Lisa Loring As Wednesday: 'Addams Family's Creepy, Cute Daughter

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Lisa Loring as Wednesday Addams in 1964, and during the 1980s. Source: ABC Photo Archives/ABC via Getty Images; thehollywoodstore.com

On The Addams Family, Lisa Loring's Wednesday Addams was the young daughter of Gomez and Morticia Addams, and the sister of Pugsley Addams. The TV show originally aired from 1964 to 1966. It was based on Charles Addams' family of characters, who'd originated in humorous cartoons about the creepy clan published in The New YorkerWednesday, the baby of the family, liked to play with spiders and her Marie Antoinette doll, which was often decapitated by Pugsley.

The Addams Family TV show was a close rival of a similar series of the era, The Munsters. Loring's Wednesday Addams character was later portrayed in films by Christina Ricci, and Wednesday's outfit, though it is not especially exotic, remains a favorite Halloween costume of Addams Family fans.

Loring was so young when she auditioned and was cast in this role that she still wasn’t an accomplished reader. "I learned to memorize before I could read," she told the Sydney Morning Herald, calling her life "surreal." 

Wednesday Addams, portrayed by Lisa Loring, was reportedly one of creator Charles Addams’ favorite characters. As it turned out, her TV persona may have had a better life than the real little girl did. Loring’s parents divorced shorty after she was born. Later, she lost her mother due to complications from alcohol addiction. Loring was no stranger to real-life woe. She also suffered from addiction at one time.