Lisa Loring, the original Wednesday Addams, dies aged 64

Lisa Loring, the beloved actress who played the first Wednesday Addams on screen, has died at the age of 64
Lisa Loring, the beloved actress who played the first Wednesday Addams on screen, has died at the age of 64 Copyright ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Con - Getty Images
By David Mouriquand
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Loring played the princess of all things morbid from 1964 to 1966 in The Addams Family, the first adaptation of Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoons.

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Lisa Loring, who was the first actress to play Wednesday, the youngest member of the creepy, kooky, mysterious, spooky and ooky Addams Family, has died of a stroke, aged 64.

The news was confirmed by her daughter Vanessa Foumberg

“She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands,” Foumberg said.

Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster on The Munsters, paid tribute to Loring on Facebook, writing: “Very sorry to hear of my dear friend Lisa Loring’s passing. We were very close and worked together often. I know she was very weak. I was in her company just a few weeks ago. Godspeed my friend.”

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Con
The Addams FamilyABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Con

Loring played the princess of all things morbid from 1964 to 1966 in The Addams Family, the first adaptation of Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoons. She was just five years old when she was cast.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Con / Netflix
Wednesday Addams through the years: Lisa Loring, Christina Ricci and Jenna OrtegaABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Con / Netflix

The recent Netflix adaptation starring Jenna Ortega spawned a viral dance which payed homage to Loring’s moves from the original series – “The Drew” frug. 

Ortega, the sixth actress to play Wednesday (after Loring, Christina Ricci, Nicole Fugere, Krysta Rodriguez and Rachel Potter) choreographed her new dance herself in the 2022 show, and thanked Loring when the dance went viral online.

Loring was born Lisa Ann DeCinces in 1958. She lived in the Marshall Islands and Hawaii before coming to Los Angeles. She started modeling at the age of three and then was cast in an episode of Dr. Kildare.

After The Addams Family finished its two-season run, Loring joined the ABC sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton.

She made appearances on series including Fantasy Island and Barnaby Jones, then had a recurring role as Cricket Montgomery on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns from 1980 to 1983.

She later had parts in various 80s slasher movies including Savage Harbor, Blood Frenzy and Iced, and worked as a makeup artist on adult films under the name “Maxine Factor.”

She is survived by two daughters, Marianne and Vanessa.

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