Lisa Loring is an actress who played Wednesday Addams in the 1960s TV hit “The Addams Family.” She is now dead, having died at 64 years old of a “massive stroke.” Announcing Loring’s passing on Facebook, a friend of hers, Laurie Jacobson, said:
It is with great sadness that I report the death of our friend, Lisa Loring. 4 Days ago she suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure. She had been on life support for 3 days. Yesterday, her family made the difficult decision to remove it and she passed last night. 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.
Adding to that, Bonnie Vent, who worked with Loring on “The Addams Family,” posted “So sad to share the news that Lisa Loring has passed. See below for more information. I worked with Lisa and the rest of the cast of: “The Addams Family” on the DVD release of the original show. Those are great memories.”
Similarly, Variety reports that Loring’s daughter confirmed her death in a statement, with that outlet reporting:
Lisa Loring, who played the young Wednesday Addams on “The Addams Family” from 1964 to 1966 and also appeared in “As the World Turns,” died Saturday of a stroke, her daughter Vanessa Foumberg confirmed. She was 64.
“She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands,” Foumberg said.
Further, Variety reports that Butch Cassidy, an actor from “The Munsters,” wrote “Very sorry to hear of my dear friend Lisa Loring’s passing. We were very close and worked together often. I know she was very weak. I was in her company just a few weeks ago. Godspeed my friend.”
Variety went on to add details about Loring’s life and career before and after The Addams Family, saying:
Loring’s shimmying frug dance called “The Drew” frug gained renewed attention with the new Netflix series “Wednesday,” on which Jenna Ortega does her own interpretation of Wednesday’s dance. Her character Wednesday Addams was sweet-natured but gloomy, and had a penchant for collecting creepy pets including a black widow spider named Homer and a lizard named Lucifer, as well as playing with a headless doll.
Loring was born in the Marshall Islands to parents who had served in the Navy, and lived in Hawaii before coming to Los Angeles with her mother. She started modeling at the age of 3 and then was cast in an episode of “Dr. Kildare.”
After “The Addams Family” finished its two-season run, Loring joined Phyllis Diller’s sitcom “The Pruitts of Southampton.”
She made appearances on series including “The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.,” “Fantasy Island” and “Barnaby Jones,” then secured a recurring role as Cricket Montgomery on “As the World Turns” from 1980 to 1983.
By: Will Tanner. Follow me on Twitter @Will_Tanner_1
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