John Allen Astin (born March 30th, 1930) is an American actor who has appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as a television director and voice artist. He is especially remembered for starring as Bull Gator in Taz Mania, Gomez Addams in The Addams Family (1964–1966), reprising the role in the television film Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977) and the animated series The Addams Family (1992–1993). Notable film projects include West Side Story (1961), That Touch of Mink (1962), Move Over Darling (1963), Freaky Friday (1976), National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), Teen Wolf Too (1987), and The Frighteners (1996). His second wife was actress Patty Duke and he is the adoptive father of Duke's son, actor Sean Astin.
Astin was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for his directorial debut, the comedic short Prelude (1968).
Early years[]
Astin was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Margaret Linnie (née Mackenzie) and Dr. Allen Varley Astin, who was the director of the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology). At that time, Astin and his family resided on Battery Lane in Bethesda, Maryland. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1952, after transferring from Washington & Jefferson College. He studied mathematics at Washington & Jefferson and then drama at Johns Hopkins; he was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at Johns Hopkins.
Career[]
Astin started in theater, making his first Broadway appearance as an understudy in Major Barbara, and also did voice-over work for commercials. His first big break in film came with a small role in West Side Story (1961).
During this period, his talent for also playing comedy was spotted by actor Tony Randall, leading to guest-starring roles on the sitcom Dennis the Menace, starring Jay North, The Donna Reed Show, and Harrigan and Son, starring Pat O'Brien, the first carried on CBS and the latter two carried on ABC. In 1961, he appeared in the final episode of the ABC police drama The Asphalt Jungle. In 1962–63, Astin starred with Marty Ingels on the unusual ABC sitcom I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, which lasted for thirty-one episodes.
From 1964 to 1966, he starred in the comedic television series The Addams Family as Gomez Addams, the head of the macabre family, based on cartoons created by Charles Addams. He later reprised the role of Gomez in the 1977 made-for-television film Halloween with the New Addams Family and voiced the role of Gomez in the animated series The Addams Family from 1992 to 1993. In the Canadian-American television series The New Addams Family, which ran from 1998 to 1999, Astin appeared as Grandpapa Addams, with the role of Gomez played by Glenn Taranto.
Gallery[]
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