Morticia Addams in the 1930s. In the cartoons, none of the family members had names. When the characters were adapted to the 1964 television series, Charles Addams' selection of her name was inspired by "mortician". Morticia's maiden name is "Frump" and she has an older sister named Ophelia (also played by Carolyn Jones). In the television series, her mother (Uncle Fester's sister) was named Hester Frump (played by Margaret Hamilton). Her mother-in-law is Grandmama Addams. In the 1990s Addams Family films, Grandmama is actually Morticia's mother, not Gomez's. Morticia is described as a witch; she is slim, with extremely pale skin and
The Addams Family way and created the Addams Family and I went my own way and created my family in this book." In 1964, the ABC TV network created "The Addams Family" television series based on Addams's cartoon characters. The series was shot in black-and-white and aired for two seasons in 64 half-hour episodes (September 18, 1964 – September 2, 1966). During the original television run of "The Addams Family" television series, "The New Yorker" editor William Shawn refused to publish any "Addams Family" cartoons, though he continued to publish other Charles Addams cartoons. Shawn regarded his magazine as targeting a more refined