Screen Legends Codexery

Carolyn Jones

The original Morticia Addams: a screen legend of film and television.

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Carolyn Sue Jones was an American actress born on April 28, 1930, in Amarillo, Texas.[1][2] She died on August 3, 1983, in West Hollywood, California.[1][3] Her most famous role was Morticia Addams on the television series The Addams Family from 1964 to 1966.[4]

Last updated 2026-10-06 from the source article.

Key facts and history

Jones studied acting at California's Pasadena Playhouse after her grandfather paid her tuition.[5] She secured a contract with Paramount Pictures after a talent scout spotted her at the Playhouse.[6] Her early film roles included uncredited parts in The Turning Point (1952) and The Big Heat (1953).[6] She was forced to withdraw from From Here to Eternity (1953) due to pneumonia.[7][8]

In 1958, Jones received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party (1957).[1][9] She also won a Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year–Actress that same year.[1][9] She played Morticia Addams on The Addams Family from 1964 to 1966, earning a Golden Globe nomination.[4] Jones married four times and had no children.[10]

What the cited sources add

In a 1982 interview, Jones described a terrifying incident on a plane trip where she was rushed to the hospital and had most of her stomach removed.[8] She told colleagues she was being treated for ulcers, but the truth was she had colon cancer.[8][11] Jones said she initially could not relate to her role in The Bachelor Party because the script's dialogue was unfamiliar to her as someone from Amarillo, Texas.[8] During the filming of King Creole, Jones had a 103-degree fever and asked Elvis Presley not to kiss her because she was contagious.[8]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "Carolyn Jones" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pylant, "The Addams Family's Carolyn Jones: A Descendant of Geronimo?", May 27, 2007; Birth Certificate (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  2. Wikipedia, "Carolyn Jones" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pylant, "In Morticia's Shadow: The Life & Career of Carolyn Jones", Jacobus Books, 2012; Pylant, "The Addams Family's Carolyn Jones: A Descendant of Geronimo?", May 27, 2007; Stroder, "Swingin' Chicks of the '60s: A Tribute to 101 of the Decade's Defining Women", Cedco Publishing, 2000; Donnelley, "Fade To Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries", Omnibus Press, 2005, p. 528; Pylant, "In Morticia's Shadow: The Life & Career of Carolyn Jones", Jacobus Books, 2012; "1940 United States Census", Family Search (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "Carolyn Jones" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pylant 2012 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "Carolyn Jones" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Donnelley, "Fade To Black: A Book of Movie Obituaries", Omnibus Press, 2005, p. 528 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "Carolyn Jones" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Pylant 2012; Thise, "Hollywood Winners and Losers, A to Z", Limelight Editions, 2008, p. 97; "Carolyn Jones Is Dead at 50; A TV Actress", The New York Times, August 4, 1983 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "Carolyn Jones" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Carolyn Jones Is Dead at 50; A TV Actress", The New York Times, August 4, 1983 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "Carolyn Jones" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Carolyn Jones", TVGuide.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Bennett, "Why Carolyn Jones did not want to kiss Elvis Presley", The Cliff Edge, April 28, 2015. facts only, no text reused. thecliffedge.com
  9. Wikipedia, "Carolyn Jones" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Shaun Considine, Mad as Hell: The Life and Work of Paddy Chayevsky, ch. 10 'The First Oscar' (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "Carolyn Jones" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Milwaukee Sentinel August 9, 1959, p.27 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "Carolyn Jones" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bennett, "Why Carolyn Jones did not want to kiss Elvis Presley", The Cliff Edge, April 28, 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Carolyn Jones (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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Sources

Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.

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