Lisa Loring, who played the Wednesday Addams on the 1960’s TV show, ‘The Addams Family’ died of stroke on Saturday at age 64, as confirmed by her daughter Vanessa Foumberg.
The actress was just five when she was chosen to play Wednesday in the TV adaption of Charles Addams’ macabre cartoons back in 1964.
“She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands,” Vanessa said.
Lisa’s close friend and author Laurie Jacobson took to Facebook to report her death. She wrote, “suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure” and also said that the actress had been battling on life support from three days.
Jacobson also penned a heartfelt note about her friend’s legacy, “She is embedded in the tapestry that is pop culture and in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.”
Lisa was born in Marshall Islands and lived in Hawaii for a while before coming to Los Angeles. She started her modelling career at the age of 3.
Loring received widespread acclaim for her performance as Macabre Addams daughter. She has set the tone for Wednesday Addam’s character that’s resonated through the decades.
After the huge success of Netflix’s recent adaption of the Addams’ family, Jenna Ortega, who played the main character revealed that Lisa’s angular moves from 60s are the inspiration behind her viral dance and thanked her.
After ‘The Addams Family’, Lisa joined Phyllis Diller’s ‘The Pruitts of Southampton.’ She also appeared on shows like ‘The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.’, ‘Fantasy Island’ and ‘Barnaby Jones’. She played the role of Cricket Montgomery from 1980 to 1983 on ‘As the World Turns’
She lived with her daughters, Marianne and Vanessa and her grandchildren, Emiliana and Charles.