Kenneth Patrick Weatherwax (September 29, 1955 – December 7, 2014) was an American child actor best known for having played

Pugsley Addams Pugsley Pubert Addams is a member of the fictional Addams Family, created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. Cartoons Pugsley is depicted as a devious, young, brilliant boy in Charles Addams's original cartoons. He is often shown releasing s ...

on ''

The Addams Family ''The Addams Family'' is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' over ...

''.

Biography

Weatherwax was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, California, into a show-business family. His aunt was actress and dancer

Ruby Keeler Ethel Ruby Keeler (August 25, 1909 – February 28, 1993) was an American actress, dancer, and singer who was paired on-screen with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Bros., particularly '' 42nd Street'' (1933). From ...

, while his half-brother, Joey D. Vieira, played "Porky" on the first three seasons of '' Lassie'' under the stage name of Donald Keeler, beginning in 1954. His uncles were

Frank Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Curr ...

and

Rudd Weatherwax Ruddell Bird "Rudd" Weatherwax (September 23, 1907 – February 25, 1985) was an American actor, animal trainer, and breeder. He and his brother Frank are best remembered for training dogs for motion pictures and television. Their coll ...

, Lassie's trainers and owners of the first dog to play the role. Weatherwax made his acting debut in the early 1960s when he was nine years old, playing a boy named "Chester" in

Gleem Gleem is an American brand of oral hygiene products, including toothpastes and electric toothbrushes, owned by the Procter & Gamble. It was introduced as a toothpaste in the United States in 1952 and discontinued in 2014. Procter & Gamble later ...

toothpaste commercials alongside

Alice Pearce Alice Pearce (October 16, 1917 – March 3, 1966) was an American actress. She was brought to Hollywood by Gene Kelly to reprise her Broadway performance in the film version of '' On the Town'' (1949). Pearce played comedic supporting roles in ...

. He was then cast as Pugsley Addams on ''

'', after successfully auditioning with stars Carolyn Jones and

John Astin John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles. He is best known for starring in '' The Addams Family'' (1964–1966), as patriarch Gomez Addams, reprising ...

. The program ran for two seasons from 1964 to 1966. After its cancellation, Weatherwax found he was typecast as Pugsley and lost interest in acting. He entered the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

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 Lisa Loring (born Lisa Ann DeCinces; February 16, 1958 – January 28, 2023) was an American actress. She is best known for her work as a child actress playing Wednesday Addams at six years old on the 1964–1966 sitcom ''The Addams Family''. L ...

, who had played Pugsley's younger sister

Wednesday Addams Wednesday Addams is a fictional character from the Addams Family multimedia franchise created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. She is typically portrayed as a morbid and emotionally reserved child that is fascinated by the macabre, often ...

on the show. The two remained lifelong friends until Weatherwax's death.

Death

Weatherwax died on December 7, 2014, of a heart attack at his home in West Hills, California, at the age of 59. The staff at Dearly Departed Tours & Artifact Museum raised the funds to have Weatherwax interred in

Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery is located at 10621 Victory Boulevard in North Hollywood and Burbank, California. The cemetery has an entrance called the Portal of the Folded Wings Shrine to Aviation that is the final resting place for aviation ...

in North Hollywood in 2017. A portion of his remains are located at Dearly Departed Tours & Artifact Museum.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weatherwax, Ken 1955 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male child actors American male television actors Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery Male actors from Los Angeles United States Army soldiers Death in California People from West Hills, Los Angeles Military personnel from California