Original Wednesday Addams actress Lisa Loring dies, aged 64
Loring set the framework for the character which would go on to inspire later versions of The Addams Family, including Netflix hit series Wednesday.
Lisa Loring, the actress best known as the young Wednesday Addams in the first TV adaptation of The Addams Family, has died at the age of 64.
Loring died on Saturday night (28th January) at St Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, surrounded by family, her daughter told Variety.
“She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands,” she said.
Loring’s good friend Laure Jacobson shared the news of her death in a Facebook post, writing: "It is with great sadness that I report the death of our friend, Lisa Loring. 4 days ago she suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure."
She continued: "She had been on life support for 3 days. Yesterday, her family made the difficult decision to remove it and she passed last night."
Jacobson paid tribute to Loring’s “legacy in the world of entertainment”, saying: “She is embedded in the tapestry that is pop culture and in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.”
Loring was just six years old when she bagged the role of Wednesday Addams, the gothic, morbid and pig-tailed daughter of the Addams Family.
She played the part for two years from 1964 and 1966 and set the framework for the character which would go on to inspire later versions of The Addams Family, including Netflix hit series Wednesday, which starred Jenna Ortega (Scream) as the morbid teen.
Ortega's Gen Z take on the character introduced a brand new audience to the gothic clan, with her version of Loring’s dance with Lurch from the original Addams Family TV series sparking a viral TikTok trend.
After 64 episodes of The Addams Family, Loring went on to star in the sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton and spy drama The Girl From UNCLE, before appearing in As The World Turns from 1980 to 1983.
Loring also played Wednesday Addams in the 1977 NBC television movie Halloween with the Addams Family, which reunited almost all of the original Addams Family cast.
Loring is survived by two daughters, Marianne and Vanessa.
Authors
Molly Moss is a Trends Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest trends across TV, film and more. She has an MA in Newspaper Journalism and has previously written for publications including The Guardian, The Times and The Sun Online.
