The popular sitcom, The Adams Family, first aired in 1964 and ended in 1966. The original show was a huge hit by the public and has since then, been reconstructed multiple times to keep the story alive, however nothing can beat an original, especially the characters. 

The original Adams Family contained many talented and iconic actors such as Carolyn Jones, who played Morticia Addams, John Astin, who played Gomez Addams, and Lisa Loring, who played the extremely popular character, Wednesday Addams. 

Unfortunately, Lisa Loring has recently passed away at the young age of 64, on Jan. 28, from a hypertensive stroke. This death has left many people distraught due to her iconic presence on the show.  

The character Wednesday Addams has still to this day kept its relevancy through Halloween costumes, memes, and many reconstructed scenes, shows, and movies, such as the newest version, “Wednesday,” played by Jenna Ortega.  

The evolution of Wednesday has been played by a total of seven different actors, the first of which being Loring in the early 60’s who played a mysterious, but sweet young girl.  

In 1972, the next Wednesday Addams was put to the test, Cindy Henderson. Henderson played the character in an episode of The New Scooby Doo Movies, called “Wednesday is Missing,” as well as provided a voice over on an animated sitcom of The Addams Family, created by Hanna-Barbera, which aired shortly after her first role. 

In 1991, Christina Ricci played the character Wednesday on the popular live-action movie, The Addams Family. By this time, Wednesday’s character had evolved into a much darker phenomenon than the original portrayal in the early 60’s version.  

Due to the success of the 1991 version, in 1992-1993, the characters were re adapted to play roles for an animated series, with actress Debi Derry berry as Wednesday. The show contained a small change  with Wednesday wearing a blue dress instead of the original black one in previous versions.   

In the late 90’s, another attempt at launching a reconstructed version of The Addams Family occurred. In this version, Nicole Fugere played Wednesday, and the show only lasted one season which contained 65 episodes.  

As the evolution moved forward, in 2019 and 2021, an animated version of The Addams Family was released with Chloe Grace Moretz as Wednesday. Once again, she was portrayed as a morbid but sweet character. 

Finally in 2022, the Netflix series “Wednesday,” starring Jenna Ortega, was released. This series highlights the cruel mysterious character with an intriguing story line. This was the first version of The Addams Family where Wednesday was portrayed as a teenager rather than a young child.  

The timeline regarding the Addams Family has obviously gone through a multitude of changes throughout the years. All of these different versions originated from the portrayal of the original story as well as characters, one of which being the iconic Lisa Loring. As the public loses this actress, many lose a piece of their early childhood.  

Sources: 

https://screenrant.com/wednesday-addams-family-actresses-movies-show/#:~:text=Including%20Jenna%20Ortega%2C%20Wednesday%20Addams,over%20the%20past%20six%20decades.