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
Lurch (The Addams Family) In "The New Addams Family", a woman comments to Morticia about Lurch, "Where did you dig him up?", to which Morticia responds, "Funny, I can't remember which cemetery it was." Lurch is also referenced as having "two left feet". On October 30, 1965, a song and dance based on Lurch, entitled "The Lurch", were introduced on the ABC music program "Shindig!". This mirrored an earlier episode of the television series, entitled "Lurch, the Teenage Idol" (which was remade in 1999 for "The New Addams Family"). In it, Lurch records a song on his harpsichord and becomes a pop sensation. Lurch