Charles Addams

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American cartoonist, the creator of gentle, ghoulish drawings that are chilling but charming, wicked without being mean-spirited. He was formerly a photo reporter on "True Detective" before contributing regularly to the "New Yorker" from 1940. He created "The Addams Family" among his more than 1,300 cartoons and 65 magazine covers. His books include "Drawn and Quartered" and "Addams and Evil," with a total of 13 published collections. His awards include those given in 1954 and 1961. Tall, well muscled, homely and charming, Addams was a man comfortable with himself. He grew up in a well-to-do New Jersey family, studied at Colgate and the University of Pennsylvania, then went on to art school in Manhattan. In 1932 he sold his first drawing to the New Yorker for $7.50 and by 1935 was working on contract. As his fame grew he was able to indulge his passion for medieval armor and classic antique cars as well as elegant women. He was linked at various times with Joan Fontaine, Jackie Onassis and Greta Garbo. He married twice, Barbara Day 1943-51 and Barbara Barb 1954-56. He conducted his third marriage, to Marilyn, in a pet cemetery with her dressed in black. Their relationships was "civilized," as he lived in New York and she in the country, seeing each other on weekends. He decorated his home with sinister decor such as a cross-bow, an executioner's ax and an embalming block as a coffee table. One account notes that over the years, he had several breakdowns. On the morning of his death at 76, he mentioned that he was feeling "a bit frail," before blasting off in one of the grand automobiles to Connecticut. He died 9/29/1988, New York, NY of a heart attack. Link to Wikipedia biography