Simulations for the TurboGrafx-CD version), these were based on the first movie rather than the TV series or cartoons. The games' sequel, The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt (1993), also by Ocean Software was based on the ABC animated series, and was released for Super NES and Game Boy. Addams Family Values (1994) by Ocean was based on the movie's sequel and returned to the style of gameplay seen in the original Fester's Quest. This article is about computer and video games. ...
Fester starting his quest Festers Quest is a game for the Nintendo Entertainment System based on the 1960s television series The Addams Family. ...
Shooter games cover a fairly broad spectrum of sub-genres that have the commonality of controlling a character who is usually armed with a firearm that can be freely aimed. ...
Platform game, or platformer, is a video game genre characterized by the character having to climb up and down, or jump from and to, platforms and ledges, while fighting enemies and collecting objects required to complete the game. ...
NES redirects here. ...
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System, also known as Super Nintendo, Super NES or SNES, is a 16-bit video game console released by Nintendo in North America, Brazil, Europe, and Australia. ...
The original Game Boys design set the standard for handheld gaming consoles. ...
The Mega Drive/Genesis was a 16-bit video game console released by Sega in Japan (1988), Europe (1990) and most of the rest of the world as the Mega Drive. ...
Sega Master System The Sega Master System (SMS for short) (Japanese: マスターシステム), was an 8-bit cartridge-based gaming console manufactured by Sega. ...
The Sega Game Gear was Segas first portable gaming system. ...
For information on the Japanese version of this console, see PC Engine The TurboGrafx 16 was a video game console released by NEC in 1989, for the North American market. ...
The familiar Ocean logotype had an often prominent placement on the box art and is recognized by many people. ...
ICOM Simulations was a software company best known for creating the MacVenture series of adventure games including Shadowgate. ...
For information on the Japanese version of this console, see PC Engine The TurboGrafx 16 was a video game console released by NEC in 1989, for the North American market. ...
The familiar Ocean logotype had an often prominent placement on the box art and is recognized by many people. ...
Addams Family Values was a game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. ...
A Game Boy Color game was released in the 1990s for promotion of "The New Addams Family." The game was simply titled, "The New Addams Family Series." A pinball game by Midway (under the Bally label) was released in 1992 shortly after the movie. It broke previous sales records by selling over 20,000 units. This article is about the arcade game. ...
Midway Games (NYSE: MWY) is an American video game publisher known for such game series as Mortal Kombat, NBA Jam and Spy Hunter. ...
Bally (with its distinctive Rolling Ball logo) Bally (originally the Bally Manufacturing Corporation) is an American corporation. ...
The Addams Family is the best selling pinball machine of all time, having sold 20,270 units. ...
Cast - Gomez Addams
- Gomez is Morticia's husband and the Addams Family patriarch. Originally Grandmama's son, this was retconned later on to make him Grandmama's son-in-law. His brother (originally uncle-in-law) is Uncle Fester. He is portrayed as a charming, handsome (in a gothic sort of way), and successful man, yet takes a childlike eccentric enthusiasm to everything he does. For instance, his personal portrait depicts him as standing gleefully on his head. Generally he dresses in a dark pinstriped suit with short, slicked-back hair and sports a pencil-thin moustache. Though a peaceful man he is known to be well-versed in many types of combat. He and Morticia fence with foils sometimes. He is extensively wealthy, and in the TV episodes is quite willing to contribute to charitable causes. His endless love for Morticia shows that while the family is strange, they are indeed good people. Gomez is quite proud of the fact that his law class voted him "Least Likely to succeed." The original Gomez John Astin made a cameo on the second TV series as the father to Gomez Addams—an in-joke tribute to the original series.
- Portrayed by:
- John Astin (Live-action TV 1964–1966, 1977, Animated TV 1972, 1992–1994).
- Leonard Weinrib (Animated TV 1973–1974)
- Raúl Juliá (Live-action movies 1991, 1993)
- Tim Curry (Live-action movie 1998)
- Glenn Taranto (Live-action TV 1998–1999)
- Morticia Addams
- Morticia is the matriarch of the Addams Family, serving as its heart and soul. Her original mother was Hester Frump (played by Margaret Hamilton in the sitcom), but her origins were later retconned and she became Grandmama's daughter. (Grandmama subsequently became known as Esmerelda Frump.) Morticia has an older sister named Ophelia. In the sitcom, her marriage brought her uncle Fester into the family. She has pale skin and a gothic appearance. She also knits strange items of clothing for various members of the family. She is portrayed as elegant, artistic, and musically inclined (opera singing, tango dancing, and playing numerous instruments). Gomez said she was pale and mysterious the first time he met her.
- Portrayed by:
- Carolyn Jones (Live-action TV 1964–1966, 1977, Animated TV 1972)
- Janet Waldo (Animated TV 1973–1974)
- Anjelica Huston (Live-action movies 1991, 1993)
- Nancy Linari (Animated TV 1992–1994)
- Daryl Hannah (Live-action movie 1998)
- Ellie Harvey (Live-action TV 1998–1999)
- Pugsley Addams
- (See above for differences between the Addams children in the cartoons/TV series and films).
- Portrayed by:
- Ken Weatherwax (Live-action TV 1964–1966, 1977)
- Jodie Foster (Animated TV 1972–1974)
- Jimmy Workman (Live-action movies 1991, 1993)
- Jeannie Elias (Animated TV 1992–1994)
- Jerry Messing (Live-action movie 1998)
- Brody Smith (Live-action TV 1998–1999)
- Wednesday Addams
- (See above for differences between the Addams children in the cartoons/TV series and films)
- Uncle Fester
- Fester is a bald, stooping, barrel-shaped man with dark, sunken eyes and a devilish grin. He seems to carry an electrical charge and can illuminate a light bulb by sticking it in his mouth. In one episode of the TV series, he claimed to possess 110 watts of power. In the second TV series, Uncle Fester is kidnapped by aliens who make a "twelve pack" of Uncle Fester clones to power their spaceship.
- In the first Addams Family movie, Uncle Fester and Gomez had a disagreement that led to Fester's 25-year disappearance. Brainwashed by gold-digging Abigail Craven (Elizabeth Wilson) into believing he was her adopted son Gordon, the two hatch a scheme with the Addams' lawyer, Tully Alford (Dan Hedaya), to steal the family fortune, only to ultimately be thwarted by a lightning strike to Fester's head, which jogs his memory.
- In the second Addams Family movie, Fester again finds himself in the clasp of a gold-digger, this time in the form of Debbie Jellinsky (Joan Cusack), a nanny the Addams hire to watch over their newest son "Pubert." Marrying Fester in order to kill him in an "untimely" death, Debbie's plans are eventually spoiled not only by the Addams' apparent invulnerability, but also by Pubert himself.
- Portrayed by:
- Jackie Coogan (Live-action TV 1964–1966, 1977, Animated TV 1972–1974)
- Christopher Lloyd (Live-action movies 1991, 1993)
- Rip Taylor (Animated TV 1992–1994)
- Patrick Thomas (Live-action movie 1998)
- Michael Roberds (Live-action TV 1998–1999)
- Grandmama
- Grandmama is first known as Eudora Addams (Gomez's mother). Later on she was retconned to be Esmerelda Frump (Morticia's mother). Grandmama is a witch who deals in potions, spells and hexes of all kinds. She even dabbles in fortune-telling. Grandmama often argues with Fester, and wins. Her trademarks are her shawl and frizzy hair.
- Lurch
- Lurch is the shambling, groaning, 8 ft (2.4 m)-tall Frankenstein's Monster-like butler to the Addams family. He tries to help around the house like any other butler, though occasionally he botches things up due to his great size and strength. Aside from a headless doll named Marie Antoinette, Lurch is Wednesday's best friend. Surprisingly, he is often seen playing the harpsichord and organ with a great degree of skill. Much of Lurch's history, (including his first name), or the nature of his relationship to any other Addamses is unknown.
- For unexplained reasons, Lurch talks in the TV series (albeit, only in brief phrases), but merely groans in the films.
- Portrayed by:
- Ted Cassidy (Live-action TV 1964–1966, 1977, Animated TV 1972–1974)
- Carel Struycken (Live-action movies 1991, 1993, 1998)
- Jim Cummings (Animated TV 1992–1994)
- John DeSantis (Live-action TV 1998–1999)
- Thing
- Thing is a disembodied hand. Always credited as being played by "Itself" in the TV series, he would appear out of ubiquitous boxes or other convenient containers throughout the house. In the movies and in The New Addams Family, Thing is an entirely mobile hand, thanks to the introduction of filming on a bluescreen.
- Portrayed by:
- Ted Cassidy (Live-action TV 1964–1966, 1977)
- Jack Voglin (Live-action TV 1964–1966, 1977) (when Thing and Lurch had to both appear)
- Christopher Hart (Live-action movies 1991, 1993, 1998)
- Steven Fox (Live-action TV 1998–1999)
- Cousin Itt
- Gomez's cousin, he is a short-statured hairball who speaks in a squeaky, high-pitched gibberish language that only the family understands. None of his body other than hair is visible. In the second animated series, Itt was a super-spy for the U.S. Government.
- Portrayed by:
- Felix Silla (Live-action TV 1964–1966, 1977) (on screen)
- Tony Magro (Live-action TV 1964–1966, 1977) (voice)
- John Stephenson (Animated TV 1972–1974)
- John Franklin (Live-action movie 1991, 1993)
- Pat Fraley (Animated TV 1992–1994)
- Phil Fondacaro (Live-action movie 1998)
- David Mylrea (Live-action TV 1998–1999) (on screen)
- Paul Dobson (Live-action TV 1998–1999) (voice)
The second animated series introduced three new regular characters, The Normanmeyers (Norman, Normina, and N.J.), a family of "normal" people living across the street from the Addamses. While Norman and Normina are constantly appalled and shocked at the Addams' macabre behavior, their son N.J. counts Wednesday and Pugsley as his best friends, and the feeling is mutual. Norman owns and works at an underwear factory and is utterly obsessed with underwear, decorating the entire Normanmeyer house with an underwear motif, which arguably makes him less "normal" than the Addamses themselves. Gomez Addams is the fictional patriarch of The Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s. ...
Originally a patriarch was a man who exercised autocratic authority as a pater familias over an extended family. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with List of retcons. ...
NYC goth band The Naked and the Dead (1985). ...
Pin striping describes the application of a pin stripe: a very thin line of paint or other material, generally used for decoration. ...
John Astin starring as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family. ...
John Astin starring as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family. ...
Raúl Juliá Raúl Rafael Juliá y Arcelay (March 9, 1940 â October 24, 1994) was a Puerto Rican actor who lived and worked for many years in the United States. ...
Tim Curry 2005 Timothy James Curry (born April 19, 1946 in Grappenhall, a district of the town Warrington, Cheshire England) is an English actor, singer and composer perhaps best known for his role as mad scientist Dr. Frank N. Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). ...
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. ...
...
Margaret Hamilton in The Wizard of Oz (1939) Margaret Hamilton (December 9, 1902 â May 16, 1985) was an American film actress. ...
It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with List of retcons. ...
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Pugsley Addams is a member of the fictional Addams family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams. ...
Jodie Foster (born November 19, 1962) is a two-time Academy Awardâwinning American actress, director, and producer. ...
Jeannie Elias (born August 23, 1954, Montreal, [Quebec]) is an American film and voice actress. ...
Jerry Messing (born April 3, 1986, is an American television and film actor. ...
Wednesday Addams is the daughter in the Addams family. ...
Lisa Loring (born February 16, 1958) is an American actress best known for playing Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family television show. ...
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Uncle Fester on the left next to Morticia and Gomez Addams, with Thing in the foreground Uncle Fester is a character in The Addams Family. ...
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Jackie Coogan (1914-1984) in 1921 Jackie Coogan (October 26, 1914 - March 1, 1984) was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. ...
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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. ...
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Lurch is the fictional manservant to The Addams Family created by cartoonist Charles Addams. ...
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Harpsichord in Flemish style; for more info, click the image. ...
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Theodore Crawford Ted Cassidy (born July 31, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - January 16, 1979 in Los Angeles, California) was an American actor who played Lurch (in which role he was able to demonstrate his genuine skill on the harpsichord) and Thing on The Addams Family. ...
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Jim Cummings. ...
Thing (foreground) with Uncle Fester, Morticia and Gomez Addams Thing was a fictional character in the television series The Addams Family (1964-66) , the revived series The New Addams Family (1998), and in the related movies The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993). ...
A human hand typically has four fingers and a thumb. ...
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Theodore Crawford Ted Cassidy (born July 31, 1932 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - January 16, 1979 in Los Angeles, California) was an American actor who played Lurch (in which role he was able to demonstrate his genuine skill on the harpsichord) and Thing on The Addams Family. ...
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Cousin Itt is a member of the fictional Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams. ...
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John Stephenson (b. ...
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Trivia - In Addams' original cartoons, the characters were not named. When the television show was developed, Addams was asked to contribute names, and all of his suggestions were used except for Pubert, who was renamed Pugsley. The name Pubert was eventually used in Addams Family Values for Wednesday and Pugsley's newborn brother. Pubert sported a moustache similar to Gomez's.
- Of the names Addams suggested for the family members, "Gomez" was the only the one that wasn't "ghoulish" (in the manner of Morticia or Fester). When asked why he suggested the name Gomez for the character, Addams replied that he "thought he [the character] had a bit of Spanish blood in him." However, Addams had trouble deciding whether the father character was Spanish or Italian. He decided that if he were Spanish, he would be called "Gomez", if Italian, he would be "Repelli".
- When Lurch is shown in the TV series playing the harpsichord, the music is in fact played by Ted Cassidy himself, rather than a studio musician as is commonly assumed.
- The Addams Family characters originally appeared as line-art cartoons in The New Yorker magazine, under the guidance of that weekly's original editor Harold Ross. Ross's successor William Shawn continued to accept Addams Family drawings for the magazine. Throughout this period, Charles Addams was also a prolific contributor of other (non-Addams Family) cartoons to the magazine. However, during the original television run of the Addams Family television series, editor Shawn refused to publish any Addams Family cartoons in The New Yorker, even though he continued to accept and publish Charles Addams' non-Family cartoons. Considered something of a snob, Shawn regarded his magazine as being for a highly specialized readership, and he did not want The New Yorker to contain drawings of characters who could be seen on television by just anybody. After the television series was cancelled, Shawn ended his boycott and the Addams Family made a welcome return to his magazine's pages.
- The Addams Family house was created when the producer was on vacation in Canada. He went to Beauport, Quebec and found an old-fashioned house. He liked it so much that he went to the owner to get the blueprints and reproduce it in Hollywood.
The cast of Histeria! spoofs the opening to The Addams Family. - The Histeria! episode "The Know-It-Alls" opened up with a parody of the intro the 1964 live-action Addams Family series. Also, at the beginning of the episode "The American Civil War", Pepper Mills mistakes Abraham Lincoln for Lurch.
Harpsichord in Flemish style; for more info, click the image. ...
A 2004 cover with dandy Eustace Tilly, who debuted on the first cover and reappears on anniversary issues. ...
Harold Wallace Ross (November 6, 1892 - December 6, 1951) was an American journalist and founder of The New Yorker magazine, which he edited from 1925 to his death. ...
William Shawn (August 31, 1907-December 8, 1992) was an American magazine editor who edited The New Yorker from 1952 until 1987. ...
Beauport is a city in central Quebec, Canada on the St. ...
Histeria! was a short-lived animated television series made by Warner Bros. ...
Pepper Mills is a fictional character created for the Warner Bros. ...
It has been suggested that Abraham Lincoln in popular culture be merged into this article or section. ...
External links - Celebrity Booking for Addams Family cast members
- TV.com: The Addams Family page (including episode guide)
- Unofficial Addams Family website
- An unofficial website dedicated to The Addams Family
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