Vintage Photos of Lisa Loring as Wednesday Addams in the TV Show ‘The Addams Family’

Lisa Loring, best known as the first actress to play Wednesday Addams in the original The Addams Family sitcom, has died at the age of 64. Loring “passed away on Saturday surrounded by her family,” longtime agent Chris Carbaugh told CNN in a statement on Monday.

“She brought to life one of the most iconic characters in Hollywood history that is still celebrated today,” Carbaugh said. “Lisa loved sharing her memories and meeting all her fans across the world.”

Loring’s personal friend, the author Laurie Jacobson, wrote on Facebook that Loring had “suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure” and had been on life support for three days before her family decided to remove it on the weekend.

Jacobson paid tribute to Loring’s “legacy in the world of entertainment”, writing: “She is embedded in the tapestry that is pop culture and in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.”

To people of a certain age, Lisa Loring will be known as playing the younger sister that every boy wanted, mainly because of her hobbies. She had pet spiders, including her favorite, Homer; a host of headless dolls and she showed a truly macabre fascination with death, all perfectly acceptable due to her being Wednesday Addams in the 1960’s television series, The Addams Family.

Strangely, after playing the part from 1964 to 1966, she turned her back on her acting career aged only eight and stated that she would never act again. Keeping this promise until 1981, Loring returned to the screen when she played a part in the daytime soap As The World Turns for three years.