Ken Weatherwax

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Kenneth Patrick Weatherwax (September 29, 1955 – December 7, 2014) was an American child actor best known for having played Pugsley Addams on The Addams Family.

Weatherwax made his acting debut in the early 1960s when he was nine years old, playing a boy named "Chester" in Gleem toothpaste commercials alongside Bewitched actress Alice Pearce. He was then cast as Pugsley Addams on The Addams Family, after successfully auditioning with stars Carolyn Jones and John Astin. The program ran for two seasons from 1964 to 1966, and after its cancellation, Weatherwax lost interest in acting due to his being unable to get work from being typecast as Pugsley. He entered the U.S. Army at seventeen, and at the age of 21, he reprised the role of Pugsley in the 1977 reunion film Halloween with the New Addams Family. He established a career behind the camera as a movie studio grip and set builder, while making occasional appearances at Addams Family-related events with former costar Lisa Loring, who had played Pugsley's younger sister Wednesday Addams on the show.