Carolyn Jones is likely best remembered for playing Morticia Addams on TV's The Addams Family. The series, which ran just two seasons (1964 – 1966) and sixty-four episodes on ABC, starred Jones as the sexy matriarch of the creepy and kooky Addams family. But before making the jump to television, Jones had a promising feature film career that included an Oscar® nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Jones was born April 28, 1929 in Amarillo, Texas. Her childhood was a difficult one; her father abandoned the family and Jones was often unwell due to asthma. Yet she was a creative child, who excelled in poetry and drama at school and found escape in the world of movies and fan magazines. In 1947, Jones followed her dream of acting to California, where she trained at the Pasadena Playhouse. She made her film debut in 1952 with a bit part in the William Holden-Alexis Smith film The Turning Point. She also had a small role in Bob Hope & Bing Crosby's Road to Bali (1952).

Jones' first major role came in the 3-D horror movie House of Wax (1953). In the film, she played one of Vincent Price's murder victims and actually spent much of the movie completely immobile as a waxwork Joan of Arc. That same year, Jones was reportedly up for a part in another big film, From Here to Eternity. But as the story goes, she fell ill with pneumonia and Donna Reed was cast instead. Still, 1953 was a good year for Jones. Along with House of Wax, she appeared in The War of the Worlds and the Glenn Ford crime drama The Big Heat.

Her next starring role came in The Saracen Blade (1954) opposite Ricardo Montalban. Over the next few years, she took supporting roles alongside some big Hollywood names – Jones played Miss Finch the night nurse in The Seven Year Itch (1955) with Marilyn Monroe; she was Frank Sinatra's neighbor Helen in The Tender Trap (1955); and she appeared as Doris Day's friend Cindy in the 1956 version of The Man Who Knew Too Much.

Jones stepped up to leading roles again with the sci-fi classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). And 1957 would be her best year yet. Not only did she star with Ethel Barrymore in Johnny Trouble and play gun moll Sue to Mickey Rooney's Baby Face Nelson, but she also earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination for an eight minute role as a "good time girl" in The Bachelor Party. Jones followed up her Oscar® nod with a supporting role opposite Gene Kelly and Natalie Wood in Marjorie Morningstar (1958). She even co-starred with the king himself - Elvis Presley - in King Creole (1958), directed by Michael Curtiz.

Despite her film success, Jones continued to make frequent television appearances. She appeared on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Dragnet, Zane Grey Theatre, and Dr. Kildare among others. Jones' husband might have had a little something to do with her TV interests; from 1953 to 1964, she was married to mega-producer Aaron Spelling (the man behind hit shows from Charlie's Angels and Fantasy Island to Melrose Place and 7th Heaven). The two started out in their careers together, both young and ambitious. When Jones hit the big time with The Bachelor Party, Spelling was still paying his dues as a writer. By the time her film career was drying up, Spelling's TV career was taking off. He cast her in several of his TV shows, including The Dick Powell Show.

Unfortunately, with success came trouble in the marriage. The amicable divorce was finalized in 1964, the same year Jones found a little TV happiness of her own. The Addams Family was a big hit and it made Jones a household name. She was even Golden Globe nominated as Best Female TV Star in 1964. For unclear reasons, ABC canceled the show after just two seasons. Jones struggled for several years after The Addams Family, finding herself typecast with good parts a rarity.

Eventually she found work both in film – she played saloon owner Madge in Heaven with a Gun (1969) once again teaming with Glenn Ford – and on television. Jones appeared in five episodes of the Adam West Batman series, she had the role of Mrs. Moore in the landmark Roots (1977) mini-series and she turned up on a number of Aaron Spelling produced shows like Fantasy Island and Love Boat.

In 1977, Jones reteamed with her old co-stars for an Addams reunion in Halloween with the New Addams Family. Her final appearance came on the daytime serial Capitol where she played Myrna Clegg from 1982 – 1983. Jones had been diagnosed with colon cancer in 1981; she received treatment, but the cancer returned during her run on Capitol. Carolyn Jones died August 3, 1983.

by Stephanie Thames