The Addams Family and The Addams Family Values movies that came out in the 90s are some of the most beloved entries in the creepy, kooky family's franchise. But where is the Addams family cast now? Some, like Christina Ricci, continued their acting careers to great success. Meanwhile, the careers of others, like Raúl Juliá, were sadly cut short.
To find out more about the Addams Family actors and answer the question "where are they now?" read on, and see if any of the answers are surprising.
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The precocious Wednesday Addams was Christina Ricci's breakout role (she had only just made her film debut a year before as a 10-year-old in Mermaids). It was also the start of a long and successful acting career bearing Golden Globe, Independent Spirit, MTV Movie, Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild award nominations. She continued appearing in "spooky" roles with Casper, Sleepy Hollow, and The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, but also took on serious dramatic and indie roles as in Monster and The Opposite of Sex. She played Trixie in the 2008 live-action Speed Racer, which has gained a fervent cult following but was a notorious box office flop at the time. As of 2020, she was still highly active in her Hollywood career.
When it comes to her personal life, she was briefly engaged to comedian and actor Owen Benjamin in 2008, later announced her engagement to dolly grip James Heerdegen in 2013, and filed for divorce from Heerdegen on July 2, 2020. According to People, news of the divorce followed a domestic battery call at Ricci's home, after which she was reportedly granted an emergency protective order against her husband, and asked for sole legal and physical custody of the couple's five-year-old son, Freddie.
Ricci is also a national spokesperson for RAINN, a network that offers resources and aide for victims of sexual maltreatment.
Pugsley Addams was never much the center of attention in the franchise, and his actor, Jimmy Workman, tends to shy from the spotlight as well. Aside from reprising his role in Addams Family Values, Workman appeared in minor roles in Black Sheep, and As Good as It Gets, as well as making a few TV appearances before retiring as an actor to work behind the camera as part of a technical crew.
As a result, you may actually be more familiar with the name of his little sister, Modern Family star Ariel Winter. In fact, Workman was briefly involved in a legal dispute over the actress back around 2014. He, his parents, and his other sister, Shanelle Gray, battled for custody over the then-teen. Eventually, guardianship was awarded to Gray.
Things have been relatively quiet since then. As of 2019, Jimmy was living in California with his family and working for Teamsters Local 399, a trade union representing working in the motion pictures industry.
Kaitlyn and Kristen Hooper/Pubert Addams
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Fun fact: the newest Addams family member, baby boy Pubert, was actually a girl, and more than that, he was two girls! The baby was played in alternating scenes by young twins Kaitlyn and Kristen Hooper. The two were just one year old at the time of filming. Aside from this appearance, the only other acting work they did was as twins Gracy and Claire Taylor in a 1998 Home Improvement episode titled "Say Goodnight, Gracie."
Since then the two have led relatively private lives, joining school softball teams, going to college and university, and generally being normal. Kristen is even married!
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The regal matriarch of the Addams family continued to have as remarkable a life as an actress as Morticia does as a character. Career-wise, she was already a three time Academy Award nominee (and one time winner) before starring in the 1991 film, and was nominated for plenty of Golden Globes and Emmys afterwards. She went on to frequently work in Wes Anderson films, provide voice work throughout the Disney Fairies film franchise, and even appeared in John Wick: Chapter 3- Parabellum in 2019. Her television work is just as rich and also continues up to the present day, with plenty of voice acting and live action appearances on shows like Transparent.
Aside from acting, she published a memoir in two parts, worked as a director, and became involved in activism, particularly with regards to animal rights. Huston currently sits on the advisory council of Save the Chimps, the largest chimp sanctuary and rescue in history.
As for her personal life, a year after The Addams Family came out, she married sculptor Robert Graham, whom she remained with until his death in 2008.
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The ever-romantic and doting Addams family father, Gomez, was portrayed by Puerto Rican actor Raúl Juliá. Like Anjelica Huston, also had quite a career even before his appearance in the film, working primarily in theater on and off Broadway. We saw him return to this world after the first Addams Family movie as he played the title role in a 1992 revival of Man of La Mancha. He then appeared in an award-winning performance as the lead of HBO's The Burning Season, a biographical drama of Brazilian environmentalist Chico Mendes.
Sadly though, his last role in a major theatrical film would come as soon as 1994. He was cast as the arch-villain in the film adaptation of Street Fighter, a role he was excited to take since his children were such huge fans of the videogame. He was unwell throughout filming, however, as he had been battling stomach cancer for the past 3 years. Complications eventually landed him in the hospital, where he suffered a stroke and passed away on October 24th of 1994. He was 54.
Juliá was a humanitarian throughout his life, among many charitable works notably contributing to the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) and The Hunger Project. As such, his wife Merel Juliá honored his legacy by co-founding the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts, which anually presents the Raúl Juliá Award for Excellence to an individual or organization that most advances the foundation’s mission to promote the next generation of Latinos in entertainment. HOLA also renamed its Founders Award the Raúl Juliá HOLA Founders Award. He's even had a school named after him.
John Franklin/Cousin Itt
You wouldn't recognize him out of his role, but there actually was someone under all that hair playing cousin Itt (or It, depending on your preference). As a child, Franklin had a growth hormone deficiency, resulting in his adult height is barely 5 feet. But this ended up boosting his career, as it allowed him to make his debut as Isaac in The Children of the Corn despite being much older than the child character he was portraying. It also made him the perfect height for Itt.
He most recently appeared in episodes of Brooklyn Nine-Nine in 2017, and Fresh Off the Boat in 2018. But for a time after The Addams Family, he quit acting altogether and actually became an English teacher at a California high school, saying of the decision, "After the events of 9/11, I saw the shallowness of showbiz and felt a great desire to leave a greater legacy than just being Cousin Itt. Teaching seemed to be a perfect fit for my theatrical talents and to touch many lives."
He married David White in 2008, and eventually returned to writing and acting in 2016.
Christopher Hart/Thing
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Another Addams family member you probably wouldn't recognize on site is Christopher Hart, who played the pet-like Thing. Or rather, his hand played it. His filmography after this role is filled with rich characters such as "Lefty" in Quicksilver Highway, "The Hand" in Idle Hands, and "Hand" in Angel - you get the idea.
But why his hands? Well, he's actually a career magician, something that undoubtedly requires some skill in sleight of hand. He continued working as a magician after the film, and in 2012, he took his skills on the road as part of a touring magic show with Masters of Illusion, and he was last seen at the world premier of the 2019 animated Adams Family film, posing his helpful hand on the purple carpet!
Dutch actor Carel Struyken, aka the family butler, Lurch, has held an almost invisible personal life since the movie came out, but he did continue acting. He appeared in 2017's Gerald's Game (based on a Stephen King novel and directed by Mike Flanagan), as well as in 2019's Doctor Sleep (again based on a Stephen King novel and directed by Mike Flanagan). He was also in the 2017 sequel series Twin Peaks: The Return.
In a more experimental capacity, he collaborated in the creation of a punk rock musical film that was made in 1986 but only came out on DVD in the U.S. in 2008. He's an avid photographer and something of an inventor as well, creating works of art and ideas which he publishes to his personal website.
The only online record of his family exists in the form of his brother, Peter Struyken, who is a noted Dutch artist and won the 2012 Heineken Prize for Arts of the Royal Netherlands Academy for Sciences.
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Who could forget the fantastic Uncle Fester? Despite Christopher Lloyd's much more common association with his Back to the Future character, Doc Brown, his excellent Fester portrayal still deserves plenty of love and affection for its comedic perfection. While he has had plenty of random film roles (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Clue, and Star Trek III: The Search For Spock), his most extensive work post-Addams Family has been in voice acting. This includes roles in Anastasia (1997), Over the Garden Wall (2014), a two-time Emmy nominated performance in Cyberchase (2002), and much more.
In his personal life he's been married five times to Catherine Boyd, Kay Tornborg, Carol Ann Vanek, Jane Walker Wood, and, most recently Lisa Loiacono, whom he married in 2016. He has no children.
As he's entered his 80s, he appears to be happy and healthy, and even posts frequently to his Instagram.
Judith Malina/Grandmama
Judith Malina played Grandmama in the first Addams Family movie, but ended up being replaced by Carol Kane in Addams Family Values. Though she was in other films, and even appeared on an episode of the The Sopranos in 2006, her primary playing field was the theater. Most of her fame actually comes from well before The Addams Family.
Back in the 50's, she and her husband, Julian Beck, founding the Living Theater, "a troupe of activists and provocateurs who advanced the idea of political theater in America, catalyzed fierce debate over their methods and intentions, and in the name of art ran afoul of civic authorities on three continents." For this work, she was inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2003, given the annual Artistic Achievement Award from the New York Innovative Theater Awards in 2008, and given the Edwin Booth Award from the Doctoral Theater Students Association of the City University of New York in 2009. Outside of acting altogether, she actually wrote a few books as well.
Sadly, Malina passed away in 2015 at the age of 88. She apparently had a lung disease brought on by years of smoking.
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- Paramount Pictures
- Wikimedia Commons
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When the Addams family returned for their sequel Addams Family Values, in 1992, the younger Carol Kane took Judith Malina's place as Grandmama. It was far from her first Hollywood rodeo. The actress/comedian had already been in films like Annie Hall, When a Stranger Calls, and The Princess Bride. She'd even been nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Hester Street, and had won more than one Emmy while working on the 80's TV show Taxi.
While she continued to act in film after this role, she was much more active in TV, playing various characters in Seinfeld, Family Guy, Big Mouth and a lead role on Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
She's also well known for playing Madame Morrible in the musical Wicked, both in regional productions and on Broadway from 2005 to 2014. She even returned to the Broadway company of Wicked from 2013-2014 for revival performances.
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Comedian Joan Cusack had already worked on SNL and been twice nominated for the Oscars before Addams Family Values came out, but even then it was still a relatively early entry in the career of the now super-familiar face. From here she went on to have starring roles in beloved movies like Toy Story 2, School of Rock, and Looney Tunes: Back in Action, as well as appearing on shows like Shameless, The Office, and A Series of Unfortunate Events. Her most recent work includes roles in the 2019 film Let it Snow and the 2020 Amazon series Homecoming.
Cusack married attorney Richard Burke in 1996 and they have two sons: Dylan John and Miles. She also has owned a gift shop in Chicago since 2011 named Judy Maxwell Home, after Barbra Streisand's character in What's Up Doc?, her favorite movie.
The big villain of the first film, scheming loan shark Abigail Craven, was played by character actress Elizabeth Wilson.
With a prior background in Broadway, including a Tony award in her name, she was eventually inducted into the American Theater Hall of Fame in 2006. After The Addams Family, her last TV appearance was on an episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent in 2002, and her last major film role was Sara Delano Roosevelt in Hyde Park on Hudson (2012).
She never married, explaining in a 2013 interview that she'd "met a lot of interesting gentlemen in the work situation," and was "madly in love with" two of them (left unnamed). She continued, "But in those days, if a woman married, they had to quit what they were doing and stay home and raise a family. I didn’t want to do that and now, thank God, you don’t have to.”
Wilson passed away in May of 2015 at the age of 94. At the time, she was survived only by her sister, Mary Muir Wilson.
Always on the move dodging Gomez's sparring attempts and other antics, hapless family lawyer Tully was played perfectly by Dan Hedaya. He's still been hard at work in the decades since. After this role he appeared in big name films like The Usual Suspects, Clueless, The First Wives Club, A Night at the Roxbury, Mulholland Drive, and many, many more. His most recent big box office role was in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016).
He's been just as active in TV, too, appearing on shows like Gotham, The Mindy Project, Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. Needless to say, Hedaya is a heavy hitter when it comes to his career, and even after passing his 80th birthday, it looks like he won't be slowing up any time soon.
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Then, of course, there's poor Tully's wife, Margaret Alfred. While she spends much of the film unhappy and perpetually ignored by her husband, she does get a happy ending in the form of an unconventional romantic relationship with Cousin Itt, officially bringing her into the Addams family fold - and seems much happier with him too!
The actress behind her is Dana Ivey, and she's actually is a five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway (it seems most of the cast has deep ties to the theater), with three of those nominations coming after her appearance in The Addams Family. But she's proved herself just as versatile a character actress in the film world too. Her resume varies widely, from roles films like Home Alone 2, Sleepless in Seattle, and Rush Hour 3.
Her career has slowed down somewhat in recent years, with her last big screen role being a small part in 2018's Ocean's 8. Perhaps as she approaches 80 she's focusing more on leisure and quality time.
Who can forget Wednesday Addams' perfect foil? Appearing as a girl scout in the first film and camper Mercedes McNab in the second, actress Amanda Buckman is more than just the shallow blonde her character was. She's perhaps more widely recognized for her role as Harmony Kendall from Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997–2001) and its spinoff Angel (2001–2004). She's also guest starred in Psych and Supernatural.
Outside of film and TV, she's made the cover of Playboy, gotten married to real-estate developer Mark Henderson (in 2012), and given birth to a daughter named Vaunne Sydney (in 2013).
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Finally there's Wednesday Addams' boyfriend! Joel Glicker appears among the campers of Addams Family Values, and bonds with Wednesday over her disdain for the forced, uncomfortable level of cheeriness of the place.
For actor David Krumholtz, this was one of his very first roles in Hollywood, with his film debut coming only a few months earlier in the form of the movie Life with Mikey (which starred Michael J. Fox). He went on to become more well known for his roles as grumpy Head Elf Bernard in the Santa Clause franchise, and Goldstein in the Harold and Kumar franchise. He's also appeared in 10 Things I Hate About You, Superbad, Crown Vic, and, most recently, a 2020 film called Asking for It. As for TV, he played Charlie Eppes on the CBS drama series Numb3rs from 2005 to 2010, and appeared in an episode of Jordan Peele's Twilight Zone revival.
He married actress Vanessa Britting in 2010, battled and beat thyroid cancer between 2011 and 2012, and welcomed a daughter into his family in 2014, as well as a son in 2016.
