John Astin

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John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor who has appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as a television producer and voice artist.

He is best known for his role in The Addams Family (1964-1966), reprising his role in the television film Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977) and the animated series The Addams Family (1992–1993).

Among the notable film projects on West Side Story (1961), That Touch of Mink (1962), Move Over Darling (1964), Freaky Friday (1976), National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985), Teen Wolf Too (1987), and The Frighteners (1996).

Patty Duke, the adoptive father of Duke's son, actor Sean Astin, was his second wife. For his directorial debut, Astin's comedic short Prelude (1968), he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film.

Early years

Astin was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to Margaret Linnie (née Mackenzie) and Dr. Allen Varley Astin, who was the head of the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology). At that time, Astin and his family lived on Battery Lane in Bethesda, Maryland. After graduating from Washington & Jefferson College, he graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1952. He studied mathematics at Washington and Jefferson, then drama at Johns Hopkins; he was a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at Johns Hopkins.

Personal life

Astin has five sons, three (David, Allen and Tom) with his first wife, Suzanne Hahn; two with his second wife, actress Patty Duke; one adopted (Sean, Patty's son from a younger marriage, whom Astin adopted during their marriage) and one biological (Mackenzie).

Astin married Valerie Ann Sandobal in 1989 and the couple lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Astin is a member of Soka Gakkai International, a worldwide Buddhist group.

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Career

Astin began acting in theater, making his first Broadway appearance as an understudy in Major Barbara, as well as commercial voice-over work. He had his first big break in film when he appeared in West Side Story (1961).

During this period, actor Tony Randall discovered his gift for also acting comedy, resulting in guest starring roles on Dennis the Menace; and Harrigan and Son, starring Pat O'Brien. Astin appeared in the last episode of the ABC police drama The Asphalt Jungle in 1961.

Astin took lead in an ABC television series, He's Fenster, co-starring Marty Ingels during the 1962-63 television season. Astin played Harry Dickens to Ingels' Arch Fenster as two trouble-prone carpenters. The series combined witty dialogue with slapstick comedies. I'm Dickens, He's Fenster received critical acclaim, but he was against two high-rated programs, Sing Along with Mitch on CBS and Route 66 on CBS. By the time I'm Dickens won his following and started winning its time slot, ABC had already cancelled the contest. 32 episodes were produced.

Astin is perhaps best known for his character "The Addams Family," a popular sitcom that aired on ABC from 1964 to 1966, based on cartoons created by Charles Addams. Gomez Addams, the head of the macabre family, appeared as Astin in Gomez Addams. Gomez appeared in the 1977 made-for-television film Halloween with the New Addams Family, and he also played Gomez in the animated film The Addams Family from 1992 to 1993. Astin appeared in the Canadian-American television series The New Addams Family, which aired from 1998 to 1999, with the role of Gomez played by Glenn Taranto.

Astin appeared in The Pruitts of Southampton (re-named The Phyllis Diller Show) for the second half of the 1966-1967 season, playing Diller's brother-in-law, Angus Pruitt. He appeared in the Riddler in Batman's second season (Frank Gorshin returned for the third and final season). On the 1970s television show Operation Petticoat, he played submarine commander Matthew Sherman. He made several appearances in the first two seasons of She Wrote's popular mystery series Murder, as scheming real estate developer (and eventually Sheriff) Harry Pierce, who appears as the murderer in his last film. Buddy, the eccentric former medical patient and the father of lead character Harry Stone, had a recurring role on the sitcom Night Court. During the 1985–86 television season, Astin appeared on the television show Ed LaSalle as the regular actor. He also appeared in many television shows, including appearances on Duckman, Homeboys in Outer Space, Jack Palance's ABC circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth, and a 1967 episode of Gunsmoke as Festus Haggen's cousin Henry.

Astin received an Academy Award nomination for Prelude, a short film directed, produced, and directed by Astin. He was nominated for an Ace Award for his work on Tales from the Crypt, and Emmy Award-nominated Gomez for the cartoon voice of Gomez on ABC-TV's The Addams Family. On the animated series Taz-Mania, he also voiced Bull Gator. Astin served on the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America for four years, and he has been involved in Los Angeles and Santa Monica with community affairs.

He has continued to work in acting, appearing in a number of Killer Tomatoes films as Professor Gans and as Professor Wickwire in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. In Peter Jackson's The Judge, the ghost of an Old West gunlinger, appeared in 1996. Edgar Allan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight, a one-man play written by Paul Day Clemens and Ron Magid, has also toured the one-man play Edgar Allan Poe. Astin talked to the Baltimore Examiner in December 2007 about his acting experience: During an interview, he talked about his role:

Astin is a member of the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts in Columbia, Maryland, and he is a member of the board of directors.

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