The Addams Family is one of the most iconic gothic dark comedies of all time. The Addams, a wealthy family of misfits, is at the heart of the spooky season every year, with the central story being adapted several times, updating the family’s stories for contemporary audiences. Recently, Netflix Wednesday Series pairs gorgeous cinematography with a distinctly modern story of fighting discrimination and criticizing colonialism. Despite Addams’ supernatural abilities, This fictional family is based on a very real couple from New Jersey.
Cartoonist Charles Addams contributed cartoons loosely based on his own marriage The New Yorker From 1938-1964. The cartoons depicted the fictional family attempting to do mundane activities like going to the beach or celebrating holidays, all the while humorously sticking to their surroundings. Charles Addams’ was inspired by a unique Victorian-era home still standing in Westfield, New Jersey, which resembles The Addams Family Mansion.
Charles Addams was a cartoonist for The New Yorker
Addams was an accomplished artist
Charles Addams was born in Westfield, New Jersey in 1912. Childhood friends say that Addams would frequent the Presbyterian cemetery on Mountain Avenue in town, and would often “Wonder what it was like to be dead” (by local historians Darryl Walker). His macabre interests and offbeat humor were to inspire his Addams Family Cartoons, an era-defining series in The New Yorker. Addams worked with television producer David Levy in 1964 to create his characters, giving each individual the names Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Thing, Cousin It, and more.
Addams studied at Colgate University, the University of Pennsylvania, and eventually the Grand Central School of Art in New York City. It was said that “His sense of humor is a little different from everyone else’s” In a conversation with biographer Linda H. Davis (by The New York Times). After honing his craft, Addams developed the cartoons to be based on his own unique ways and his first wife, Barbara Jean Day (who bore a striking resemblance to Morticia Addams). The marriage was dissolved because Addams did not want to have children – Explains his view of children as amusing creatures through his cartoons.
The real Addams family home is in New Jersey
The house is currently inhabited by local residents
Addams was once caught breaking into a home in Westfield on Elm Street, and this Victorian home is widely regarded as the inspiration for the fictional Addams Family Mansion. Biographer Linda H. Davis, known as a neighborhood master, discovered in her research that he had once drawn a skeleton in chalk on the property. The biographer also noted that his family members and teachers noticed Addams’ artistic talents from a young age.
Westfield, New Jersey is known for boasting well-preserved Colonial and Victorian-era homes, with 117 listed as historic homes (via TAPinto). In the years since Addams’s wonderfully macabre creations, a number of haunting events have occurred in the city. In 1971, John List killed his entire family in his Victorian mansion, known as Breeze Knoll, motivated by financial devastation and religious fanaticism (via NJ.com). List later evaded justice for 18 years, living under false identities and remarrying in a different state. The home was later burned to the ground in apparent arson, but the culprit was never found.
Needless to say, Addams’ macabre interests and gothic style certainly connect with the city in which he was raised.
Years after the list murders, in 2014, the Broaddus family moved into a similar Victorian mansion in the city, only to be stalked and threatening mail sent to their home by someone calling himself “The Watcher” (via. The Cat). The watcher was never caught, and the family left their home. The Yearly Case was adapted for a TV series of the same name in 2023 by Ryan Murphy for Netflix. Needless to say, Addams’ macabre interests and gothic style certainly connect with the city in which he was raised.
How many of the Addams Family shows are true
While Charles never had children of his own, Morticia and Gomez were based on himself and his wife
Addams herself is described by friends in Davis’ memoir as a “Debonair Ladykiller” who once accompanied Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Greta Garbo, and more to social events during his one time between marriages. Barbara Jean Day, Addams’ first wife, had the same pale skin and striking dark hair as many of Addams’ cartoon characters. Her witch-inspired glamor largely inspired Addams’ design for Morticia Addams, and the several people to play the character in adaptations going forward.
Day’s signature bangs are a clear influence on Jenna Ortega’s take on Wednesday’s character in Wednesday. The couple’s relationship probably inspired the devotion between Gomez and Morticia, though Addams Family Children are entirely fictional. The supernatural hijinks are thought to be based on Addams’ own childhood daydreams. Although America’s favorite mysterious family may have been fictional, the cartoon’s lasting impact on modern media would not have been possible without its creator’s real-life wife and matriarch.
Sources: The Cat, NJ.com, TAPinto, The New York Times, Darryl Walker