The Addams Family: An Evilution

The “evilution” of Charles Addams’s singularly eccentric family began long before the television and film interpretations made them icons of American popular culture. Addams first created Morticia, Lurch, and The Thing in a cartoon published in a 1938 issue of the New Yorker—though he hadn’t named them at the time, or even conceived of a family unit. (When he did name the deadly matriarch, he was inspired by the Yellow Pages listing for “Morticians.”) Other characters were born and developed in a multitude of Addams's cartoons over the next 26 years, before the cheerfully creepy clan debuted on ABC television in 1964 and later on the big screen in 1991. The Addams Family: An Evilution is the first book to trace The Addams Family history. Text by H. Kevin Miserocchi, director of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation, offers a revealing chronology of each character’s evolution (for instance, did you know that Addams originally named Pugsley “Pubert”?), while Addams's own incisive character descriptions, originally penned for the benefit of the television show producers, introduce each chapter.

Charles Addams

One of America’s greatest humorists, Charles Addams (American, 1912–1988) made history with his irresistibly dark wit and uncommonly deft hand. As a cartoonist, he is best known for his eccentric Addams Family characters. Morticia, Lurch, and Thing originated in a 1938 issue of the New Yorker, and other quirky Family members followed. Ultimately, television and film interpretations rendered them offbeat icons of popular culture. Throughout his career, Addams was a marquee artist for the New York Times and the New Yorker, and the city itself, home for much of his life, was a character in his cartoons. Charles and his wife, Tee, eventually moved to The Swamp, their storied property in Sagaponack, New York, now home to the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation.