5 Things You Didn’t Know About ‘The Addams Family’s Lurch, Ted Cassidy
When I was a kid, my older sister was a huge fan of The Addams Family. But the creepy, kooky and altogether ooky Addams family and their freaky employees scared me so badly that I could barely sit for a single minute. And to me, the scariest fellow in the Addams Family mansion was their towering, harpsichord-playing, Frankenstein-like butler Lurch, played by 6’9” former radio DJ Ted Cassidy, who was born on July 31, 1932.
With his ultra-bass voice, sunken cheeks and stoic expression, Lurch — courtesy of Cassidy’s commitment to the role — evolved from a minor cast member into one TV’s most enduring and endearing family-comedy characters. His presence helped ensure that The Addams Family remained at the forefront of pop culture even today. In time, even I grew to appreciate this bow-tied, observational fellow and his quirky personality, along with generations of loyal fans.
To celebrate what would have been Ted Cassidy’s 93rd birthday, here are five things you may not know about this kind and complex man.
Then read on to find out how you can help Cassidy’s family celebrate their iconic patriarch at the 5th annual Lurch Fest, a one-day event that honors, Cassidy his beloved character and his faithful fans, held annually in Cassidy’s hometown of Phillippi, WV.
1 Lurch didn’t talk … until Ted decided he should
The Addams Family producers envisioned Lurch as a silent, hulking presence, much the way he was in the Charles Addams cartoons that introduced the family.
But during the rehearsal of a scene in which Lurch answers the door, Cassidy ad-libbed a sonorous “You rang?” and brought down the house. Producers immediately retooled the role to give Lurch his lovable personality, more to do, and more lines — including his self-encouraging “Go, go, baby!”
2 Cassidy was a Renaissance man with genius-level smarts
Richard Hewett/TV Guide/Courtesy Everett Collection
Though his height made him a natural choice for athletic teams, Cassidy was actually a stellar student and entered third grade at age six. Though he played sports in high school and college, Cassidy also studied speech and drama, became an accomplished musician and writer, and was active in student government and a member of the Alpha Sigma Phi fraternity — the same fraternity that financial genius Warren Buffett belonged to.
3 He also “played” Thing
Cassidy was most famous for playing Lurch. But even though it was billed in the credits as being played by “Itself,” the disembodied helping hand known as Thing actually belonged to Cassidy, too. Since Cassidy was so tall, and Thing often emerged from tight spaces, Cassidy frequently lay on a wheeled trolley below the camera line.
Though he most often used his right hand as Thing, the notoriously funny Cassidy sometimes used his left hand just to see if anyone in the crew or the show’s audience would notice.
4 Cassidy loved to dance in real life & even released a danceable tune called “The Lurch”
Though he let others do most of the singing on the call-and-response song, Cassidy did promote the song and teach the dancers a few groovy moves on the ABC show Shindig!.
The song was entertaining and catchy, but it couldn’t surpass Lurch’s irresistible “Wednesday Dance” dance lessons.
5 Cassidy was a lifeguard at Florida’s Ormond Beach
Courtesy Ormond Beach Historical Society
While he was a student at Florida’s Stetson University, Cassidy manned the lifeguard stand at Ormand Beach as part of the Volusia County squad. Sporting a fit physique and beachy, bleach blond hair, he towered over beachgoers and his fellow lifeguards, and was likely a comforting sight to swimmers who were in way over their heads but only up to Cassidy’s chest.
Courtesy Ormond Beach Historical Society
Lurch’s lasting legacy
Ted Cassidy continued to act in movies and on television after The Addams Family was cancelled after just two seasons. He made memorable appearances on Star Trek and The Six Million Dollar Man, embodied Goliath in TV’s Greatest Heroes of the Bible series. and played Harvey Logan, one of the title characters’ outlaw gang in Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid.
Everett Collection
Cassidy was working steadily as a voice actor when he was admitted to St. Vincent Medical Center in Los Angeles to have a benign tumor removed from his heart. He was discharged to recover at home, but died of complications from the operation at age 46 on January 16, 1979.
His family honored his quiet nature, holding a private funeral service for Cassidy at Hollywood’s Forest Lawn Memorial Park and burying his cremated remains at his home in Woodland Hills. His death was not announced publicly for more than a week.
ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
Ted Cassidy left behind two kids from his marriage to Stetson College classmate Margaret Jesse, son Sean and daughter Cameron, both now in their 60s. A lookalike for his famous dad, Sean operates the YouTube channel Son of Lurch and a web site of the same name on which he sells official “Lurch Merch” merchandise, and makes appearances honoring his dad’s beloved character at fan cons and Lurch Fest, the event he founded five years ago.
Held in Cassidy’s hometown of Phillippi, West Virginia, the free event — held Saturday, August 2, 2025 at the Barbour County Historical Museum — will feature food and drink vendors, official Lurch merchandise, a costume contest, live music and more.
What are your favorite Lurch moments? Tell us in the comments below.
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