Charles Addams left us a legacy of over 1300 drawings. There is currently a Broadway production based on the Addams’ Family. His work inspired another dark American writer and illustrator, Edward Gorey who was 12 years younger. In turn, Gorey’s work is closely tied to that of contemporary screenwriter, director, and illustrator, Tim Burton. There is no denying the profound influence of Chas Addams. As for me, I am a life-long “morbiddy” with a wicked sense of humor, and I owe that in part to my Tuesdays with Chas Addams and The New Yorker.

The Addams Family is an American television series based on the characters in Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoons. The 30-minute series was shot in black-and-white and aired for two seasons on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966, for a total of 64 episodes. It is often compared to its CBS rival, The Munsters, which ran for the same two seasons and achieved somewhat higher Nielsen ratings. The show was the first adaptation of the characters to feature The Addams Family Theme.

The two Addams Family movies in 1991 and 1993, along with the second animated television series in 1992, resurrected the mansion’s original exterior design from the Charles Addams cartoons. The movie Addams Family Values had the mansion appearing exactly as it did in Charles Addams’s drawing of the family, about to dump boiling oil on a group of carollers from the roof (a gag that was acted out in the opening sequence of the first film).

The first animated series ran on Saturday mornings from 1973–1975 on NBC. In a departure from the original series, this series took the Addamses on the road in a Victorian-style RV. This series also marked the point where the relations between characters were changed so that Fester was now Gomez’s brother, and Grandmama was now Morticia’s mother (though the old relations would be revisited in the 1977 television movie, to keep continuity with the original sitcom). Although Coogan and Cassidy reprised their roles, Astin and Jones did not, their parts being recast with Hanna-Barbera voice talents Lennie Weinrib as Gomez and Janet Waldo as Morticia, while an eight-year-old Jodie Foster provided the voice of Pugsley. Again, the characters were drawn to the specifications of the original Charles Addams cartoons. One season was produced, and the second season consisted of reruns. A complementary comic book series was produced in connection with the show, but it lasted only three issues. The show’s theme music was completely different and had no lyrics and no finger snaps, although it retained a bit of the four-note score from the live-action show.

Charles and his 3rd wife, Marilyn Miller “Tee” were married in 1980 at her Water Mill Pet Cemetery and moved to a home in Sagaponack, New York that they lovingly referred to as “the Swamp.” In macabre style, he wore a black robe and she a black dress with black feather fan. Behind the man with a taste for the dark and bizarre was a very normal, kind, and well-liked gentleman. Although rumors may indicate that he had psychological issues, this is not true. “Tee” started the Charles and Tee Addams Foundation in 2000 which oversees the use of his creative genius. Charles Addams died of a heart attack in his car on September 29, 1988. He is buried in the pet cemetery on his NY estate. The Foundation has made a museum of his studio and home.

In 1956, Charles Addams drew for his syndicated cartoon strip “Out of This World” an Addams Family cartoon. He was the recipient of the Yale Humor Award in 1957. He was a master of morbid humor in allowing people to laugh at subjects like death and murder and the bizarre. Through his Addam’s Family, he introduced “goth” long before it became popular. He had a gift for telling a story in a single graphic image with no explanation necessary. In 1961, he was given an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. He continued to publish on a freelance basis with The New Yorker, Collier’s, and TV Guide, throughout his life.