Aggregated by R. Michael Brown, Writer, AI Editor

Lurch was a fictional character created by American cartoonist Charles Addams as a butler to the Addams Family. In the original television series, Lurch was played by Ted Cassidy.

He is a 6 ft. 9 in. tall, shambling, gloomy butler. In the original Addams Family television series, Lurch has a deep and resonant voice. Although fully capable of normal speech, Lurch often communicates via simple inarticulate moans, which, much like the dialogue of Cousin Itt, his employers have no trouble understanding.

Like any butler, Lurch tries to help around the house, but occasionally his great size and strength cause trouble. He clearly takes pride in his work and is willing to do even the most arduous task.

His character often demonstrates signs of frustration towards his employers; however, his continued presence also suggests loyalty. As a result, he appears to be one of the family.

The family summons him with an ever-present bell pull (in the form of a hangman’s noose). When pulled, it produces a loud gong noise that shakes the house, to which Lurch instantly appears and responds, “You… rang?”, even if wide-angle shots reveal that he was clearly nowhere in the vicinity before; on a few occasions Lurch arrives even before the bell pull is tugged.

Much of Lurch’s history, including his first name and the nature of his relationship to any other Addamses, was originally unspecified. “Lurch” was revealed during the original TV series to be a surname, as there was a “Mother Lurch” who appeared in one episode (portrayed by Ellen Corby). She addressed Lurch as “Sonny”, which could either be a parental nickname or his actual first name. As for his father, he was mentioned twice, once in the second animated series, and in an apparent reference to his Frankenstein’s monster-like appearance, Lurch said, smiling, “He put me together.” And another time in the original series where Lurch mentions his father wanted him to be a jockey (typically short and light people) instead of a butler.

It was stated in Addams Family Reunion that Lurch is part Addams. This plays into his being a creation similar to Frankenstein’s monster. The only definite body part that is from an Addams is his heart. Lurch’s mother appears to be a physically normal, elderly woman, although she does not see anything unusual about the Addams family or their home, with the exception of Thing.

A decade before Ted Cassidy played Lurch on The Addams Family (and appeared in Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and other films and series) he was an Ormond Beach lifeguard who earned a double major in Speech and Drama at DeLand’s Stetson University. That’s him, second from left. Handsome fella and, by all accounts, a very nice man.

Theodore Crawford Cassidy (July 31, 1932 – January 16, 1979) was an American actor. He tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction works, such as Star Trek and I Dream of Jeannie, and he played Lurch on The Addams Family TV series of the mid-1960s.^[1][2] He also narrated the intro sequence for the 1977 live-action The Incredible Hulk TV series and provided the growls and roars for the Hulk for the first two seasons before his death. [Wikipedia]