This month we are learning about some of our favorite sitcom stars. Today we are discovering the career of John Astin, better known as Gomez Addams.

Astin was born in Baltimore, Maryland in 1930. His father was the director of what is today the National Institute of Standards and Technology. After high school, he enrolled at Washington and Jefferson College to major in mathematics, and he later transferred to Johns Hopkins, where he graduated in 1952 with a degree in drama.

One of his first roles was husband when he married Suzanne Hahn in 1956. The couple divorced in 1972.

John made his Broadway debut as an understudy in Shaw’s “Major Barbara.

He was also getting movie offers with The Pusher his first role in 1960 and West Side Story in 1961 was his second film. He would go on to appear on the big screen on and off during his career. He was in two of my favorite Doris Day movies: That Touch of Mink and Move Over Darling.

His first television appearance in 120 different series began in 1957 for Studio One. The sixties found him quite busy on the small screen with roles in a variety of genres including The Donna Reed Show, Maverick, The Twilight Zone, Hazel, Dennis the Menace, Star Trek, Batman, The Wild Wild West, and Bonanza.

It was also in the sixties that he received his first starring sitcom role as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family. The show, like The Munsters, began in 1964 and ended in 1966.

Astin had been a fan of Charles Addams’ work in The New Yorker before being asked to star in the show. He said that he was the first actor of the cast chosen and got to pick his own name, since the cartoon characters did not have names. He said that he had to argue with the network a bit. He said they wanted him to shave his head to resemble the cartoon, but he put his foot down. He was not being vain; he just thought viewers would not accept Morticia falling for him if he looked older and bald.

He had a few challenges filming his role. Not everyone has to do take after take upside down, and he said he did that sort of thing a lot.

Astin was able to sit in on the auditions for Morticia and the network was having a hard time finding the right person. He was thrilled when he heard they were going to offer the part to Carolyn Jones. The only problem is that she wanted top billing and he already received that in his contract. In order to get the right Morticia, he willingly gave it up and she got that designation. John said he and Carolyn “liked each other and both had a sense of humor.” He said they became friends for life and he still misses her, especially her laugh. “Carolyn had a great laugh. Just working with her when she laughed, it was a wonderful thing.”

When The Addams Family was canceled, he took a role in a show that I enjoyed, The Phyllis Diller Show a/k/a The Pruitts of South Hampton. In this series, the Pruitts find out they owe the IRS a ton of money, but the IRS does not want to have the public find out because they are afraid that the family won’t be able to pay back the money they owe. The IRS works with them to keep their mansion and a few “necessities.” Phyllis as Phyllis Pruitt schemes to make money the IRS is not aware of. Her brother-in-law played by Astin is usually eager to help her. This show had an amazing cast with other members being Richard Deacon, Reginald Gardiner, Marty Ingels, Charles Lane, Billy De Wolfe, Gypsy Rose Lee, and Hope Summers. However, the series only lasted one year.

Astin did not slow down in the seventies where we saw him on The Odd Couple, Love American Style, The Doris Day Show, The Partridge Family, McMillan and Wife, Marcus Welby MD, and Welcome Back Kotter.

As the decade started, he married Patty Duke; they were married thirteen years.

During the eighties and nineties, you would have seen Astin in Simon and Simon, The Love Boat, St. Elsewhere, Webster, Murder She Wrote, and Becker.

In the eighties, he again was part of the cast of several series. In 1986 he accepted the role of Ed LaSalle on Mary. In this short-lived show, Mary Tyler Moore is a divorced woman who is forced to write for The Chicago Eagle, a seedy tabloid, after the fashion magazine she writes for goes out of business.

Astin made eleven appearances as Kenny on Night Court; Kenny was a former patient with mental health issues and turned out to be Harry’s biological father. It was during the eighties that he began a very successful voice career in animation which was still going strong in 2022.

They say the third time is the charm and that seems to be true in Astin’s case. He married his third wife, Valerie Ann Sandobal in 1989 and is living back in Baltimore.

In 2001 he began teaching at Johns Hopkins as well. He said that at that time, he “didn’t know one major university that has a known actor teaching every day.” His brother is also a professor; Alexander W. Astin at UCLA is considered one of the most influential scholars in the field of higher education research.

At one point, John got his Masters in English literature. He became a huge fan of Edgar Alexander Poe and studied his works. He toured the country in a one-man show, “Edgar Allan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight.” Astin says “Poe had a mission to tell us what it’s all about. To answer some of the great questions of life. The themes Poe used were universal and timeless. As long as the English language exists at all, we will be able to appreciate what he did. It will not become dated.”

I had a lot of fun learning more about the career of John Astin. I had not heard about his Edgar Allan Poe tour; I also did not know that he was a drama professor. Now in his eighties, he certainly is keeping busy, not only continuing his career but helping new generations of actors with their careers. Thanks for entertaining us for decades and for ensuring that we will continue to be entertained into the future.