Charles Addams Net Worth

#Fact1Terrence Mann and Andrew Lippa's musical, "The Addams Family," at the Mercury Theater of Chicago in Chicago, Illinois was awarded the 2015 Joseph Jefferson Equity Award for Midsize Musical Production.2Upon his death, he was cremated and his ashes were interred at the Charles Addams Estate Grounds, Sagaponeck, Suffolk County, New York in the family pet cemetery.3He was nominated for the 2012 New Jersey Hall of Fame for his contributions in the General Category.4In 1946 Addams met and became friends with sci-fi writer Ray Bradbury, after meeting at "Mademoiselle" magazine. The magazine was going to publish Bradbury's short story "Homecoming", the first in a series of tales about the Elliotts, a family of vampires living in Illinois (for which Addams had made an illustration). Addams and Bradbury were going to collaborate on a book chronicling the Elliott Family's complete history, with Bradbury writing and Addams illustrating, but it never happened. However, in October 2001 Bradbury's collection of tales on the Elliot Family was published, in an anthology called "From the Dust Returned." The book had Addams's original 1946 illustration on its cover, along with a narrative from Bradbury and an explanation of his work with Addams.5Addams served as an escort for celebrities on social occasions; his roster includes Greta Garbo, Joan Fontaine, and Jacqueline Kennedy.6Addams drew more than 1,300 cartoons over the course of his life.7A scholarship in his name was founded in 1991: the Charles Addams Art Scholarship.8From 1985, Addams lived in Sagaponack, New York. The estate where his family lived was nicknamed "The Swamp.".9In 1961, Addams received a Special Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his body of work.10Noted director Alfred Hitchcock was a friend of Addams, and owned two pieces of original Addams art. In Hitchcock's film North by Northwest (1959), a scene pays homage to Addams: when Roger Thornhill meets Eve with Mr. Vandamm and Leonard, he comments, "The three of you together. Now that's a picture only Charles Addams could draw.".11During World War II, he served at the Signal Corps Photographic Center in New York, making animated training films for the Army.12His cartoons regularly appeared in the "New Yorker", as well as in "Collier's Weekly" and "TV Guide.".13His first drawing in "New Yorker" ran on February 6 1932, and was a sketch of a window washer.14He is mentioned in Edward Eager's fantasy novel "Knight's Castle," as Chas Addams (how he signed his cartoons.).15Because of The Addams Family (1964), "New Yorker" editor William Shawn banned the cartoons from his magazine, regarding the show as being at odds with the sophisticated readership he wished to cultivate. The ban was lifted after Shawn's 1987 retirement.16He married his third and final wife, Marilyn Matthews Miller in a pet cemetery.17At one point, his second wife Barbara got him to take out a $100,000 insurance policy. Addams consulted a lawyer on the sly, who later humorously wrote, "I told him the last time I had word of such a move was in a picture called Double Indemnity (1944) starring Barbara Stanwyck, which I called to his attention." In the movie, Stanwyck's character plotted her husband's murder; however, no one has accused Barbara Barb Addams of attempting the same.18In the divorce settlement with his second wife, Barbara Estella Barb (Lady Colyton), she was awarded copyright to some of his work.19His first marriage lasted eight years.20His first wife, Barbara Jean Day, was said to resemble his cartoon character Morticia Addams.21His father, Charles Huy Addams, was a piano-company executive who had studied to be an architect.22Childhood friends recall that he was "known as something of a rascal around the neighborhood" and "there was always a little group of boys at his house doing things.".23As a child, his nickname was "Chill.".24One friend said of him, "His sense of humor was a little different from everybody else's.".25He was described as artistically inclined, "drawing with a happy vengeance" according to a biographer. His father encouraged this practice in him.26He was fond of visiting the Presbyterian Cemetery on Mountain Avenue, New Jersey.27Addams did cartoons for the Westfield High School student literary magazine "Weathervane.".28He attended Colgate University in 1929-1930.29He attended the University of Pennsylvania in 1930-1931. Situated on the campus is a fine-arts building named after him, in front of which is a sculpture of the silhouettes of the Addams Family.30He attended the Grand Central School of Art in New York City in 1931-1932.31Television producer David Levy approached Addams with an offer to create a series based on his "Addams Family" cartoons (they met at the Palace Hotel lobby in New York). The Family was distinct characters but without personality, so Addams gave his characters names and more characteristics for the actors to use in portrayals. And so was born The Addams Family (1964).32Enjoyed the works of novelist John O'Hara.33Died behind the wheel of his Audi 4000 outside his Manhattan apartment, after suffering a fatal heart attack.34Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume Two, 1986-1990, pages 8-10. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1999.35Member of Theta Chi Fraternity (Iota Chapter, Colgate University)36Addams was distantly related to U.S. presidents John Adams and John Quincy Adams, despite the different spellings of their last names, and was a first cousin twice removed to the noted social reformer Jane Addams.