Actress Lisa Loring, best known for her role as Wednesday Addams on The Addams Family, has passed away at the age of 64.
According to her friends and family, Loring passed away on Saturday (Jan. 28) after suffering a “massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure.” She was said to have been on life support for three days before the family decided to pull the plug.
Loring “was a loving Mother, Grandmother and friend” who passed away surrounded by her family, said longtime agent Chris Carbaugh in a statement to CNN on Monday.
“She brought to life one of the most iconic characters in Hollywood history that is still celebrated today. Lisa loved sharing her memories and meeting all her fans across the world.”
The former child star was a mother and grandmother, her agent added, saying: “She will be missed dearly.”
Lisa Loring Life and TV Shows
According to her IMDb page, Loring was born Lisa Ann DeCinces in the Marshall Islands to Navy personnel. Her parents quickly separated and her mother moved with her to Los Angeles, where she began a modeling career while she was just a toddler. At the age of six Loring landed a role as Wednesday Addams, the pale pigtailed daughter of Morticia and Gomez Addams, on the original Addams Family TV series, which ran for 64 episodes on ABC between 1964 and 1966. She would go on to be the blueprint for other actresses who portrayed Wednesday in later films, including Jenna Ortega who took on the role in the recent Netflix series.
After the first Addams Family ended, Loring appeared in various short-lived shows, including The Pruitts of Southhampton, Fantasy Island and The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. She later reprised her role as Wednesday in the 1977 scary movie, Halloween with the New Addams Family. Her final credit was the 2015 movie, “Doctor Spine.”
Lisa Loring Cause Of Death
According to her daughter Vanessa Foumberg, Lisa Loring died Saturday night (January 28) at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank of complications from a stroke caused by high blood pressure.
“She went peacefully with both her daughters [Vanessa and Marianne] holding her hands,” Foumberg tells THR.
Author Laurie Jacobson, Loring’s personal friend, also reported her death on Facebook, saying “It is with great sadness that I report the death of our friend, Lisa Loring. 4 Days ago she suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure.”
“She had been on life support for 3 days. Yesterday, her family made the difficult decision to remove it and she passed last night,” Jacobson wrote. “She is embedded in the tapestry that is pop culture and in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.”
