14 Facts About “The Addams Family” You Might Not Know

Almost 60 years ago, when TV was still a luxurious object to have at home, the content produced was meant to bring wholesome entertainment to the entire family. The Addams Family is the perfect example. It was a series full of dark humor, featuring a family of eccentric millionaires who enjoyed the most exotic things in life.

Bright Side gathered several little-known facts about the popular series to relive somehow those moments we spent in front of the TV laughing with our whole family.

1. The TV series was based on a cartoon from The New Yorker.

The Addams Family was first broadcasted in 1964. It was based on a cartoon created by cartoonist Charles Addams, which appeared in The New Yorker from 1938 to 1964. From its origin, it became a satire of the ideal family of the twentieth century: a wealthy aristocratic family that showed the macabre side of it. In addition to the TV series, this idea also inspired movies, video games, books, and music. It soon became a significant influence on pop culture.

2. The characters did not have a name until they appeared on TV.

The characters did not have names when they appeared in The New Yorker. They were named by the producers of the TV series. For the patriarch of the family, the creator of the original cartoons suggested the name Gomez. His wife was named Morticia.

The eldest son was called Pugsley, and for the daughter’s name, Charles Addams suggested “Wednesday” based on a children’s rhyme. Their butler Lurch, Uncle Fester, Grandma Eudora, and Thing were other important characters.

3. Gomez Addams’ look changed a lot.

In the original cartoon, Gomez was chubby and had a snub nose, crooked teeth, and a receding chin. He looked nothing like the actor who portrayed him, John Astin, who was well known at the time, having starred in many films.

John was given full creative freedom to develop his character, so he would bring ideas to the producers, who would accept and defend them when the network owners would decline them. One of his ideas was to make Gomez attractive, a “Latin lover,” because that was the prototype of the leading man at the time.

4. It took 2 hours every day to apply Morticia’s make-up.

Carolyn Jones, who played Morticia, was an actress who had worked with celebrities such as Alfred Hitchcock, Elvis Presley, and others. For her role in The Addams Family, she was extensively made up and wore a wig made of natural hair, as her hair was blonde and not so long and straight. During the series’ two seasons, she also played Lady Fingers and her character’s twin sister, Ophelia Frump.

5. Lurch could not speak initially.

Originally, Lurch was just going to grunt. But during the filming of the first episode, Ted Cassidy, the actor playing the butler known for his height and deep bass voice, improvised the catchphrase “You rang?” when the family rang the bell. The producers loved that and added short, repetitive phrases to his character in each episode.

6. The actor who played Uncle Fester shaved his head to get the role.

Jackie Coogan was initially turned down for the role of Uncle Fester, but after arriving home from the audition, he shaved his hair, created his own costume and makeup, and returned to the casting. In the end, he landed the role. Coogan had a long acting career in Hollywood, having acted since childhood. One of his most memorable roles was that of the boy who accompanied Charles Chaplin in The Kid, his 1921 classic.

7. The Thing was Ted Cassidy’s hand.

The Thing, the hand that helped the family in their daily chores, was played by the same actor who played Lurch. It was actually his right hand, although Ted used to switch hands now and then to see if anyone noticed. In the series, you also got to see his whole arm when, for example, he had to reach for something outside his box. In episode 23, producers revealed that the full name of the hand was Thing T. Thing.

8. It was the first family in a TV series to own a computer.

In one episode, Gomez wants to go on vacation to the moon, so he uses his personal computer to calculate how much it costs to make the trip. It does the mathematical operation and, in the end, comes up with the sum of one billion and 21.30 USD.

9. The Addams family was very wealthy.

The Addams Family was a parody of eccentric millionaires with very exotic tastes. According to a Forbes magazine analysis, Gomez Addams was a descendant of Castilian royalty and British aristocrats. He was also a very lucky man, as he invested money by buying a swamp that was later discovered to be an important oil field. In addition, he acquired a mummified hand in a market that turned out to be a priceless Egyptian antiquity.

Thanks to that, he owned an insurance company, a salt mine, a tombstone factory, and a vulture farm. If you add it all up, his fortune amounted to 2 billion USD.

10. Gomez and Morticia were really in love.

In a 2018 interview, John Astin, the actor who played Gomez, admitted that he and Carolyn Jones (Morticia) were attracted to each other from the start and that this helped their relationship look more natural on screen. The two decided to give their characters a “big romance” as an antidote to the bland couples seen in TV sitcoms at the time.

Even so, although Gomez kissed Morticia on her arm and spoke to her in French, he never kissed her on the lips.

11. Cousin Itt did not appear in the original cartoon.

Cousin Itt was one of the characters created for the TV series. He is a short being covered with hair who spoke in a language only the family could understand. In one episode, they had him learn to talk more slowly and understandably. Still, he became petulant and obnoxious, so Morticia made him angry to get him back to talking fast again.

He was part of a list that included many cousins who were mentioned during the series and never appeared, but who gave the idea that Gomez’s family was enormous.

12. The Addams had an eternal rivalry with the Munsters.

Since its premiere in 1964, the series competed against The Munsters, which premiered a week apart, but was always down in the ratings compared to its competitor. Two years later, when The Munsters was canceled. Then The Addams Family was also canceled.

13. We saw them again in a couple of really successful films.

In 1991, director Barry Sonnenfeld and the creators of Men in Black made a modern adaptation of The Addams Family with the same tone of black humor but focused on the present day. The main roles were played by Raúl Juliá (Gomez), Anjelica Huston (Morticia), Christopher Lloyd (Cousin Itt), and Christina Ricci (Morticia). The film was a critical and box office success, and a couple of years later, the sequel was released, where Morticia had another son.

14. They will return in 2022.

In late 2021 it was announced that renowned director Tim Burton was working on a series based on the Addams Family characters but focusing on Wednesday. It’s supposed to premiere in fall 2022, with actress Jenna Ortega in the lead role. She will play a now teenage, almost adult Wednesday. At the same time, the new The Munsters movie, directed by Rob Zombie, will be released around the same time, reviving the 1964 rivalry.

What episode do you remember the most from the series? When did you first watch The Addams Family?