CNN
—
Lisa Loring, the first actress to play Wednesday Addams on the original “The Addamses” sitcom, has died at the age of 64.
Lorraine “passed away on Saturday surrounded by his family,” longtime manager Chris Carbo told CNN in a statement Monday.
“She brought to life one of the most iconic figures in Hollywood history and is still widely acclaimed today,” said Carbo. “Lisa loves sharing her memories and meeting fans all over the world.”
The former child star was a mother and grandmother, her manager added: “She will be greatly missed.”
Lorraine’s friend, Laurie Jacobson, also reported her death on Facebook, saying she suffered a “major stroke from 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 away last night,” Jacobson wrote. “She is embedded in the pop culture tapestry and will always be Wednesday Adams in our hearts.”
Following the news of her death, fans flocked to social media to pay their respects, with one tweeting: “Farewell to Lisa Lorraine, the man who defined Wednesday Adams when she was just a wrinkled A newspaper drawing of the brow.”
Lorraine was the inspiration for pale, dreadlocked Wednesday on the 1964 sitcom “The Addams Family.” She took over the role at age 6 and played the death-obsessed character until two years after the show ended.
In 1977, she appeared as Old Wednesday. In the TV movie “Halloween in the New Addams Family”.
The nonchalant performance of Lorraine, the character based on Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoon, paved the way for other actresses, including Christina Ricci, She played Wednesday in the hit 1991 film “The Addams Family” and its sequel “Addams Family Values.”
Jenna Ortega said her rendition of the pop culture icon was also inspired by Loring, following last year’s Tim Burton comedy-horror Netflix comedy After Wednesday’s premiere.
“I salute Adams Lisa Loring on First Wednesday. I do a little bit of the shuffle that she does,” Ortega said on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” in December.
Born Lisa Ann DeCinces in the Marshall Islands, Lorraine gained her stage name when she started modeling at age 3, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After playing Wednesday on The Addams Family, Lorraine joined Phyllis Diller on the sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton. She later landed a recurring role in The World Turns, playing Cricket Montgomery.
Her acting credits also include the shows “Uncle’s Girl”, “Fantasy Island” and “Barnaby Jones”.