Gomez Addams
Gomez Addams | |
---|---|
John Astin as Gomez in The Addams Family television series. | |
First appearance | The New Yorker cartoon, (1938) |
Created by | Charles Addams |
Information | |
Gender | Male |
Occupation | Attorney |
Family |
Morticia (wife) Wednesday (daughter) Pugsley (son) Pubert (son) Fester (Uncle of wife, Morticia (according to original television series) Grandmama (mother) Itt (cousin) |
Nationality | American |
Gomez Addams is a character of The Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s, and subsequently portrayed in television, film and stage.
Name origin
In the Charles Addams cartoons, Gomez — as with all of the members of the family — had no given name.[1] When the 1964 television series of The Addams Family was being developed, Charles Addams suggested naming the character either Repelli or Gomez. Addams left the final choice up to portrayer John Astin, who chose Gomez.[2]
Because "Gómez" is usually recognized as a family name in Spanish-speaking countries, in Spanish America, the character's name was changed to "Homero" ("Homer"). In Brazil the name remained Gomez.
Personality
Like the other members of the family, Gomez's personality became largely codified by the television series.[1] Gomez is descended from Castilian royalty and British aristocracy.[3] Charles Addams' description for the series went like this:
“ | Husband to Morticia (if indeed they are married at all) ... a crafty schemer, but also a jolly man in his own way ... though sometimes misguided ... sentimental and often puckish — optimistic, he is in full enthusiasm for his dreadful plots ... is sometimes seen in a rather formal dressing gown ... the only one who smokes.[4] | ” |
John Astin had long sessions with Addams and series producer David Levy, who gave him free rein in developing the character. Enlarging on Addam's description of Gomez as a Latin lover type, Astin suggested the eye-rolling, pencil moustache, and ardent devotion to Morticia.[5]
In the Addams cartoons and the television shows, Gomez wore a necktie to his chalk-stripe suit, though in the films, Gomez wears a bow-tie and also wears a wide variety of extravagant clothing. He spends $1000 per month on cigars,[3] and is an accomplished juggler and knife-thrower. As a lawyer Gomez is quite proud of the fact his law class voted him "Least Likely to succeed"; similar to Larsen E. Pettifogger of the Wizard of Id cartoons he has never won a case.
Gomez Addams is an athletic, acrobatic, and eccentric multi-billionaire.[3] Though an extremely successful businessman, having acquired much of his wealth through inheritance and investments, he has little regard for money and will casually spend thousands of dollars on any whimsical endeavor. Gomez's investments are guided more by whimsy than strategy, yet luck rarely fails him. Gomez owns businesses around the world, including a crocodile farm, a buzzard farm, a salt mine, a tombstone factory, a uranium mine, and many others. In Forbes 2007 "Fictional 15" list of the richest fictional characters, he was ranked #12 with a net worth of $2 billion.[3]
Portrayals
In the 1960s American television series recreation, Gomez was portrayed by John Astin. Astin also voiced this character in an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies which featured the family. In the first animated series by Hanna-Barbera, Gomez was voiced by Lennie Weinrib. In the second animated series, also by Hanna-Barbera, Gomez's voice was again performed by John Astin.
Gomez was played by Raúl Juliá in The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993). Tim Curry took up the role in the film Addams Family Reunion in 1998 and in 1999 Gomez was played by Glenn Taranto in the TV series The New Addams Family, where he returned to the madcap attitude of his original 1960s incarnation with Astin guest starring as Gomez's father. In the Broadway musical, Gomez was played by Nathan Lane and was replaced by Roger Rees on March 22.
The films differ from the television series in several ways, most significantly that Fester is Gomez's brother (in the television show, he was Morticia's uncle). The Addams Family notes that Gomez's parents were murdered by an angry mob, though in one scene in the sequel, when Gomez catches Fester with a pornographic magazine, they both look at the centerfold (unseen by the viewer) and fondly say "Mom". In Addams Family Values, Gomez and Morticia have a third child named Pubert, a seemingly indestructible baby with a thin, black moustache like his father.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ocker, J.W., The New York Grimpendium: A Guide to Macabre and Ghastly Sites in New York State, The Countryman Press, 2012 ISBN 1581577729, 9781581577723
- ↑ Chas Addams: A Cartoonist's Life, by Linda H. Davis, Random House, 2006.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 #12 Adams, Gomez: "The Forbes Fictional 15", 12-11-2007. Retrieved 03-05-2008.
- ↑ http://www.charlesaddams.com
- ↑ Astin, John, Gomez of Addams Family yearns to play Hamlet, Associated Press, reprinted Ocala Star-Banner (July 12, 1965) p.12
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