Top 10 Creepy & Kooky Facts About the Addams Family

While the mansion the Addams family resided in definitely looked like it was built on a soundstage, it wasn’t. The creepy dwelling was a real house! Located on 21 Chester Place in Los Angeles, the house was used solely for exterior shots. The crew did spook it up a bit with props and special effects, including a third floor tower, which gave it a more Victorian aesthetic. Sadly, you can’t actually visit the house today. Since it was technically part of Mount St. Mary’s College, the school tore down the home in order to build a parking lot. They literally tore down spook-tacular paradise and put in a parking lot.

It’s pretty fitting that the members of Mystery Incorporated would be the ones to introduce the Addams family. Both groups are used to being around ghosts and creepy-crawlies, although admittedly in different contexts. In 1972, Hanna-Barbera presented the Addams to the Scooby-gang in a fun little narrative that gave Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby quite the mystery to solve. Where is Wednesday Addams? The crossover was such a hit that the Addams ended up getting their very own Saturday morning cartoon the following year in 1973.

Once you get “The Addams Family” theme song stuck in your head, it’s nearly impossible to get it out! It’s so catchy that it’s actually the reason why the 1991 film exists in the first place. Scott Rudin, who was the head of production for 20th Century Fox at the time, was riding in a van with other company executives when one of the executives’ children started to sing the theme song. Everyone in the van joined in for a singalong, which sparked an idea: what if they brought “The Addams Family” back? And the rest is movie history.

In an alternate timeline somewhere, Hannibal Lecter and Uncle Fester are one in the same. While we all know and love Christopher Lloyd as Fester, it was Anthony Hopkins who was originally tapped to play the character. Hopkins would have to turn down the role, though, opting instead to play Hannibal Lecter after none other than Sean Connery passed on it. So, the oddball character of Fester then went to Lloyd, who was better known at the time as Doc Brown from “Back to the Future”. Hopkins went on to win an Oscar for his performance as the sinister Lecter, and Lloyd’s take on Fester perfectly fit the character, so we figure things worked out for the best.

Although Huston had been acquainted with the Charles Addams comics, she didn’t grow up watching the TV series, so she decided to turn to a rather different form of inspiration for her role as Morticia: “Grey Gardens”. The infamous 1975 documentary follows the aunt and cousin of Jacqueline Kennedy, who lived in a horribly filthy mansion. Their strange behavior certainly seemed to fit with the Addams, so it’s understandable why Huston would choose to do her homework on them. Interestingly, Cher was also looking to cop the role but producer Scott Rudin had his sights set on Huston.

One of the most memorable parts of John Astin’s take on Gomez Addams was his manic expression. In the original comics, Gomez didn’t have a frenzied face. The crazed look can be accredited to Astin himself, but he actually didn’t come up with it exclusively for the role. Prior to becoming a hot-shot actor, Astin lived in a rather questionable area of New York City. His “act insane” bit was sort of a survival mechanism to get people to leave him alone on his walks home. Since Gomez is also a bit unbalanced, the actor drew from his NYC experiences for his character’s signature look.

You rang? While Ted Cassidy is mostly known for playing the Addams’ solemn butler, Lurch, that wasn’t the only character he played in the show. Cassidy also lent a hand - literally - and played Thing. So, whenever you see Thing on screen, yep, that’s Cassidy’s hand! Unless, of course, Thing and Lurch were in the same scene together. When that was the case, associate producer Jack Voglin would substitute. While it’s rather tricky to give something like a hand so much life, Cassidy managed to do so expertly. His two characters also had very opposing personalities, which is quite the testament to the actor’s range.

Another quirk of Gomez Adams was his penchant for cigars, which he never bothered to put out in an ashtray. Instead, they went in his suit pockets, still lit. Since this, first and foremost, is a fire hazard, the props department lined Astin’s suit pockets with asbestos to help out with the character’s habit. While this bit of movie magic is definitely a little risky, it’s also brilliantly unconventional and seemed to work well enough. Interestingly, Astin himself was a cigar smoker, so perhaps having a convenient place to put them out was helpful for the actor.

Vic Mizzy was the genius who wrote the iconic “Addams Family” theme song. And, not only did he write it, he also sang all three parts of it. The studio was eager to cut costs at every corner, so Mizzy was the only musician they hired. In order to solve this conundrum, the composer multi-tracked his voice to give the illusion of a trio of singers. The end results are crazy impressive and definitely had us fooled through the decades. Mizzy, if you’re curious, is also responsible for the “Green Acres” theme.

Lurch, the Addams family’s straight-faced butler, was originally supposed to be mute. One day, he ad-libbed the line “you rang?” which cracked up the director and got him a more prominent role in the show. Ted Cassidy would end up receiving endless fan letters and was even told that he was “cuter than the Beatles”! This had to have inspired the episode titled “Lurch, the Teenage Idol”, because its plot actually follows Lurch gaining fame. He becomes a pop star thanks to his skills on the harpsichord, but soon decides celebrity life isn’t for him after being mobbed by adoring fans. Apparently, teen girls are drawn to the strong and not-so-silent type.