American cartoonist (1912-1988). Famous for his
morbid cartoons, which gave birth to the "
Addams Family"
television series and
movies. Had a
normal childhood in
Westfield,
New Jersey, where he enjoyed
drawing pictures of
knights and playing in an
old Victorian house that would someday become the model for the Addams Family's
ramshackle home.
After dropping out of
college and
art school, Addams worked as one of the regular cartoonists for the
New Yorker, where he was paid just $35 per
cartoon. His cartoons were both
sophisticated and
macabre, while still
funny enough to earn
laughs for everything from
urban oddities to
Victorian grotesqueries. His first of the so-called "Addams Family" cartoons featured
Morticia and
Lurch, although Addams didn't give any of his
characters
names until his work was
optioned for the
TV show.