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 The term child actor or child actress is generally applied to a child acting on stage or in movies or television. An adult who began their acting career as a child may also be called a child actor, or a "former child actor". Closely associated t ...

playing

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 i ...

at six years old on the 1964–1966

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

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 a ...

''.

Life and career

Loring was born on

Kwajalein Atoll Kwajalein Atoll (; Marshallese: ) is part of the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI). The southernmost and largest island in the atoll is named Kwajalein Island, which its majority English-speaking residents (about 1,000 mostly U.S. civilia ...

Marshall Islands The Marshall Islands ( mh, Ṃajeḷ), officially the Republic of the Marshall Islands ( mh, Aolepān Aorōkin Ṃajeḷ),'' () is an independent island country and microstate near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the Internati ...

, a

United Nations Trust Territory United Nations trust territories were the successors of the remaining League of Nations mandates and came into being when the League of Nations ceased to exist in 1946. All of the trust territories were administered through the United Natio ...

at the time, which had been administered by the United States. Her parents both served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, and divorced shortly after her birth. She grew up in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

and later moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

with her mother. She began modeling at age three and appeared in an episode of ''

Dr. Kildare Dr. James Kildare is a fictional American medical doctor, originally created in the 1930s by the author Frederick Schiller Faust under the pen name Max Brand. Shortly after the character's first appearance in a magazine story, Paramount Pictur ...

'', which aired in 1964. Her mother died of alcoholism in 1974 at age 34. Loring was best known for her role portraying

in ''

'' sitcom (1964–1966). She was one of the longer-surviving members of the show's main cast. She later reprised the role for the TV Movie ''

Halloween with the New Addams Family ''Halloween with the New Addams Family'' is a 1977 American made-for-television comedy horror film based on the 1964–1966 sitcom ''The Addams Family''. In contrast to the "new" in the title, most of the original series regulars reprised their ...

''. In 1966, she joined the cast of the ABC sitcom ''

The Pruitts of Southampton ''The Pruitts of Southampton'' is an American situation comedy that aired during the 1966-67 season on the ABC network. The show was based on the novel ''House Party'' (1954) by Patrick Dennis. It was ABC's attempt to turn female stand-up comic ...

''. From 1980 to 1983, she played the character Cricket Montgomery on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

As the World Turns ''As the World Turns'' (often abbreviated as ''ATWT'') is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS for 54 years from April 2, 1956, to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created ''As the World Turns'' as a sister show to her other soa ...

''. She also appeared in three B-rate

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

s: '' Blood Frenzy'' (1987), '' Iced'' (1988), and ''Savage Harbor'' (1987).

Personal life

Loring married Farrell Foumberg, in 1973 when she was 15, and had a daughter. The marriage ended a year later. Loring married her second husband, actor Doug Stevenson, in 1981. He was a contract performer on another CBS/

Procter & Gamble The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...

soap opera ''

Search for Tomorrow ''Search for Tomorrow'' is an American television soap opera. It began its run on CBS on September 3, 1951, and concluded on NBC, 35 years later, on December 26, 1986. Set in the fictional town of Henderson in an unspecified state, the show focu ...

.'' Loring had a second daughter with Stevenson and their marriage ended in 1983. In 1987, Loring married adult film actor

Jerry Butler Jerry Butler Jr. (born December 8, 1939) is an American soul singer-songwriter, producer, musician, and retired politician. He was the original lead singer of the Rhythm and blues, R&B vocal group the Impressions, inducted into the Rock and Rol ...

. They met on the set of the 1987 adult film ''Traci's Big Trick'', on which Loring worked as a make-up artist and uncredited writer. In the ensuing years of their marriage, she voiced her dissatisfaction with Butler's continued involvement in

pornography Pornography (often shortened to porn or porno) is the portrayal of sexual subject matter for the exclusive purpose of sexual arousal. Primarily intended for adults,

and eventually Butler began secretly participating in porn shoots without her knowledge. In an interview with ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasion ...

'' in the 1990s, Butler described himself as "addicted to the lifestyle", ashamed of his clandestine behavior and its effect on his marriage. The couple later appeared on the '' Sally Jessy Raphael Show'', again discussing the damage Butler's porn career was causing to their marriage. Butler and Loring divorced in 1992, which was also the year he began to exit the hardcore industry, and evidently by choice, virtually disappearing from the public eye for many years. Loring was married for a fourth time in 2003 to Graham Rich. The couple separated in 2008 and divorced in 2014.

Death

Loring had a stroke caused by smoking and

hypertension Hypertension (HTN or HT), also known as high blood pressure (HBP), is a long-term medical condition in which the blood pressure in the arteries is persistently elevated. High blood pressure usually does not cause symptoms. Long-term high bl ...

, and died at

Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center is a Catholic hospital in Burbank, California. The hospital has 446 beds, and is part of Providence Health & Services. Its address is 501 South Buena Vista Street, Burbank, California 91505. On the oppo ...

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, w ...

, on January 28, 2023, at the age of 64.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Loring, Lisa 1958 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American actresses American child actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses Deaths from hypertension People from the Ralik Chain