Written in ENTERTAINMENT the
Lisa Loring, known for being the first actress to play the iconic Wednesday Addams or ‘Merlina’ (as she is known in Latin America) in the original comedy ‘The Addams Family’, died this Monday at the age of 64, as confirmed their daughter, Vanessa Foumberg.
The former child star “left in peace with her two daughters holding her hand,” Foumberg said in a statement. A friend of the actress, Laurie Jacobson, reported her death on Facebook, writing that she “was always in our hearts as Wednesday Addams.”
What did Lisa Loring die of?
Jacobson also detailed that Loring had “suffered a massive stroke” caused by his tobacco addiction and high blood pressure: “He had been on life support for 3 days. Yesterday her family made the difficult decision to remove it and she passed away last night.”
For his part, Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster in ‘The Munsters’, also remembered her on Facebook and wrote: “I am so sorry to learn of the passing of my dear friend Lisa Loring. We were very close and often worked together. I know she was very weak. I was in her company just a few weeks ago. Good luck, my friend.”
After the news of his death was released, hundreds of fans of the series paid tribute to him on social networks and several remembered that characteristic and unforgettable dance with which Loring established himself as the little ‘Merlina’ Addams in 1964.
The ‘Merlina’ Addams’ dance that catapulted her to success
Loring is remembered for playing the legendary ‘Wednesday’ Addams when she was just six years old and for her iconic dance called ‘The Drew’, which has gained renewed attention since the premiere of the new Netflix series, ‘Wednesday’ in in which actress Jenna Ortega does her own interpretation of this musical number.
Jenna said in an interview that her version of the pop culture icon was also inspired by Loring: “I paid tribute to Lisa Loring, the first Wednesday Addams. I did a bit of the shuffle of her that she does,” Ortega said during an appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” in December.
Loring’s version of ‘Merlina’ Addams was sweeter in nature, but also somber: she had a penchant for collecting creepy pets, including a black widow spider named Homer and a lizard named Lucifer, plus she liked to play with a doll without head.
Loring played this beloved character from 1964 to 1966 in the black comedy “The Addams Family,” based on the cartoons that Charles Addams had previously published in The New Yorker. The series consisted of 64 30-minute long episodes and is known for being the first adaptation of the characters that included their characteristic melody with the snap of fingers.
Life and trajectory
Loring was born on February 16, 1958 in the Marshall Islands. His parents had served in the Navy and lived in Hawaii before they moved to Los Angeles. At the age of 3, she began modeling and then participated in an episode of ‘Dr. Kildare’, an NBC medical drama broadcast in the early 1960s.
After ‘The Addams Family’ wrapped up its two seasons, Loring joined the Phyllis Diller comedy ‘The Pruitts of Southampton.’ He also made appearances on ‘The Girl From UNCLE’, ‘Fantasy Island’ and ‘Barnaby Jones’ and then landed a recurring role as Cricket Montgomery on ‘As the World Turns’ from 1980 to 1983.
In the 1980s he also worked on movies like ‘Savage Harbor’ and ‘Blood Frenzy’. A curious fact is that she also had a facet as a make-up artist in adult films under the name ‘Maxine Factor’.
bnaj