They’re Creepy and They’re Kooky...The Addams Family

Cartoonist Charles Addams might be more interesting than his weird creations, The Addams Family, that first debuted in the New Yorker in 1938. A freelance cartoonist his whole life, he had already worked for the magazine since 1932, but with the first appearance of Morticia, Lurch, and the Thing, I imagine it was shocking to the sensibilities of a 1930s audience. Addams himself was often described as a ghoulish, bizarre, and depraved, on the basis of his wicked sense of humor. However, his friends and acquaintances thought he was charming and captivating as he juggled the three loves of his life: women, cartooning, and vintage cars. (Owning 20 vintage autos at one time.) One biographer described him as being "A well-dressed courtly man with silvery back-comb hair in a gentle manner, he bore no resemblance to a fiend." In reality Charles Samuel Addams was a "ladykiller" who accompanied such beauties as Greta Garbo, Joan Fontaine, and Jacqueline Kennedy on social occasions. The cartoonist was married three times to women that all resembled the Morticia character he created. And lucky for us his last wife, Maryland "Tee" Matthews Addams founded the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation in 1999. The archive includes about half of the nearly 1,600 published works by Charles Addams, with the other half residing in institutions and private collections around the world. But the real beauty of this collection is the enormous body of previously unpublished works, photographs, correspondence, and interview materials in the media.

The creepy members of The Addams Family evolved over time into the characters that we know today, first from print, then television, and finally the silver screen. Following is a rough chronology of the main cast members in print. Starting with Morticia. whose name came from Addams leafing through the Yellow Pages and stumbling upon a large section of morticians. The matriarch had a few rough incarnations before she became the slim and statuesque raven-haired beauty we recognize now. Asked if she was based on one of his wives, the artist would say that he created what he adored, and that he was just plain lucky to have married his Heavenly fantasy three times! Gomez came along next in 1942, fully formed with no real changes to be made. Except the character eventually drew a lot from the notes and suggestions from Addams for the 1960s Filmways television program. Now Gomez smoked cigars, though the artist never drew that in the cartoons, though his creator greatly enjoyed them. The dancing, swordplay, and the references to Morticia speaking French, never appeared in any of the cartoons but worked well thought Addams for the television show. Wednesday, the child of Woe, debuted in the June of 1940 New Yorker, and was pretty much the child later represented in the TV show. The creepy little girl with six toes on one foot who liked to dance! She was followed by her grim and malevolent brother’s early prototypes that developed into the 1943 chubby character of Pubert. He later had a name change to Pugsley. One bad little boy. 

Lurch the butler appeared in the first Addams Family cartoon as a silent giant with a full beard, but soon evolved into to a three-piece suit majordomo by the end of 1939. An Old Hag from a 1941 cartoon, where Morticia is trying to borrow a cup of cyanide from a neighbor, eventually morphed into the character of Granny Frump. But the hag was rarely seen until she became an in-house member the mid-1950s. And my favorite character, Uncle Fester, also debuted in January of 1941, who Addams said was really his alter ego. "He's like me or how I look and feel with a bit more hair." Like Charles Addams he was a charming man-boy with his own ingenious mischievous streak. And to round out the remainder of this weird family we have the Thing who also appeared in the first cartoon as a whole person hiding behind the stairs. But the creature used in the televised version was first published in print in March of 1954 with two hands working a record player as the family sits in their drab living room. A few other relatives and family friends would occur off and on over time but never really became solid cast members, except the lovable hairball Cousin Itt which debuted late in 1963. I hope you enjoy the cartoons provided. Here is my only Chas Addams story. The "mother store" of Half Price Books is a little less than two miles from my home, so I go there about once a week to look for items. It's huge and was once a jewelry/department store that even has a vault to keep their collectibles stored. I have found books autographed by Forrest Ackerman, Phillip Jose Farmer, and others for a few dollars and felt very lucky. But a friend of mine bought an Addams Family anthology book once and found an ORIGINAL DRAWING inked on the flyleaf!