10 Kooky Facts About the Addams Family

If you are living in the United States and watch television, there’s no doubt that you’ve seen reference to America’s favorite spooky clan: The Addams Family. The wealthy, odd, family who give off an air of aristocracy were created by Charles Addams and made their debut to the public by avenue of the New Yorker in 1938. Over the years, the cartoon as evolved into a full-on franchise with multiple T.V shows, movies, and even a Broadway musical. Below, I’ve gathered some of the most creepy, kooky, mysterious, and spooky facts about this macabre-loving family (and the actors that have portrayed them) to kick off your Halloween season.

John Astin, the actor who played Gomez in the original sitcom, The Addams Family, had pockets lined with asbestos. His character often pulled lit cigars out of his suit pockets, thus the need to line the jacket pockets with the deadly flame retardant. Asbestos was a popular material in the 20th century, however, there was ample evidence of it leading to the untimely deaths of those who came into contact with it. Those involved in the asbestos industry covered these facts up, ultimately resulting in numerous lawsuits against them. If you’ve ever seen the law commercials about “if you or a loved one has been diagnosed with Mesothelioma, etc” those cases are mostly brought on by asbestos.

2. The Addams Family, The Munsters, and Bewitched all aired on the same week in 1964. Three wildly popular shows in one week?? Must have been a time to be alive!

3. The titular kid in the Chaplin classic “The Kid” grew up to become Uncle Fester in the ’60s TV adaption of the Addams Family. Jackie Coogan, the silent film child actor who was famously exploited by his parents for his earnings, found renewed screen success later in life playing Uncle Fester on the Addams Family.

4. Isaac, the cult leader in the 1984 movie Children of the Corn, was played by John Franklin, who also played Cousin It in the Addams Family movies.

5. ‘Thing’ from the Addams Family has a full name: ‘Thing T. Thing’ Honestly very fitting if you ask me!

6. Lurch from a The Addams Family was originally supposed to be mute, but after his classic line, “You rang?”, was ad-libbed the producers thought it was so funny that they wrote more lines for the character.

7. During the original run of The Addams Family TV show from 1964 to 1966 the editor of The New Yorker (where the kooky family made their debut) refused to publish any more of their cartoons because he felt they were now too mainstream.

8. The top selling pinball machine of all time is “The Addams Family”, made in 1992 by Bally.

9. Ariel Winter (Alex Dunphy in Modern Family) and Jimmy Workman (Pugsley Addams in 1990’s The Addams Family movies) are siblings.

10. In the original Addam’s Family TV show, Uncle Fester is Morticia’s uncle. This is in contrast to all other Addam’s Family media where he is portrayed as Gomez’s brother.