Lisa Loring, the former child star who played Wednesday Addams in the 1960s sitcom The Addams Family, died of a “massive stroke.”
Lisa Loring, who played Wednesday Addams in the original ‘Addams Family’ film, has died at the age of 64. She died on Saturday at St Joseph Medical Center in California, United States. According to her daughter Vanessa Foumberg, the actor died as a result of complications from a stroke caused by high blood pressure.
“She passed away peacefully, with both of her daughters [Vanessa and Marianne] holding her hands,” Ms Foumbergt told the outlet.
Ms Loring’s friend Laurie Jacobson announced her death on Facebook, saying she had “suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure” and had been on life support for three days before her family decided to turn it off over the weekend. Ms Loring’s “legacy in the world of entertainment,” according to Ms Jacobson, was lauded. “She is forever embedded in the tapestry of pop culture and in our hearts as Wednesday Addams,” she said.
Ms Loring is best known for her role as Wednesday Addams in ABC’s sitcom ‘The Addams Family,’ according to The Guardian. She took on the role when she was five years old, in 1964, and continued to play it until 1966. The actor also set the framework for the character who would go on to inspire later adaptions of ‘The Addams Family’.
Recently, Ms Loring was praised as an inspiration for Jenna Ortega’s performance in Netflix’s hit series ‘Wednesday’. Her “The Drew” dance was mentioned in the most recent series when Ms Ortega performed her own interpretation of Wednesday’s dance.
Ms Loring was born Lisa Ann DeCinces in the Marshall Islands in 1958, according to the outlet. Her mother later relocated her to Hawaii and then to Los Angeles. She began modelling at the age of three and landed her first television role in an episode of the NBC medical drama ‘Dr. Kildare’ not long after.
Following ‘The Addams Family,’ Ms Loring appeared in the sitcom ‘The Pruitts of Southampton,’ as well as the spy drama ‘The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.,’ before landing a recurring role on ‘As the World Turns,’ a long-running daytime soap. She even appeared in a number of shows in the late 80s, including ‘Blood Frenzy’, ‘Iced’, and ‘Savage Harbor’.
Ms Loring leaves behind two daughters, Marianne and Vanessa, as well as two grandchildren, Emiliana and Charles.
Lisa Loring played the original Wednesday Addams in The New Yorker’s first live-action adaptation of Charles Addams cartoons. Between 1964 and 1966, the show aired 64 episodes. Jenna Ortega’s portrayal of the iconic character Wednesday in the Netflix series Wednesday recently resurfaced Loring’s performance as Wednesday.
Lisa Loring as the original Wednesday Addams
Ortega also revealed that she paid tribute to Loring with her iconic dance scene, bringing The Addams Family full circle because Loring did her trademark dance on the original show. “I knew there were certain things I wanted to do,” Jenna Ortega said on The Tonight Show. I paid homage to the first Wednesday Addams, Lisa Loring.” I tried my hand at her signature shuffle. Of course, when I did it, they cut out the camera, but it’s there! I’m sure it is!”
Loring played Wednesday again in the 1977 film Halloween with the New Addams Family.
Loring was born Lisa Ann DeCinces on February 16, 1958 in Kwajelein, Marshall Islands. In addition to her role as Wednesday, she appeared on The Phyllis Diller Show, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Fantasy Island, Barnaby Jones, and As the World Turns. She appeared in a number of indie horror films in the 1980s, including Blood Frenzy, Iced, and Savage Harbor. Her most recent acting role was in the 2015 film Doctor Spine.
Marianne and Vanessa Loring, Lisa Loring’s two daughters, survive her.