Lisa Loring, who played the young Wednesday Addams in 'The Addams Family' from 1964 to 1966 and also appeared in As the World Turns, died aged 64 of a stroke, her daughter Vanessa Foumberg confirmed. "She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands," Foumberg said, reports Variety. A friend, Laurie Jacobson, reported her death on Facebook, writing that she "was in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams." Lisa Loring Dies at 64; Actress Was Best Known for Playing Young Wednesday in 1964 The Addams Family Sitcom.
Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster on 'The Munsters', also remembered her on Facebook, writing: "Very sorry to hear of my dear friend Lisa Loring's passing. We were very close and worked together often. I know she was very weak. I was in her company just a few weeks ago. Godspeed my friend." Loring's shimmying frug dance called The Drew frug gained renewed attention with the new Netflix series Wednesday, on which Jenna Ortega does her own interpretation of Wednesday's dance. Annie Wersching Dies at 45: The Last of Us Actress Passes Away in Los Angeles After Battling Cancer.
Her character Wednesday Addams was sweet-natured but gloomy, and had a penchant for collecting creepy pets including a black widow spider named Homer and a lizard named Lucifer, as well as playing with a headless doll. Loring was born in the Marshall Islands to parents who had served in the Navy, and lived in Hawaii before coming to Los Angeles with her mother. She started modelling at the age of 3 and then was cast in an episode of 'Dr. Kildare'.
After The Addams Family finished its two-season run, Loring joined Phyllis Diller's sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton. She made appearances on series including The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., Fantasy Island and Barnaby Jones, then secured a recurring role as Cricket Montgomery on 'As the World Turns' from 1980 to 1983. Later in the 1980s, she had parts in genre movies including Savage Harbor and Blood Frenzy and worked as a makeup artist on adult films under the name Maxine Factor. She is survived by two daughters, Marianne and Vanessa.
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