Charles Addams (b. 1912)
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Biography:
Charles Addams was an American cartoonist known for his darkly humorous and macabre characters. He signed his cartoons Chas Addams. Some of the recurring characters, who became known as the Addams Family, have been the basis for spin-offs in several other forms of media.
Addams' first drawing for The New Yorker, a sketch of a window washer, ran on February 6, 1932, and his cartoons ran regularly in the magazine from 1937, when he drew the first in the series that came to be called The Addams Family, until his death. He was a freelancer throughout that time.
During World War II, Addams served at the Signal Corps Photographic Center in New York, where he made animated training films for the U.S. Army.
Addams married his second wife, Barbara Barb (Estelle B. Barb), in 1954. A practicing lawyer, she wound up controlling The Addams Family television and film franchises and persuaded her husband to give away other legal rights. The Addams Family television series ran on ABC for two seasons, from 1964 to 1966.
Addams' cartoons regularly appeared in The New Yorker, and he also created a syndicated single-panel comic, Out of This World, which ran 1955-1957. There are many collections of his work, including Drawn and Quartered (1942) and Monster Rally (1950).
Addams drew more than 1,300 cartoons over the course of his life. Those that did not appear in The New Yorker were often in Collier's and TV Guide. In 1961, Addams received, from the Mystery Writers of America, a Special Edgar Award for his body of work. His cartoons appeared in books, calendars, and other merchandising. The films The Old Dark House (1963) and Murder by Death (1976) feature title sequences illustrated by Addams.
Notes:
Charles Addams: A Cartoonist's Life by Linda H. Davis (Random House, 2006 series) is a biography of Addams.
Name:
- Charles Addams
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Type: Common Alternative Name
Given name: Charles Family name: Addams
Other Names:
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Charles Samuel Addams
Type: Name at Birth
Given name: Charles Samuel Family name: Addams -
Chas Addams
Type: Pen Name
Signatures:
- Chas Addams [generic]
Schools:
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Colgate University 1929 to 1930
Notes: Studied art at Colgate from 1929 to 1930.
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University of Pennsylvania 1930 to 1931
Notes: Studied fine art at the University of Pennsylvania. The fine-arts building on campus was named after Addams with a sculpture placed in front of the building of the silhouettes of Addams Family.
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Grand Central School of Art [NYC] 1931 to 1932
Notes: Studied fine art at the Grand Central School of Art in New York City.
