Master of Dark Humor: Charles Addams

As a child my favorite day of the week was Tuesday. I just couldn't wait to get home from school and snag my dad's latest issue of The New Yorker. I would thumb through it in search of the cartoon treasures I'd find. Most would go over my head, but then there was the wickedly dark humor of Chas Addams, my favorite.

Charles Addams, the cartoonist responsible for the creation of the Addam's Family, was born in Westfield, NJ on January 7,1912. As a boy, he was kind of a curious rascal who enjoyed drawing coffins, tombstones, and skeletons. He was caught breaking into an old house on Dudley Ave. in his home town. On the 2nd floor of the garage behind the main house is a skeleton sketched in chalk. It is believed to be the work of Addams, and the home is thought to be the inspiration for his Addam's family house.

His father, an architect, encouraged young Charles to draw. At Westfield High School, he drew cartoons for the literary magazine. After college at U Penn he enrolled at the Grand Central School of Art in New York City which he attended in 1931 and 1932. He then went to work in the layout department for True Detective Magazine as a retoucher. It was his job to clean up the blood and gore from photographs of corpses. Of course, he thought the blood told a better story! His experience at the magazine prepared him for his next step.

In 1932 his first cartoon was published in New Yorker magazine. He began submitting them on a regular basis and began the development of his Addam's Family characters in 1938. After making training films for the military during World War II, he married his model and inspiration for the character of Morticia, Barbara Jean Day, in 1942.

In 1956, Charles Addams drew for his syndicated cartoon strip "Out of This World" that was an Addams Family serial. He was the recipient of the Yale Humor Award in 1954. He was a master of morbid humor in allowing people to laugh at subjects like death and murder and the bizarre. Through his Addam's Family, he introduced "goth" long before it became popular. He had a gift for telling a story in a single graphic image with no explanation necessary. In 1961 he was given an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. He continued to publish on a freelance basis with The New Yorker, Collier's, and TV Guide.

The moment that thrust Chas Addams into a world of wider recognition was the development of the TV show, the Addam's family.   In 1964 David Levy, the producer, approached Addams with the idea which was well received. It was at this time that Addams created actual names for his characters: Morticia, Gomez, Wednesday, Pugsley, Lurch, Cousin Itt, Fester, Grandmama, and Thing. The show ,starring John Astin as Gomez and Carolyn Jones as Morticia, was wildly popular and eventually spurred the movie in 1991. The Addams' Family Movie and its 1994 sequel starred Raul Julia as Gomez and Anjelica Houston as Morticia. The concept was responsible for similar shows like the Munsters, and Morticia inspired characters such as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark.

Although, the Addams' Family was unconventional in appearance and bizarre in its personal tastes for morbid things, they still came across as a tight-knit and very protective family. Gomez and Morticia were devoted to each other, their children, and extended family. Sibling play and rough-housing often involved trying to maim or kill the each other, but it never ended up that way.

Charles and his 3rd wife, Marilyn Miller "Tee" were married in 1980 at her Water Mill Pet Cemetery and moved to a home in Sagaponack, New York that they lovingly referred to as "the Swamp."  In macabre style, he wore a black robe and she a black dress with black feather fan. Behind the man with a taste for the dark and bizarre was a very normal, kind, and well-liked gentleman. Although rumors may indicate that he had psychological issues, this is not true.  "Tee" started the Charles and Tee Addams Foundation in 2000 which oversees the use of his creative genius. Charles Addams died of a heart attack in his car on September 29, 1988. He is buried in the pet cemetery on his NY estate. The Foundation has made a museum of his studio and home.

Charles Addams has left us a legacy of over 1300 drawings. There is currently a Broadway production based on the Addams' Family. His work inspired another dark American writer and illustrator, Edward Gorey who was 12 years younger. In turn, Gorey's work is closely tied to that of contemporary screenwriter, director, and illustrator, Tim Burton,. There is no denying the profound influence of Chas Addams. As for me, I am a life-long "morbiddy" with a wicked sense of humor, and I owe that in part to my Tuesdays with Chas Addams and The New Yorker.