The Addams Family’s Ken Weatherwax Dies at 59

“Addams Family main cast 1964” by ABC Television – eBay itemphoto frontphoto back. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.

Ken Weatherwax, better known as Pugsley from the original Addams Family show, died at his Box Canyon home from what was deemed a heart attack. His body was found on Sunday.

Ken Weatherwax’s first acting job was in a toothpaste commercial, but his breakthrough came with The Addams Family, which aired from 1964 to 1966. He played Pugsley, the deviant son of Morticia and Gomez and Wednesday’s brother.

In an interview he gave a few years ago for Fox News, Weatherwax said that he enjoyed playing Pugsley very much and he liked the gig, but he didn’t appreciate his schoolmates making fun of him and calling him “Pugsley” in school. He also said that the role of Pugsley typecast him.

Weatherwax quit acting but stayed in the industry, this time behind the camera, as a grip in several major Hollywood productions.

Ken Watherwax is survived by his half-brother, the character actor Joey D. Vieira, a niece and a nephew.