Lurch

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Lurch is the fictional manservant to The Addams Family created by cartoonist Charles Addams. He is a tall, shambling, lugubrious butler who somewhat resembles Frankenstein's monster (as played by Boris Karloff) and (on the television series) has a deep, resonant voice. Although fully capable of normal speech, Lurch sometimes communicates via simple inarticulate moans, which, much like the dialogue of Cousin Itt, the Addamses have no trouble understanding.

Lurch tries to help around the house like any other butler, though occasionally he botches things up due to his great size and strength. He is very slow-paced and lumbering, and seems to be in a constant state of exasperation with the family. In spite of this, Lurch has an almost uncommon loyalty to the Addams family, beyond that of the common employee/employer relationship and is there at a moment's notice when summoned. The family summons him with an ever-present bell pull (in the form of a hangman's noose). When pulled, it produces a loud gong noise that shakes the house, to which Lurch instantly responds with the line, "You rang?" When the bell is rung, Lurch appears immediately, even if wide-angle shots reveal he was clearly nowhere in the vicinity before; on a few occasions Lurch arrives even before the bell pull is tugged. The family, for their part, treats him like one of their own. He clearly takes pride in his work and is willing to do even the most arduous task. For the most part, Lurch shares the family's macabre standards, although he occasionally looks askance at some of their activities.

Aside from a headless Marie Antoinette doll, Lurch is Wednesday's best friend. He seems to have a paternal affection for both Wednesday and Pugsley. Although his job title is limited to butler, he seems to be a "jack of all trades" when it comes to them, doing everything from taking them to school to making them lunch to even keeping an eye on them around the house. He is close friends with the disembodied hand Thing.

Lurch is often seen playing the harpsichord with a great degree of skill. The scenes in the original television series with Lurch playing the harpsichord were Lurch playing on a dead keyboard. The show's musical director (Vic Mizzy) played the actual tunes. Originally, in the TV series, Lurch was to have no lines. However, in the pilot Ted Cassidy ad-libbed the line "you rang?" in his trademark deep voice, and it was so impressive it led to Lurch getting more dialogue; he ultimately had three lines in the pilot. In the films, however, Lurch was totally mute.

In the original television series, Lurch was played by Ted Cassidy, who also voiced the character in the first animated series, as well as the episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies cartoon that preceded it. In the second animated series, Lurch was voiced by Jim Cummings. Carel Struycken played Lurch in the films.

Lurch appears in the NES game Fester's Quest. Uncle Fester can get the famous noose from Grandmama, which, when used, shakes the screen with a loud gong (just like the TV show). Lurch's picture appears with his "You rang?" line, and he will immediately destroy all on-screen enemies.

Much of Lurch's history, including his first name and the nature of his relationship to any other Addamses was originally unknown. "Lurch" was revealed during the original TV series to be a surname, as there was a "Mother Lurch" who appeared in one episode. She addresses Lurch as "Sonny", which could either be a parental nickname or his actual first name. It was stated in Addams Family Reunion that Lurch is part-Addams. This plays into his being a Frankenstein's monster-like creation. The only definite body part that is from an Addams is his heart.

On October 30, 1965 a "Lurch dance" song and dance were introduced on an ABC music program [1].

[edit] Trivia

  • Lurch, sporting a bushy beard, appeared with Morticia in the very first Addams Family cartoon in The New Yorker magazine
  • Lurch is also the nickname used by radio personality Jason Bishop on The Junkies morning radio program.
  • Lurch is also the nickname used by recording engineer and amateur music producer Chris Rudyk.


The Addams Family
Characters
Gomez Addams | Morticia Addams | Pugsley Addams | Wednesday Addams | Uncle Fester | Grandmama | Lurch | Thing | Cousin Itt
TV
The Addams Family | The New Addams Family
Films
The Addams Family (1991) | Addams Family Values (1993) | Addams Family Reunion (1998)
Games
Fester's Quest (1989) | The Addams Family (pinball) (1991) | Addams Family (1992) | The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt (1993) | Addams Family Values (1994) | Addams Family (1994)
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