Original Wednesday Addams star Lisa Loring dies
Lisa Loring, the original Wednesday Addams, has died aged 64.
The actress, who portrayed Wednesday as a young child in The Addams Family from 1964 to 1966, died "peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands" on Saturday after suffering a stroke, her daughter Vanessa Foumberg confirmed to Variety.
Loring's friend, author Laurie Jacobson, reported on Facebook that the actress was taken off life support on Saturday after suffering a "massive stroke" days before.
"(Four) Days ago she suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure," Jacobson wrote on Sunday. "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."
Loring's work as Wednesday received renewed attention late last year thanks to the new Netflix series Wednesday, in which Jenna Ortega plays the title character. During the show's prom scene, Ortega paid homage to Loring's classic Wednesday dance in her own quirky routine.
Loring played the character once more in the 1977 TV movie Halloween with the New Addams Family.
In addition to Loring and Ortega, Wednesday Addams has also been portrayed by Christina Ricci, who played the morbid girl in two Addams Family movies in the '90s, and Nicole Fugere, who appeared in the 1998 TV series The New Addams Family.
Loring also appeared in TV shows such as As the World Turns, in which she had a recurring role as Cricket Montgomery, The Pruitts of Southampton, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E., Fantasy Island and Barnaby Jones. Her last acting credit was in the 2015 film Doctor Spine.
She is survived by her two daughters, Marianne and Vanessa.
