Lisa Loring has died. She played the original Wednesday on “The Addams Family” TV series in the 1960s. She was 64.
She’s the latest child star who’s died way too young. Last week, Lance Kerwin, also age 64, passed away.
Loring friends including “Lassie” star Jon Provost, posted this alarming news to Facebook:
“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. She is embedded in the tapestry that is pop culture and in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.Beautiful, kind, a loving mother, Lisa’s legacy in the world of entertainment is huge. And the legacy for her family and friends — a wealth of humor, affection and love will long play in our memories. RIP, Lisa. Damn, girl…you were a ton of fun.”
The glamour shot I used with the story is far from what she looked like now. Those pictures are on Facebook.
Loring worked very little after “The Addams Family.” She appeared on the soap, “As the World Turns” from 1980-83 and occasionally turned up elsewhere. She had major substance abuse problems. Loring was married four times and had two daughters.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Loring’s mother died when she was 14 and she got married a year later. The marriage didn’t last long but produced a daughter and she had a second marriage that lasted five years and produced another child and a third marriage she calls “the biggest mistake of my life”: her husband was acting in pornography and she didn’t approve of it.
It’s another sad ending for a child TV star.
