Uncle Fester | |
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Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester
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Created by | Charles Addams |
Portrayed by | Jackie Coogan, Christopher Lloyd, Patrick Thomas, Michael Roberds, Kevin Chamberlin, Brad Oscar, Russell Dykstra |
Information | |
Aliases | None |
Species | Human |
Gender | Male |
Family |
Morticia (originally niece, sister-in-law in recent movies) Gomez (originally nephew by marriage, brother in recent movies) Wednesday (niece) Pugsley (nephew) Pubert Addams (nephew) Grandmama (originally sister-in-law, only Morticia's mother in movies) Itt (cousin) |
Spouse(s) | Debbie Jellinsky (deceased) |
Uncle Fester, also known as Fester Addams, is a member of the fictional Addams Family. He was played by Jackie Coogan in the original television series, by Christopher Lloyd in the two feature films, and by Patrick Thomas in the direct-for-video film Addams Family Reunion. Finally, Michael Roberds played Fester in The New Addams Family. In the Broadway musical, the part was originated by Kevin Chamberlin, with Brad Oscar taking over on March 8, 2011.
Uncle Fester is incorrigible and except for the good nature of the family and the ignorance of the police, would ordinarily be under lock and key ... the eyes are pig-like and deeply embedded ... he likes to fish, but usually employs dynamite ... he keeps falcons on the roof which he uses for hunting ... his one costume ... summer and winter ... is a black great coat with an enormous collar ... he is fat with pudgy little hands and feet.
Uncle Fester is a completely hairless, hunched, and barrel-shaped man with dark, sunken eyes and often a deranged smile. He always wears a heavy, full-length fur coat. Fester was derived from a character drawn by cartoonist Charles Addams, although these were single page cartoons, with no stories or character names. Nevertheless, the character is recognizable in a number of cartoons, both by his appearance (bald, stooping, sunken eyes) and behavior (e.g. turning the shower to a special "scalding" setting, feeding his garden plants blood plasma, and releasing an eagle on the neighbor's homing pigeons). While he is occasionally seen with the rest of the family, particularly on anthology covers, he is also seen on his own more often than the others. He is sometimes indicated to live in a small shack surrounded by wrought-iron fence.
Fester has a strange ability to generate electricity. He would often demonstrate this by putting a light bulb in his mouth, which would illuminate, accompanied by a loud, crackling noise. He claims to possess 110 volts of power in one episode of the sitcom, while in another episode he demonstrated his "magnetic" quality by levitating a metal paperweight up to his hand. When struck directly on the head by a fired cannonball, he appears only mildly dazed, while the cannonball bounces off his head.