The Unofficial Addams Family History

Charles Addams

Charles Addams
Born: Jan. 6, 1912
Died: Sept. 28, 1988

Charles Addams first appearance in The New Yorker Magazine in 1932. He quickly became a regular, and by 1935 his cartoons had evolved into his immediately recognizable style. His darkly comedic visions of death and the macabre lasted until 1989, and spawned The Addams Family television show [1964-1966] and a more recently two movies, in 1991 and 1993. Charles Addams believed; '...if the cartoon needed a caption, he felt he had failed in some way, even if the caption was brilliant'

Charles Addams was born in Jan. 6, 1912 and died Sept. 29, 1988. He passed away in an appropriately strange way. He was an enthusiast of fast sports cars. After coming back from a trip to visit some friends in Connecticut, he parked his Audi 4000 in front of his Manhattan apt. building and died of a fatal heart attack while sitting behind the wheel of the car.  A wake was held as was his request where he wished to be remembered as a "good cartoonist".

The Addams Family

John Astin and Carolyn Jones starred in the TV show,The Addams Family, based on the cartoons of Charles Addams. Unlike The Munsters, essentially a straight-forward 'Stupid Dad comedy', which also premiered in the same year. Later numerous cartoons featuring the trappings of horror that would follow the theme established by these series.

The Addams Family was a truly macabre program, maintaining the essential dignity of its characters in their naïve interactions with the outside world. It contained sixty-four episodes, running in American prime-time from 1964 until September 1966.

A made for TV movie, "Halloween with the New Addams Family." was broadcast Oct. 30, 1977. The TV movie reunited John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, Ted Cassidy, Lisa Loring and Ken Weatherwax.

The Addams Family house also appeared in the horror film "Ben".

A guest appearance on Scooby-Doo lead to an animated series between 1973 and 1975. The series featured the voices of Jackie Coogan, Ted Cassidy and a young Jodie Foster as Pugsley.

The characters were revived in 1991 and 1993 with the movies "The Addams Family" and "Addams Family Values". Both films starred Raul Julia and Anjelica Huston. The films were directed by Barry Sonnenfield. They were purportedly based on the original cartoons and not the TV show, but there is some disagreement.

Charles Addams Books:

The World of Charles Addams Author: Charles Addams (Estate, Lady Barbara Cloyton), Alfred A. Knopf Inc, New York, First Printing October 31, 1991. ISBN 0-394-58822-3.

Creature Comforts Author: Charles Addams published 1981.

Favorite Haunts Author: Charles Addams published in 1976 by Simon and Schuster.

My Crowd Author: Charles Addams published 1970. (Reprinted in 2003)

Available from Barnes & Noble.Com

The Groaning Board Author: Charles Addams published 1964.

Black Maria Author: Charles Addams published 1960.

Nightcrawlers Author: Charles Addams published 1957 by Simon and Schuster.

Homebodies Author: Charles Addams published 1954.

Monster Rally Author: Charles Addams published 1950 by Simon and Schuster.

Addams and Evil Author: Charles Addams published 1947.

Drawn and Quartered Author: Charles Addams published 1942.

Dear Dead Days - A Family Album Author: Charles Addams published by: Berkley Publishing. Images: Cover, Title Page, Back Cover.

The Addams Chronicles, Author: Stephen Cox, published 1991 by Harper Perennial, New York.

An Unofficial visit with the Addams Family Author: James Van Hise, published 1991 by Pioneer Books, Inc. (Also known as "The Addams Family Revealed.")

The Addams Family Author: Elizabeth Faucher, published 1991 by Scholastic Inc. ISBN 0-590-45541-9

The Addams Family (TV series, 1964 - 1966)

Animated Cartoon The Addams Family (1973 - 1975)

The Addams Family Movie 1991 Director: Barry Sonnenfield. © Paramount Pictures.

Addams Family Values (Sequel of) the Addams Family 1993 Director: Barry Sonnenfield. © Paramount Pictures.

The original copyright holder of the TV series was:

Copyright © 1964 Filmways Television Productions, Inc.
Video Distribution Copyright © 1964 (Dist.) Worldvision Home Video, Inc.

Sources:

Thanks to Marie Catherine Caillava for graphics and inspiration (merci), James Ivers of Meckler Media for most of the information on this page and graphics, Tom Guelker for providing book titles, Raymond E. Andri III for the Dear Dead Days images, Gwen Brown for taping shows for me (BIG THANKS), John Gibbons for techinical support and teaching me HTML, Luis Outumuro for friendship, advice, assistance and ritualistic abuse, and my wife for putting up with me.

All copyrights © are that of their respective holders. If you are the holder of the copyright for any material used on these pages please contact Jon A. Davis for the granting of permission or removal of the affected item(s).

This site and pages are dedicated to the memory of Charles Addams. This site is intended as a tribute to him and his work. This site is for non-commercial entertainment only. Purchasing information on this site is provided as a courtesy to the viewer. No income is received by the author from any items sold in connection with this site.