# What was Gomez Addams? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 29, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644 "2005-12-29T22:41:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scotandrsn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a4c791/32.png) [@scotandrsn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scotandrsn)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/21 "2005-12-30T08:36:16Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > 1. Addams did indeed show the family as a unit. His famous “Boiling oil for carolers” shows Gomez, Morticia, and Lurch, for instance, and the two-headed pig for Thanksgiving shows all but Fester. I have another cartoon in the **Monster Rally** collection showing everyone but Granma, and there are many in that collection that have two or three of the characters together. The clear implication was that they were a family unit. Some possible insight from [this page](http://www.toonopedia.com/addams.htm) > [@](#): > > In 1937, when his work was well established in that magazine {The New Yorker - s}he began using a couple of regular characters — a deathly-pale woman dressed all in black, and her misshapen butler, who looked like he’d been assembled from odd-size parts. Later on, the woman’s deranged husband and their two horrible children began appearing with her, as well as a couple of less easily categorized family members and an incidental character or two. They appeared in dozens of cartoons, over a period of dozens of years. In 1964, they were turned into a TV sitcom, and are now known as The Addams Family. After enjoying the Addams Family TV show as a young child, and then being my father’s old copies of the Drawn and Quartered and Black Maria collections bestowed upon me, I have to say that I’m sorry that the wide-eyed freak who was always staring down on the goings on from an upper floor was not included in the show. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/22 "2005-12-30T09:26:12Z")
Well, I was looking at this [gallery](http://www.charlesaddams.com/giftshop-p2.html) trying to decide what he looks like. Still no luck. Gomez does have kind of a Peter Lorre appearance to him. I also checked against Renfield (from the 1930s Dracula) and no dice. Going with my original idea that he was patterned after an Igor, I looked that up too, only to find there wasn’t one in the 1931 Frankenstein: his name was Fritz. **And** he was the same actor who played Renfield, so still no dice. That’d make a good general question: why do we always think of Igor as Frankenstein’s assistant, if there wasn’t one in the classic movie? ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/23 "2005-12-30T13:26:38Z")
I think Gomez was just a lunatic. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/24 "2005-12-30T15:34:46Z")
I read somewhere that Gomez’ TV persona was influenced by Groucho Marx (and Fester’s by Curly of the 3 Stooges). ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/25 "2005-12-30T15:35:54Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > According to [imdb](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0040014/) In other words, he’s feeling muucchhh better, now. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/26 "2005-12-30T15:40:53Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > That’d make a good general question: why do we always think of Igor as Frankenstein’s assistant, if there wasn’t one in the classic movie? In the second sequel, Son of Frankenstein, no less a personage than Bela Lugosi played Ygor. I haven’t seen that one, but I imagine it was a memorable performance. Can’t recall if there was an Igor in the original novels… ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/27 "2005-12-30T16:45:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I think he’s an Evil Goofy. > > (But what was Goofy? 😉 ) [A Human Dawg](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a4_077.html) ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/28 "2005-12-30T16:52:40Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > In the second sequel, Son of Frankenstein, no less a personage than Bela Lugosi played Ygor. I haven’t seen that one, but I imagine it was a memorable performance. Can’t recall if there was an Igor in the original novels… Ygor was also in GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN, the fourth movie, the first which did not have Karloff as the Monster. I think Lon Chaney Jr was (if not, it was Glenn Strange). Sir Cedric Hardwicke played Dr. F.- either another son or the grandson of “Henry” F. To avoid spoiling the movie, let’s just say Ygor did not survive for another film, tho part of him did but never made its presence known in the series again. Interestingly, the next film F. MEETS THE WOLFMAN had Lugosi finally playing the Monster & fighting Lon C Jr. The scientist is some guy who has hooked up with Henry F’s never-before-seen daughter. I am such a geek. The name “Pubert” was rejected as it was too close to “pubic”, and I think may actually have been a term for a pubic hair (“Oh, he’s getting puberts!”) ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/29 "2005-12-30T17:06:31Z")
I always thought he was just some kind of twisted, rich sadist. Maybe European nobility. Your basic Vincent Price type. ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2005, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/30 "2005-12-30T17:14:24Z")
He’s an Addams. Case closed. ---
**Author:** ![darlenee34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@darlenee34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darlenee34)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/31 "2015-08-30T23:15:25Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > Morticia seems vampiric. Fester appears to be a hunchback. Lurch was a Frankenstein’s-monster knockoff. Grandmama is sort of witchy. > > Was Gomez supposed to be like an Igor or something? Morticia is a witch not a vampire ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/32 "2015-08-30T23:32:04Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Well, the sets were better, too. Yes, but the Munsters had a better car. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2015, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/33 "2015-08-30T23:43:21Z")
It looks like Chas Addams did want him to be a “latin lover” type. The big latin lover that I can think of, in literature, who people might be afraid of is probably [Don Juan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don_Juan). Traditionally, it was a story meant to be told as a sort of “horror story”, though I think it became popular because people like listening to licentious things. Potentially, it was always meant as a licentious story, just paraded as a scary story to please the church. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/34 "2015-08-31T00:21:44Z")
> [@Kaspar\_Hauser](#): > > They let Addams name all his characters for the show, but for some reason the network rejected “Pubert” for the son, who was instead named “Pugsley.” The newborn in the second Addams Family movie was named Pubert as a little homage to this incident. Standards & Practices vetoed Pubert for obvious reasons. > [@BMax](#): > > I always thought he was just some kind of twisted, rich sadist. Maybe European nobility. Your basic Vincent Price type. The Addams are very old money (& unlike most old money families they still have a lot of it). They’re also very civic minded (in their own way) and give to charity which is why everyone puts up with them. Gomez trained as a lawyer, but seldom practiced as one. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/35 "2015-08-31T00:30:10Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > In the second sequel, Son of Frankenstein, no less a personage than Bela Lugosi played Ygor. I haven’t seen that one, but I imagine it was a memorable performance. Can’t recall if there was an Igor in the original novels… No, but there was an Henri, more of a colleague than an assistant. In the first movie, there was a Fritz. Was Lurch a blood relative? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/36 "2015-08-31T00:35:17Z")
> [@Fish](#): > > Morticia seems vampiric. Fester appears to be a hunchback. Lurch was a Frankenstein’s-monster knockoff. Grandmama is sort of witchy. > > Was Gomez supposed to be like an Igor or something? This thread, however, is definitely a zombie. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/37 "2015-08-31T00:42:04Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > This thread, however, is definitely a zombie. Tell me about it. I started to quote my own post, upthread, to agree with it and then I noticed the user-name. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/38 "2015-08-31T00:42:27Z")
> [@darlenee34](#): > > Morticia is a witch not a vampire Morticia is not a witch. Mama, arguably, is a witch with her cauldron and all. The Addamses do not really fill stereotypical horror roles in the same way the Munsters did. This is not to say the writing for The Addams Family was any smarter than it was for The Munsters. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/39 "2015-08-31T00:44:03Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > Morticia is not a witch. Mama, arguably, is a witch with her cauldron and all. The Addamses do not really fill stereotypical horror roles in the same way the Munsters did. This is not to say the writing for The Addams Family was any smarter than it was for The Munsters. Didn’t Morticia have “octopus legs” or something? ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644/40 "2015-08-31T00:46:32Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Didn’t Morticia have “octopus legs” or something? That was her skirt. In the animated versions of the character, that is played up a bit. It was not really a factor on the live action show. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-was-gomez-addams/337644.md?page=3)