THE FIRST GOTHIC PRINCESSES
MORTICIA ADDAMS
Carolyn Sue Jones, was an actress born in the United States in 1930, who throughout her career did not adopt any artistic name.
With an unhealthy constitution, asthma greatly reduced her social activities as a child, but when she could she went to the cinema, which was her real passion.
Unlike the two actresses mentioned in the previous sections, Carolyn Sue Jones was already a great actress who won several awards for her films. Of course, her weak health continued to accompany her until she even lost roles that would give great recognition to other actresses who replaced her. All this before playing her most remembered character: Morticia Addams.
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Let's remember that at the time of the broadcast of the television series in 1964, none of the characters of the Addams family created in 1938 had a name. It was Charles Addams himself who named all the characters, as well as giving them a background or family history.
According to Charles Addams, the name Morticia implied "Death" (an obvious influence of Theda Bara), and derived from the word "mors", which in turn derived from the word "mortis", the Latin word for Death. Or it could also come from the word "mortician."
As for the family history created by Charles Addams: Morticia's maiden name is Frump, and the history of her family's side goes back to Salem, at the time of the Witch Hunt in that North American town. While the family on her husband's side comes from Spain (grandmother Addams moves in with Gomez/Homero when he is just six years old)
Morticia also has a twin sister named Ophelia, which is practically her opposite image since she appears to be normal and dresses like a Beatnick (the philosophical current that preceded the hippies). Ophelia was also characterized (for obvious reasons) by Carolyn Sue Jones.
She cultivates carnivorous plants, practices the Japanese art of ikebana, although in a rare way as she only uses the thorny stems of roses and plays the shamisen, a Japanese stringed instrument.
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The character of Morticia Addams, had much influence on what would be the Gothic sub-culture. Very white or pale skin, long black hair and a tight dress with a very open V-neck, which ended in a hem that simulated the tentacles of an octopus, this whole set of a jet black color.
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The Adams family show, aired on the air on September 18, 1964, was a resounding success from the very beginning, firstly because of the success of the cast, especially Carolyn Sue Jones, who had a lot of previous fame, and secondly because of the almost thirty years of publication of Charles Addams' cartoons.
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Curiosities:
Despite the existence of color television, the Addams family's show was broadcast entirely in black and white, to save on costs, since the producers' decision to hire a heavyweight star like Carolyn Sue Jones cost them too much, but in the end this decision was very profitable economically speaking.
The Frump family, of which Morticia belongs, is part of the Addams clan. This indicates that it is the custom of the clan to marry blood relatives to each other. This would explain the various deformities in the numerous members of the Addams clan, along with their eccentricities of personality (Although in real life the deformities and insanity caused by consanguineous marriages are not scientifically proven, at least not fully).
It was Ophelia Frunt, who was to marry Gomez/Homero, but in the end she became discouraged, so it was her sister Morticia who ended up marrying him. Fortunately, they barely saw each other and it was love at first sight.
The decision to hire a major actress like Carolyn Sue Jones would influence a rival production company to do the same for her series, which was to be the answer to the Addams family. I mean Yvone De Carlo, in the Munster family series.
CONTINUARÁ…
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