Grandmama (The Addams Family)

Grandmama
The Addams Family character
Auber Tully, as Grandmama
First appearance	The New Yorker (1938)
Created by	Charles Addams
Portrayed by	Blossom Rock (1964–1966) Jane Rose (1977) Judith Malina (1991) Carol Kane (1993) Alice Ghostley (1998) Betty Phillips (1998–1999) Jackie Hoffman (2010) Joanna Lumley (2025)
Voiced by	Janet Waldo (1973) Carol Channing (1992–1993) Bette Midler (2019, 2021)
In-universe information
Full name	Eudora Addams (in The New Addams Family ) Hester Frump (in Wednesday )
Gender	Female
Occupation	Witch
Spouse	Father Addams (husband, 1991 film; deceased)
Children	Gomez (son) Fester (originally brother-in-law in the 1964 TV series, son in later media) Pancho (younger son, Halloween with the New Addams Family )
Relatives	Morticia (daughter-in-law) Wednesday (granddaughter) Pugsley (grandson) Pubert (younger grandson, Addams Family Values ) Wednesday Jr. (younger granddaughter, Halloween with the New Addams Family) Pugsley Jr. (youngest grandson, Halloween with the New Addams Family) Itt (cousin) Granny Frump (sister-in-law) Ophelia Frump (daughter-in-law) Debbie Addams (née Jellinsky) (daughter-in-law, Addams Family Values; deceased)

Grandmama is a fictional character in The Addams Family franchise, created by cartoonist Charles Addams and first appearing in his New Yorker cartoons in 1938. Depicted as an eccentric, garrulous witch skilled in potions, fortune telling, and knife throwing, she is the grandmother of Wednesday and Pugsley Addams. Across various adaptations in television, film, animation, and stage, her exact familial relationship shifts sometimes portrayed as Gomez Addams’s mother, at other times as Morticia Addams’s. The role has been played or voiced by numerous performers, including Blossom Rock, Judith Malina, Carol Kane, Bette Midler and Joanna Lumley. Known for her frizzy white hair, shawl, and mischievous humor, Grandmama remains a beloved supporting character, embodying the macabre charm and offbeat humor of the Addams household.

Character background

"This disrespectful old hag is the mother of Gomez (husband of Morticia). She willingly helps with the dishes, cheats at solitaire and is thoroughly dishonest. She, too, is a favorite with the children and will make them cookies in the shape of bats, skulls and bones. Good humored about all and can be garrulous. The complexion is dark, the hair is white and frizzy and uncombed. She has a light beard and a large mole. She wears a shawl on all occasions, thick socks and fleece slippers under a bombazine skirt." — Charles Addams ^[1]

Grandmama Addams is an aged witch who concocts potions and spells, and dabbles in fortune telling and knife throwing. She is the grandmother of the Addams children, Pugsley and Wednesday, although her relationship to the other family members is less consistent. Grandmama first appeared along with the then-unnamed Addams family in Charles Addams' original cartoons published in The New Yorker , in which she was regularly illustrated with shoulder-length frizzy hair and a fringed shawl.

Grandmama and Granny Frump

When asked to name his characters for the then upcoming 1964 TV adaptation, Charles Addams, creator of the original The New Yorker cartoon strips, first named the household's grandmother as Granny Frump and described her as Gomez's mother, thus making her Morticia's mother-in-law and Wednesday and Pugsley's paternal grandmother. But when the show was being made, the characters were instead given the surname of Addams after their creator, yet Grandmama remains Gomez's mother and "Frump" became Morticia's maiden name instead. A different Granny Frump appears in three episodes of the show, Grandmama's best friend Esther Frump and the mother of sisters Morticia Addams and Ophelia Frump (Esther is, probably, Fester's sister too). These versions of the characters were also used in the TV movie Halloween with the New Addams Family .

However, due to Charles Addams originally naming the character Granny Frump, both the feature films and animated television series had retconned her as being Morticia's mother and Wednesday and Pugsley's maternal grandmother instead. In the first film, Morticia and Fester discuss how "Mother and Father Addams" were killed by an angry mob. In the third film, Grandmama is named Esmeralda and is again Morticia's mother. The character is simply referred to as Granny Frump in the two animated series. In the 1992 series, Grandmama is of Morticia's side of the family, when she introduces herself with the line "the name's Granny Frump". ^[2]

In the 1998-99 television series The New Addams Family , Grandmama is again Gomez's mother and, for the first time, Fester's mother. A separate Granny Frump also appears, once again as Morticia and Ophelia's mother. Here, Grandmama's full name is Eudora Addams, while Morticia's mother was renamed Griselda Frump.

In the Broadway musical The Addams Family , Morticia refers to Grandmama as Gomez and Uncle Fester's mother, to which Gomez reacts with surprise and says that he thought she was Morticia's mother. Morticia later says that Grandmama "may not even be part of this family".

In the animated film and its sequel, she is again Gomez and Fester's mother while Granny Frump is long dead.

In the Netflix show Wednesday , Granny Frump is featured in season two as the mother of Morticia and her sister Ophelia.

Appearances

Television and film

• The character was named "Grandmama" for the 1960s television series in order to avoid confusion with Granny from The Beverly Hillbillies . ^[3] She was played by Blossom Rock, who won the role over actresses such as Minerva Urecal and Marjorie Bennett, ^[4] while Alice Pearce had been rejected after the producers deemed her too young for the part. ^[5] She is depicted as being good friends with Morticia's mother Granny Frump (portrayed by Margaret Hamilton) who is also the mother of Morticia's sister Ophelia.
• Granny Frump appears in The New Scooby-Doo Movies episode "Wednesday is Missing" voiced by Janet Waldo.
• Janet Waldo also voiced Granny Frump in the 1973 animated series.
• Due to illness, Rock was the one regular cast member from the show who did not return for the 1977 reunion film Halloween with the New Addams Family , and she was replaced as Grandmama by Jane Rose. ^[6] Granny Frump was also present helping with the Addams Family's Halloween party where she was portrayed by Elvia Allman.
• Carol Channing provided Granny Frump's voice for the 1992 animated series. In this show, she is shown to run a psychic hotline.
• Three different actresses played Granny in the three Addams Family feature films. Judith Malina, who played her in the 1991 film The Addams Family , was ostracized by others working on the movie after making an anti-war joke about burning the American flag, ^{[7] [8]} and was replaced by Carol Kane for the 1993 sequel Addams Family Values . For the 1998 direct-to-video picture Addams Family Reunion , Granny Frump was played by Alice Ghostley.
• Grandmama was played by Betty Phillips in the 1998-99 television series The New Addams Family . Like the original series, Grandmama is good friends with Granny Frump (portrayed by Meredith Bain Woodward).
• Bette Midler voiced the character in the 2019 animated film. She is shown to be Gomez's and Fester's mother. When she arrives at the Addams Family house before the Saber Mazurka following her robbery in Spain, she treats Pugsley to the candy that is on her feet. At one point, Grandmama called Lurch by the name of "Fabio". Grandmama is also revealed to have a dwarfish sister named Sloom (voiced by Jenifer Lewis) who oversees Pugsley's Saber Mazurka and had an argument with her which Grandmama claimed that she won.
  • Granny Frump is also in the film voiced by Catherine O'Hara. She and her husband Grandpa Frump (voiced by Martin Short) are long dead and Morticia holds a séance in the family cemetery to speak to them. It is also shown at the beginning of the film that Morticia possesses urns containing their ashes. When Morticia brings up Wednesday's friendship with Parker Needler, Granny and Grandpa Frump offer their advice to her and also bring up the time when Morticia ran away to join the girl scouts and learned that they roasted marshmallows and not girl scouts. At one point, Grandpa Frump forgot when he died to which Granny Frump stated that he died 20 years ago.
• Grandmama Addams appears in The Addams Family 2 voiced again by Bette Midler. While most of the Addams Family went on a cross-country road trip, Grandmama kept an eye on the house and threw a house party. When it got out of control, Grandmama called Cousin Itt to help get it back under control. By the time the Addams Family returned to their house, Grandmama and Cousin Itt had restored the house back to what it was before the party.
• Granny Frump appears in the second season of the Netflix series Wednesday , portrayed by Joanna Lumley. ^[9] This version has become a mortuary mogul and successful businesswoman where her relationship with Morticia was strained following an incident regarding Ophelia, but she shares a strong bond with Wednesday. In addition, Granny Frump is also served by a female servant named Varicose.

Miscellaneous

• In the 1989 Nintendo Entertainment System game Fester's Quest , the instruction booklet says Grandmama's psychic powers foretold the alien invasion that would come and abduct all the people in the city, so she invokes a curse on the family mansion. As a result, when extraterrestrial scouts scan the Addams residence for life forms they find none, thanks to Grandmama's curse.
• Grandmama was played by Jackie Hoffman in the 2010 Broadway musical, in which her relation to the family in the storyline is ambiguous. In Act Two, Morticia tells Gomez that "[his] mother came to our home and now she's here forever" to which he replies "wait, I thought she was your mother", referencing Grandmama's ever changing relation to the family in the franchise. Morticia later says that Grandmama "may not even be part of this family".

Relationships

Family tree

Addams family tree
Grandmama [i] [n 1] Debbie Jellinsky [n 2] Uncle Fester [i] Cousin Itt [i] Margaret Alford [n 2] Tully Alford Mal Beineke [n 3] Alice Beineke [n 3] Gomez Addams Morticia Addams (née Frump) [i] [ii] Rupert Styx [n 4] Lucas Beineke [iii] Wednesday Addams [i] [iv] [v] Pugsley Addams [i] Pubert Addams [vi] [n 2] Wednesday Addams Jr. [n 5] Pugsley Addams Jr. [n 5]
Notes: "Altogether Ooky: The Addams Family Tree". Family Tree Magazine. Retrieved November 3, 2020. "Morticia Addams: A Witch Icon Worthy Of All The Praise". SyFy Wire . Retrieved March 13, 2019. "Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of The Addams Family on Broadway". Playbill . Retrieved November 3, 2020. "Here's how Wednesday Addams got her name". The A.V. Club . Retrieved July 13, 2018. "The Many Shades of Wednesday Addams". The New York Times . Retrieved October 14, 2019. "11 things you never knew about Addams Family Values". Digital Spy . Retrieved November 3, 2020. In the Broadway musical The Addams Family, Morticia refers to Grandmama as Gomez and Uncle Fester's mother, to which Gomez reacts with surprise and says that he had thought she was Morticia's mother. Morticia later says that Grandmama "may not even be part of this family", referencing Grandmama's ever-changing relation to the family. Established in the 1993 film Addams Family Values . Established in the Broadway musical The Addams Family. Established in the 1964 episode "Halloween with the Addams Family". Established in the 1977 film Halloween with the New Addams Family .

References

1. Miserocchi, H. Kevin (March 31, 2010). "The Addams Family: An Evilution". Pomegranate.
2. Episode 1x02, "Dead and Breakfast", (1992) The Addams Family
3. Pinkton, Edgar (February 13, 1965). "That Abnormal Addams Family Has Real Heart Year Round". The Troy Record . Retrieved February 3, 2018.
4. Image gallery from Time magazine; reposted on tumblr.com
5. Humphrey, Hal (January 17, 1965). "Toothpaste to Witchery". The Baltimore Sun . Archived from the original on February 6, 2018. Retrieved February 5, 2018.
6. Cox, Stephen (1998). The Addams Chronicles: An Altogether Ooky Look at the Addams Family. Cumberland House Publishing (2nd Edition). ISBN   1888952911.
7. "Judith Malina, Edgy Theatrical Rebel for the Ages, Dies at 88". The Forward. 2015-04-15. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
8. "UNDRESS REHEARSAL". 2007-12-31. Retrieved 2023-06-13.
9. Williams, Jordan (April 24, 2025). "Wednesday Season 2's New OG Addams Family Character Repeats A Big Retcon From The 1990s Movies". Screen Rant . Retrieved 30 April 2025.