During the '60s, sitcoms reigned supreme with cheery characters, simple storylines, and heaps of family values. That is, until 1964, when America met a new kind of family: the grim and ghoulish—yet still comical and loving—Addams family. The satirical show told the story of the classic American family with a macabre twist: they delight in the dark things that would horrify the heroes of all the other sitcoms on the air at the time.
The original Addams Family, inspired by a 1938 cartoon series in The New Yorker, ran for just two years on ABC, but it made a major impression on audiences, inspiring several well-known adaptations of the Addams' story in the years that followed. Fans were especially captivated by Wednesday Addams, the youngest daughter of the show's protagonists, Morticia and Gomez. The famous role—both adorable and morbid—was played by child actorLisa Loring, who was at the time just five years old. Today, Loring is 63, and she's left Hollywood behind for a whole new career. Read on to see her now.
RELATED: See Little Ricky, the Last Living Cast Member of "I Love Lucy" All Grown Up.
Loring had an unconventional early life.
Albert L. Ortega/WireImage via Getty ImagesLoring was born in the Marshall Islands on the Kwajalein Atoll, a remote island nearly 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. By the time she was three, her parents divorced and she moved to Honolulu, then later to Los Angeles. She began modeling, and at the age of five, she made her first on-screen appearance in an episode of Dr. Kildare in 1964.
The following year, she was cast as the iconic Wednesday Addams—a role that would shape the rest of her career. Today, nearly six decades later, she still recalls her time onset with fondness. "It was like a real family—you couldn't have picked a better cast and crew," Loring shared in a 2017 interview at Monsterpalooza. "Carolyn Jones, John Astin—Gomez and Morticia—were like parents to me. They were great," she added. The cast's closeness made it easier for her to keep up on set, despite her young age. "I had to learn to memorize before I could read because I was five and a half when I started," she recalled.
Though Loring became inseparable from her character on the show, the actress has admitted that in real life, the two had very little in common. When asked if the characters shared any similarities, she said, "I don't think so, no. I like lace and pearls and pretty things, and Wednesday liked everything dark and spooky."
RELATED: Linda Henning Played Betty Jo on "Petticoat Junction" See Her Now at 80.
She continued acting after The Addams Family wrapped.
Bobby Bank/Getty ImagesWhen the show concluded its run after two seasons in 1966, Loring joined the cast of another sitcom, The Pruitts of Southampton, starring Phyllis Diller, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Richard Deacon. The show lasted for just one season before wrapping in 1967. Later, in the early '80s, Loring once again grabbed headlines for playing Cricket Montgomery on the popular CBS soap As the World Turns. Additionally, Loring worked on several films, including a handful of horror flicks—including Blood Frenzy, Iced, and Doctor Spine. In 1977, she reprised her role of Wednesday Addams for a TV movie Halloween With the New Addams Family.
Loring married several times and now has two daughters.
Tara Ziemba/Getty ImagesGiven that her Hollywood career started at the age of three, it's perhaps no surprise that other aspects of Loring's life occurred ahead of a more traditional schedule. At the age of 15, she married her childhood sweetheart Farrel Foumberg and had a daughter, Vanessa Foumberg, before divorcing the following year. Loring later married actor Doug Stevenson, and the couple welcomed Loring's second daughter, Marianne Stevenson, during their two-year marriage. Loring married and divorced two additional times after that, most recently in 2014.
For more entertainment news sent directly to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
She's had several careers since acting.
Bobby Bank/Getty Images)Loring's acting career slowed in the early '90s, at which point she admitted to struggling with substance abuse before entering a drug rehab program. After that, she continued pursuing a Hollywood career, landing a handful of smaller roles. "I'm trying, but I'm afraid of the rejection," she told People in 1995. She also noted that she was picky about the roles she was interested in. "I will not do any schlock. But I'd love to do a Quentin Tarantino film," she said at the time.
However, her career has also taken her many places beyond the world of acting. People reported that for some time she worked as a makeup artist, and later, she worked for a Santa Monica, California-based interior design firm. As of 2017, she shared that she now focuses on her family life and goes to entertainment conventions around the country. Fans are still excited to meet the actress behind those two forever-famous braids from the spookiest, kookiest family around.
RELATED: Danielle Brisebois Played Stephanie on "All in the Family" See Her Now at 52.
