Wednesday Addams Actress Lisa Loring, Star Of ‘The Adams Family’ On TV, Dies At 64

31 Jan 2023
Lisa Loring

PARSIPPANY, NJ - OCTOBER 29: Lisa Loring attends the Chiller Theatre Expo Halloween 2022 at Hilton ... [+] Parsippany on October 29, 2022 in Parsippany, New Jersey. (Photo by Bobby Bank/Getty Images)

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Former child star Lisa Loring, who is remembered as Wednesday Addams in the mid-1960s sitcom The Addams Family, died Saturday following a stroke. She was 64.

“It is with great sadness that I report the death of our friend, Lisa Loring,” wrote Loring’s friend Laure Jacobson in a Facebook post. “4 days ago she suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure. She had been on life support for 3 days. Yesterday, her family made the difficult decision to remove it and she passed last night.”

Born February 16, 1958 as Lisa Ann DeCinces in Kwajalein, Marshall Islands to parents who had served in the Navy, she grew up in Hawaii and later moved to Los Angeles. Loring began modeling at age three and made her television debut in an episode of the medical drama Dr. Kildare in 1964. That led to her role on The Addams Family, which ran for two seasons, from 1964 to 1966. As the original Wednesday, Loring was the blueprint for the pale, pigtail-wearing Wednesday for other actresses who inherited the role (including, at present, Jenna Ortega in the Netflix series Wednesday).

Carolyn Jones (C, sitting) and John Astin (L), with other cast members, during scene from program ... [+] The Addams Family. (Photo by Don Cravens/Getty Images)

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Following The Addams Family, Loring appeared in episodes of The Phyllis Diller Show, The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., Fantasy Island and the detective drama Barnaby Jones, among other TV series. She also had the recurring role as Cricket Montgomery on the daytime drama As The World Turns in the early 1980s.

In 1977, Loring reprised her role as Wednesday in the television movie Halloween with the New Addams Family. Her last acting credit was in the 2015 film Doctor Spine.

“Very sorry to hear of my dear friend Lisa Loring’s passing,” wrote Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munsters on The Munsters on Facebook. “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.”

Actress Lisa Loring and actor Butch Patrick pose for a photo April 3, 2002 in New York City. Loring ... [+] played Wednesday Addams in the television series the Addams Family, and Patrick played the part of Eddie Wolfgang Munster on the Munsters. (Photo by Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images)

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Lisa Loring is survived by two daughters, Marianne and Vanessa.

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