Our guest blogger today is Cottey College student Baylee Wilson. Thanks Baylee!
Carolyn Jones, Modern Screen, July 1958
Carolyn Jones took entertaining seriously. She told
her sister Bette that her most important duty was to bring joy to the world. As
Morticia Addams on the beloved Addams Family she did and is still doing
just that.
Carolyn Sue Jones was born April 28, 1930 to Chloe
Southern-Jones and Julius Jones. Her father was never a steady presence in her
life, causing her mother, her younger sister, and herself to live with Chloe’s
mother and stepfather in Amarillo, Texas.
Jones’ passion for film came from her mother, who constantly
watched movies and read magazines covering the lives of popular film stars. At
five years old, during a trip to Hollywood, Jones told her family that she was
going to be a movie star. Her younger sister Bette remembered that in high
school Jones was determined to attend the Pasadena Playhouse. Jones did enroll
in the acting school in 1947. After graduating, she got a role as an understudy
at a local theater and took the stage after the lead could not perform. That
night Jones was noticed by a representative from Paramount Studios and was
given a contract after a screen test.
Carolyn Jones, Modern Screen, June 1958.
In 1952, she appeared in films but those roles were
uncredited. Jones performed on the stage and in television shows. Her big break
was landing a spot in the 1953 movie House of Wax, which was one of the
earliest 3D feature films ever released. Despite it being a small part, critics
noticed her performance and praised it. From there, despite some rockiness in
finding work, her career started looking up before eventually taking off.
During her career, Jones worked alongside Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Natalie
Wood, and many others. After a long line of films, she found herself back in
television in her most iconic role as Morticia Addams in The Addams Family.
The series ran only from 1964 to 1966 but it made Jones a sensation.
Carolyn
Jones and John Astin, 1964
Jones loved playing Morticia Addams. She said that
her own sense of humor was a bit off beat so she felt true to herself in that
character. She needed that perspective to deal with celebrity and what she
considered to be her ridiculous Hollywood lifestyle. In the 2002 documentary Carolyn
Jones: Morticia and More, her sister Bette explained that Jones and her famous
producer husband built a lavish house to fulfill expectations of celebrity.
Bette felt that Carolyn kept up such glamorous appearances because she thought
that was what “her fans deserved.”
Jones’s final role was on the television soap opera Capitol. She continued to perform though
she suffered from cancer and was in so much pain she needed to rely on a wheelchair
for mobility. In 1982 she told entertainment journalist Ray Bennett, “I didn’t have kids and I need this. I
need to work. When I work, I feel better. When I work, I can do anything. When
I’m not working, I’m facrumpsing around like an old biddy, snarling at
everything. This, I like. I understand it. It’s my life. As they say on those
T-shirts: showbiz is my life.” She died in 1983 but her comedic
performances and snapping fingers still bring joy to many.
Sources and Further Reading
Bennett, Ray. “Why Carolyn Jones Did Not Want to Kiss Elvis
Presley.” April 28, 2015.
http://thecliffedge.com/?p=7520
"Carolyn Jones--60s Interview." Hollywood Backstage.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LSL_QRTFwFA
Gross, Ed. “Here's What Happened to Carolyn Jones Before,
During and After Playing Morticia on 'The Addams Family.'” Closer Weekly, April 7,
2020.
https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/heres-what-happened-to-the-addams-family-star-carolyn-jones/
Nelson, Ted, dir. Carolyn Jones: Morticia and More.
A&E, 2002.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gS2rJ7mdTWo
Pylant, James. In Morticia's Shadow: The Life & Career of Carolyn Jones. Stephenville, TX: Jacobus Books, 2012.
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