September 18, 1964: The Addams Family premieres on ABC -- 6 days before The Munsters does so on CBS.
So which one ripped off the other? Hard to say. Universal Pictures, which produced The Munsters and had pioneered monster movies in the early 1930s, was trying to get a "monsters as regular people" show on TV since the late 1940s. But Charles Addams had been drawing the Addams Family for The New Yorker magazine since 1938. There was one major difference: The Addamses were filthy rich, due to an ancient (if never-explained) family fortune and Gomez's lucky investments; while the Munsters were decidedly middle-class. Both shows lasted 2 seasons, and neither switched to color, I guess to emphasize the spookiness.
John Astin played Gomez Addams, and Carolyn Jones was his wife, Morticia. Charles Addams did not give his characters names, but he gave the show's writers and actors some leeway in choosing. In spite of his English-sounding surname, Gomez claims to be from the Spanish region of Castile, and Morticia calls him a "mad Castilian."
Astin played up the "Latin lover" type, using the Italian phrase "Cara mia" (My Beloved) for Morticia. Later portrayers have included Puerto Rican actor Raúl Juliá in the 1991 film The Addams Family and the 1993 film Addams Family Values, and Luis Guzmán, also Puerto Rican, in the 2022 Netflix series Wednesday.
Carolyn Jones played Morticia Addams, Gomez's wife. A witch, who traces her ancestry back to Salem, Massachusetts and its "witch trials" in 1692, she is always dressed in black, as if in mourning, yet she and Gomez appear to be full of life. She is best remembered for tending to her roses, by clipping the blooms off and leaving the stems. She has since been played by Anjelica Huston in the 1990s films, and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Wednesday.
Her mother, Hester Frump, was played in a guest appearance by Margaret Hamilton, best known as the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz. The character did not appear in the 1990s films. (UPDATE: Joanna Lumley was cast as Hester, and debuted in Season 3, in 2025.)
The couple have a son named Pugsley, played by Ken Weatherwax. Chubby and good-natured, he seems to be the most normal member of the family, enough to be accepted into the Boy Scouts. He has a pet octopus named Aristotle.
Weatherwax was 8 years old when the show began. Jimmy Workman was 10 when he began playing the character in the films. Isaac Ordonez plays him on Wednesday, having started at age 13.
The couple also have a daughter named Wednesday, played by Lisa Loring. She has a black widow spider named Homer, a lizard named Lucifer, and a headless doll named Marie Antoinette. Later versions, including Christina Ricci in the 1990s films and Jenna Ortega in Wednesday, have played her as a lot darker in temperament.
Loring was 6 years old when she began playing Wednesday. Ricci was 11, and played her as such. Ortega was 19, but played her as 15. In other words, Pugsley was older in the original series, but Wednesday has been older since.
Jackie Coogan, a child star in Charlie Chaplin's 1920s films, but now middle-aged, bald and pudgy, played Uncle Fester. On the show, he was Morticia's uncle. In the 1990s movies, the character was played by Christopher Lloyd, and rewritten as Gomez's brother, so it was only the kids who called him "Uncle." Fred Armisen plays him on Wednesday, and the movies' depiction of him as Gomez's brother has been kept.
Blossom Rock played Gomez's mother, identified only as "Grandmama." She was a witch, a fortune teller and an expert knife-thrower. Judith Malina played her in The Addams Family film, but she was replaced by Carol Kane for Addams Family Values. The character has not yet appeared in Wednesday.
Felix Silla played Cousin Itt, a short thing covered with floor-length hair, whose language was understood by the Family, but not by anyone else. He did not live with the main Family, but was a frequent visitor. Silla later played the robot Twiki on Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. Itt was not a major figure in the 1990s movies, where he was played by John Franklin, and was addressed by Gomez as "Itt, old man!" He has not yet appeared on Wednesday.
Ted Cassidy played Lurch, the family's very tall, harpsichord-playing, Frankenstein Monster-like butler. Cassidy was also usually the hand that "played" Thing. While Lurch didn't say much besides, "You rang?" and Thing wasn't a speaking part, you do know his voice: He played Kid Curry in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ("Rules? In a knife fight? No rules!"), and did the narration for the opening titles of The Incredible Hulk.
Dutch actor Carel Struycken played Lurch in the 1990s movies, as completely mute. He had previously played a nearly-mute valet to Ambassador Lxwana Troi on Star Trek: The Next Generation. That must have caused someone on the 1st film's crew to remember that Cassidy had appeared on the original Star Trek series, as a huge android named Ruk, and cast Struycken as an homage. Romanian actor George Burcea plays him on Wednesday. As of September 18, 2022, Burcea has yet to appear in any Star Trek media.
Cassidy was 6-foot-9, Struycken is 7 feet even, and Burcea is comparatively short at 6-foot-4.
*
September 18, 1964 was a Friday. Actress Holly Robinson Peete was born. There was one major college football game played: The University of Southern California (USC) beat the University of Colorado, 21-0 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. There is a connection: Holly's husband is former USC and NFL quarterback Rodney Peete.
And these baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 6-0 at Yankee Stadium. Whitey Ford pitched a 7-hit shutout. Mickey Mantle went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Roger Maris went 0-for-3 with 2 walks. Tony Kubek went 1-for-5 with 3 RBIs.
* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Colt .45s, 3-2 at Colt Stadium in Houston. The next season, the Colts would change their name to the Houston Astros, and move into the Astrodome.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 7-6 at Fenway Park in Boston. Carl Yastrzemski went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Harmon Killebrew went 1-for-5.
* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Los Angeles Angels, 10-8 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The O's got home runs from Boog Powell, which wasn't a surprise; and, in all cases surprising, Luis Aparicio, John Orsino and Jerry Adair. Brooks Robinson went 1-for-4 with an RBI.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 3-1 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. Al Kaline went 0-for-5.
* The Washington Senators beat the Chicago White Sox, 5-4 at Comiskey Park in Chicago.
* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 4-3 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Bart Shirley singled Tommy Davis home with the winning run in the bottom of the 9th.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Roberto Clemente hit a home run. Willie Mays hit 2.
* The Chicago Cubs and the Milwaukee Braves were rained out at Milwaukee County Stadium. The game was made up the next day, as part of a doubleheader. The Cubs won the opener, 5-3. The Braves won the nightcap, 8-5. Over the 2 games, Ernie Banks went 3-for-7 with a home run and an RBI. Hank Aaron was injured, and did not play in either game.
* And the Cincinnati Reds and the St. Louis Cardinals were rained out at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. The game was made up the next day, as part of a doubleheader. The Reds won the 1st game, 7-5. Frank Robinson hit a 3-run home run off Bob Gibson in the bottom of the 9th to win it. The Cardinals won the 2nd game, 2-0.
Over the 2 games, Robinson went 2-for-9 with a home run and 3 RBIs, Pete Rose went 0-for-7 with a walk, and Lou Brock went 3-for-9 with a stolen base and an RBI.
