Charles Addams
The macabre mastermind behind the Addams Family
Photo by Irving Penn 1947 · via Wikipedia: Charles Addams · CC BY-SA 3.0
He created the macabre characters known as the Addams Family, first appearing in a cartoon series on August 6, 1938.[1][2] Addams died on September 29, 1988, at age 76 after a heart attack.[3] The cartoonist Charles Samuel Addams, who was born on January 7, 1912, in Westfield, New Jersey, created the macabre characters known as the Addams Family.[4][5]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Charles Samuel Addams
- Born
- 7 January 1912
- Birthplace
- Westfield, New Jersey, U.S.
- Died
- 29 September 1988
- Place of death
- New York City, U.S.
- Also known as
- Chas Addams (pen name/nickname)
- Notable works
- The Addams Family
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Addams's father, a piano company executive, encouraged him to draw, and he produced cartoons for the Westfield High School yearbook.[6][7] He attended Colgate University in 1929-1930, then the University of Pennsylvania in 1930-1931, and studied at the Grand Central School of Art in 1931-1932.[7][8][5] He drew more than 1,300 cartoons over his lifetime, with work appearing in Collier's and TV Guide.[9] Addams married third wife Marilyn Matthews Miller in a pet cemetery, and they moved to Sagaponack, New York in 1985.[10]
In 1933, Charles Addams began working for True Detective magazine's layout department, where his duties included editing photographs of dead bodies by eliminating bloodstains.[11] A large painting by Addams, completed in 1952 for a hotel bar in the Hamptons, now resides in the library of Penn State University and shows characters from the Addams Family.[12] The New Jersey Hall of Fame added Addams as a member in 2020.[13]
What the cited sources add
The same source states that Addams earned approximately $100 monthly freelancing for The New Yorker between 1932 and 1942.[5] The Knudde biography reports that Addams signed his work as "Chas Adams" because he felt it looked better than his full name.[2] The Scar Stuff article describes the 1957 album Ghost Ballads as housed under a "perfect 1953 Charles Addams illustration"[14] The Kratz article mentions that Addams's 1957 publication Dear Dead Days featured the Addams Family on the front cover for the first time.[5]
According to the Kratz article, Addams's superiors at the SCPC determined he was eligible for Officer Candidate School and non-commissioned officer roles, yet he dodged most chances for advancement.[5]
References
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Maslin, "In Search of the Dark Muse of a Master of the Macabre", The New York Times, October 26, 2006, p. E9 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Knudde, "Charles Addams", Lambiek Comicobedia. facts only, no text reused. lambiek.net
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pace, "Charles Addams Dead at 76; Found Humor in the Macabre", The New York Times, September 30, 1988 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Macabre Cartoonist Charles Addams Dies", Los Angeles Times, September 30, 1988 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Kratz, "Private Charles Samuel Addams: Creator of the Addams Family.", Pieces of History, 26 October 2022. facts only, no text reused. prologue.blogs.archives.gov
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pace, "Charles Addams Dead at 76; Found Humor in the Macabre", The New York Times, September 30, 1988; Maslin, "In Search of the Dark Muse of a Master of the Macabre", The New York Times, October 26, 2006, p. E9; Maslin, "In Search of the Dark Muse of a Master of the Macabre", The New York Times, October 26, 2006, p. E9; Davis 2006, p. 23 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pace, "Charles Addams Dead at 76; Found Humor in the Macabre", The New York Times, September 30, 1988; MacCloskey, "Charles Addams", WestfieldNJ.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "battle to save Hamilton home." (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: MacCloskey, "Charles Addams", WestfieldNJ.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pace, "Charles Addams Dead at 76; Found Humor in the Macabre", The New York Times, September 30, 1988; "The Addams Family: An Evilution", Pomegranate Communications, Incorporated, 2010 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marr, "True Detective R.I.P." (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Karasik, "Sketchbook: The Addams Family Secret: How a massive painting by Charles Addams wound up hidden away in a university library", Condé Nast (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Charles Addams" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Kadosh, "Westfield's Dr. Virginia Apgar, Charles Addams Make NJ Hall of Fame", TAPinto, August 7, 2020 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Jason, "Scar Stuff: Dean Gitter "Ghost Ballads" (Riverside, RLP 12-636, 1957)", Scar Stuff, February 28, 2004. facts only, no text reused. scarstuff.blogspot.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Charles Addams (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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