| Cousin Itt Addams | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Charles Addams David Levy |
| Portrayed by | Felix Silla, Roger Arroyo, John Stephenson, Pat Fraley, John Franklin, Phil Fondacaro |
| Information | |
| Species | Unknown (supposedly human) |
| Gender | Male |
| Family | That and Anemia Addams (parents) Lumpy Addams (brother) |
| Spouse(s) | Margaret Alford |
| Children | What Addams |
| Relatives | Gomez Addams (cousin) |
Cousin Itt is a member of the fictional Addams Family. Unlike the other characters, Cousin Itt was not originally created by cartoonist Charles Addams, but by producer David Levy, though he did appear as an unnamed character in Addams's cartoons.
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Itt Addams is the cousin of Gomez Addams, and is arguably the most enigmatic member of The Addams Family. He is a short being whose entire body is completely covered with hair. When Gomez asks Cousin Itt what is underneath all the hair, Cousin Itt replies, "Roots" ("The Winning of Morticia Addams"). His hair color changed throughout the years but in the 1998 Addams Family TV series his hair color was blond. He usually wears sunglasses, a derby hat, and gloves. He speaks in a high-pitched gibberish language which the other members of the family can understand though it is incomprehensible to anyone else. The Addams find nothing odd about Itt's appearance, and in one episode of the series, Gomez is surprised by the idea that other people could not understand Itt's speech ("My Fair Cousin Itt"). Itt is often celebrated by the family as being "full of talent" in areas such as acting, singing, and marriage counseling (though he once accidentally separated Gomez and Morticia while trying to practice). He is also known to have an extremely high IQ of over 300 (as explained by Gomez), shown when he guesses every Rorschach Test correctly, places all of the boxes in the correct slots, and in other ways ("Cousin Itt and the Vocational Counselor"). In one episode, Cousin Itt took elocution lessons and developed a (dubbed) voice with a mellifluous, mid-Atlantic accent; this voice did not survive into future episodes.
Cousin Itt did not live in the mansion with the main characters, although he made frequent guest appearances when he would visit them. He was therefore a recurring character, not a main character. Although known to spend time in the chimney, Itt has his own room in the mansion, furnished in proportion to his size and with a low ceiling. He is depicted as a carefree bachelor with an extravagant lifestyle, and is renowned among the Addamses for his many female companions. He had an on-again/off-again relationship with Morticia's sister Ophelia.
In the movie, The Addams Family (1991), Cousin Itt had an affair with Margaret, the wife of Tully, the corrupt lawyer trying to get his hands on the Addamses' money. In the sequel, Addams Family Values (1993), Margaret and Itt are married (as Tully had been buried alive by Pugsley and Wednesday) and have a baby (a miniature version of Itt), aptly named "What". Margaret explains that "What!" was the first word out of the obstetrician's mouth upon seeing the baby. Oddly, even before Itt marries Margaret, she is shown to understand his speech. In the movies, his hair is straighter and his voice is squeakier than in the TV series.
Cousin Itt makes a cameo appearance at the beginning of Act II in the Addams Family Musical on Broadway.
In the 1960s television series, Cousin Itt was played by actor Felix Silla, bar two episodes in which Roger Arroyo played the role. The "voice" was created by sound engineer Tony Magro.
In the first animated series from Hanna-Barbera, Itt's voice was done by John Stephenson. In the second Hanna-Barbera animated series, Itt's voice was done by Pat Fraley.
Itt was portrayed in the first two movies by John Franklin, and in Addams Family Reunion, by Phil Fondacaro.
Cousin Itt is known as "Tío Cosa" (Uncle Thing) in Latin America, except in Brazil, where he is known as "Primo Itt" (Cousin Itt).
In Italian, Itt is known both as "Cugino Itt" and "Cugino Coso" (Cousin Itt and Cousin Thing). He was also named Henry Charlotten in the animated series.
In French, Itt is known as "Cousin Machin" (Cousin Thing).
In Galicia, he was called "Curmán Enxendro" (Cousin Freak).
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