Lisa Loring , best remembered for portraying Wednesday Addams in the 1960s original TV version of The Addams Family , passed away at 64.
The Addams Family may be well known to many of you through Jenna Ortega’s Wednesday, but little-known child actress Lisa Loring made the endearing but depressing character a household name about 60 years before Netflix’s popular adaptation hit the big screen.
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Died After Suffering A Stroke
The successful sitcom that debuted in 1964 attracted ardent viewers who tuned in every week. Loring’s portrayal of Morticia and Gomez’s youngest kid quickly became a fan favorite. Laure Jacobson, a close friend of the actress, revealed that Loring had passed unexpectedly due to a “massive stroke” brought on by smoking and high blood pressure on the 28th.
Where She Was Born
In Kwajalein Atoll, Marshall Islands, in February 1958, Loring was born. The actress started her career as a child model at age three before moving on to acting. Her major break came with the television series The Addams Family , and she kept performing when it ended.
Her Personality Complemented Her Role
Her persona was kind but melancholy, and she cherished collecting spooky animals, such as a headless doll, a black widow spider named Homer, and a lizard named Lucifer.
In one of her later roles, Halloween With The New Addams Family , she reunited with her TV family as Wednesday Sr.
Loring Didn’t Have It Easy With Family
After she married her childhood sweetheart, Farrell Foumberg, in 1973 at 16, her personal life rapidly began to eclipse her professional existence. The following year, the couple welcomed a kid, but in the following months, they quickly divorced.
The actress experienced a difficult time due to being unable to ask for support from family. Her mother was an alcoholic who fell ill from her addiction and passed away in 1974.
What Happened To ‘The Addams Family’ Stars?
The last living member of the original cast of The Addams Family is 92-year-old John Astin, who played Wednesday’s father, Gomez. However, what about the original cast members who played the recognizable roles?
The show’s stars saw vastly different outcomes, with some staying in Hollywood and gaining significant roles in films and television programs.
However, others struggled with addictions and health problems or entered the adult entertainment industry.
Lisa Loring’s Career After ‘The Addams Family’
Regarding Lisa Loring, Loring returned to television at 22 as the “troubled teen” Cricket Montgomery on As The World Turns from 1980 to 1983, but she could not land lucrative parts in the years that followed.
After her second marriage to Doug Stevenson ended, she started working in the adult entertainment industry but soon became disenchanted with it.
She Got Into Drugs But Got Help Later
Loring was introduced to narcotics during this time, which contributed to the dissolution of her third marriage to Paul Siederman. The actress was compelled to enroll in a heroin addiction treatment program when they were divorced after she discovered a friend had died by suicide.
After that, she kept going after a career in Hollywood and got a few smaller parts. Roxey from the 1988 action-drama movie Death Feud and Vera from the 2014 comedy-horror science fiction picture Way Down In Chinatown are just a few of Loring’s well-known roles.
Giving Love Another Chance But Didn’t Work Out
Loring secured employment with a Santa Monica interior design firm when she quit drinking.
In 2003, the mother-of-two wed Graham Rich for a fourth time. The couple’s marriage ended in 2008, although they never finalized the divorce until 2014.
Survived By Two Daughters And Grandchildren
The two daughters, Marianne and Vanessa, and the grandchildren, Emiliana and Charles, survive Loring.
She passed away quietly with both of her children holding her hands, her daughter Vanessa Foumberg told Variety in confirming her mother’s demise.
She passed away three days after her family took the heartbreaking decision to turn off her life support.
