ACTOR
John Astin
- Known for
- The Addams Family (1964), The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. (1993), Night Gallery (1969), The Addams Family (1992)
21 archived facts 2 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
John Astin is an actor best known for The Addams Family, The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. and Night Gallery.
All facts (21)
- #001
John Astin is a great admirer of Edgar Allan Poe's works and studies them intensively. He regularly attended Poe's annual birthday celebrations in Baltimore.
- #002
After working as a visiting professor at Johns Hopkins University and teaching acting and directing in the Writing Seminars department of the Krieger School of Arts and Sciences, John Astin became a full-time professor. In 2005 he was appointed head of the theatre arts program at Johns Hopkins University and founded the theatre arts minor; he teaches an average of eight courses a year and directs student productions. In 2011 the Hopkins Merrick Red Barn theater was renovated and renamed in his honor. He was unaware that the theater was being renamed and was surprised at the reopening ceremony by his sons Sean and Mackenzie Astin and his friend Ed Asner.
- #003
His son Sean Astin is not his biological child. Sean is the son of Michael Tell, the former husband of Astin's ex-wife Patty Duke. Duke claimed in 1990 that John Astin was Sean's biological father until the pair had a blood test, which revealed that his father was Tell.
- #004
During a speech at Booker High School in Sarasota, Florida, John Astin told the crowd of students that he had never seen any of the new Addams Family films and never would. He did not explain why.
- #005
John Astin played the same character (Gomez Addams) in three different series: The Addams Family (1964), The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972) and The Addams Family (1992).
- #006
John Astin attended Washington and Jefferson College, graduated from Johns Hopkins University and did graduate work at the University of Minnesota.
- #007
John Astin has a son with Patty Duke: Mackenzie Astin; he also adopted Duke's son Sean Astin when Sean was 3 years old. He has three sons with Suzanne Hahn: David Aston, Allen J. Astin (born March 23, 1961) and Thomas E. Astin (born March 19, 1965).
- #008
John Astin played the Riddler in a two-part episode of the Batman (1966) television series, replacing Frank Gorshin.
- #009
John Astin is the only surviving regular cast member of The Addams Family (1964).
- #010
John Astin and his son Sean appeared in films that won the Best Picture award forty years apart. John had a small role in West Side Story (1961), while Sean starred in the Lord of the Rings trilogy.
- #011
John Astin appeared in three separate episodes of Night Gallery (1969). His character is killed in each episode, and in two of them the character finds himself in Hell. He also directed three episodes of the series.
- #012
John Astin's father, Dr. Allen Varley Astin, was the fifth Director of the National Bureau of Standards.
- #013
Three generations of John Astin's family worked with Christopher Lee. His son Sean Astin and his granddaughter Ali Astin appeared in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003). Astin and Lee appeared together in Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990).
- #014
John Astin is a visiting professor of theatre at Johns Hopkins University. His new facility is the "Old Barn," the former home of Theatre Hopkins, a senior community theater company. Astin has received praise from critics for his role as the Stage Manager in the production of "Our Town" he staged with Hopkins, and recently for his role as Edgar Allan Poe.
- #015
John Astin and his wife Valerie are the leaders of a Buddhist group in Santa Monica, California.
- #016
After Eartha Kitt's death in 2008, John Astin became the oldest surviving actor to have played one of Batman's main villains (Catwoman, the Joker, the Penguin, the Riddler).
- #017
John Astin is best remembered by the public for his role as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family (1964).
- #018
John Astin is the grandfather of actresses Ali Astin, Elizabeth Louise Astin, Isabella Louise Astin, Sedona Astin and Jaya Astin.
- #019
After the death of Lisa Loring (who played Wednesday Addams) on 28 January 2023, John Astin (who played Gomez Addams) is the last surviving member of the original cast of The Addams Family (1964).
- #020
He and his wife Valerie have lived in the Tuscany-Canterbury area of Baltimore, Maryland for the past five years.
- #021
In 1984 he attended the private funeral of Jackie Coogan, former lead actor of The Addams Family.
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