Passes Away

By Alice Edwards - Updated May 12, 2024

 

The original Wednesday Addams passed away after she lost her life because of heavy smoking and high blood pressure. Lisa Loring was taken off life support three days after she suffered a stroke because of her poor life choices and decision to smoke lots of cigarettes. Loring was famous in her youth when she appeared in the original Addams Family television show but passed away much too early at the relatively young age of just sixty-four years old.

 

 

Loring lost her life in the second half of January 2023 after she suffered “a massive stroke,” one of her friends wrote on social media, according to Deadline. Her good friend Laure Jacobson notified the world about Loring’s passing, confirming that the celebrated actress died on Saturday after she was taken off life support following the stroke.

Jacobson wrote: “It is with great sadness that I report the death of our friend, Lisa Loring. Four days ago, she suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure. She had been on life support for three days. Yesterday, her family made the difficult decision to remove it, and she passed last night.”

Lisa Loring was back in the spotlight again recently thanks to the extremely popular Netflix show Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega. Ortega stars as Wednesday Addams, who is the eldest child and only daughter of the fictional characters Morticia and Gomez Addams.

Loring was the first person to play Wednesday Addams in the flesh. The family was first created as a series of cartoons for The New Yorker by Charles Addams. Loring took on the iconic role of Wednesday when she was just six years old.

The Addams Family live-action television show was quite popular in the 1960s. It ran for two seasons and included a total of sixty-four episodes, which some people still watch to this day in the form of reruns.

Jacobson added, “She is embedded in the tapestry that is pop culture and in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams. Beautiful, kind, a loving mother, Lisa’s legacy in the world of entertainment is huge. And the legacy for her family and friends — a wealth of humor, affection, and love will long play in our memories. RIP, Lisa. Damn, girl…you were a ton of fun.”

In the 1960s television show, Wednesday was sweet but creepy and quite melancholy. She had a habit of collecting creepy pets, including a lizard named Lucifer and a black widow spider that she named Homer.

A decade after the television show, Loring reprised her role as Wednesday for the 1977 television movie Halloween with the New Addams Family.

Wednesday was later portrayed by Christina Ricci, 42, in the 1991 hit movie The Addams Family as well as its popular sequel, the Addams Family Values.

Loring was married four times and is survived by her beloved daughters and grandchildren.