| Gomez Addams | |
|---|---|
| The Addams Family character | |
 | |
| First appearance | The New Yorker (1942) |
| Created by | Charles Addams |
| Portrayed by | John Astin (1964–1966, 1977) Raul Julia (1991–1993) Tim Curry (1998) Glenn Taranto (1998) Nathan Lane (2010) Roger Rees (2010) Douglas Sills (2011) Cameron Blakely (2017) Luis Guzmán (2022–present) |
| Voiced by | John Astin (1972, 1992–1993) Lennie Weinrib (1973) Oscar Isaac (2019,2021) |
| In-universe information | |
| Nickname | Bubele (by Morticia; Yiddish for "darling") |
| Species | Human |
| Gender | Male |
| Occupation | Lawyer, business tycoon, playboy |
| Family | Fester (originally uncle-in-law in the original TV series, older brother in recent movies and TV series) Grandmama (mother) Hester Frump (mother-in-law) Ophelia Frump (sister-in-law) Cousin Itt (cousin) Margaret Addams (Cousin Itt's wife) What Addams(Cousin Itt's son) Cosimo Addams (brother) Pancho Addams (brother,Halloween with the New Addams Family) Debbie Jellinsky-Addams (sister-in-law,Addams Family Values; deceased) Vasco Addams (paternal uncle) Goody Addams (ancestor) |
| Spouse | Morticia (wife) |
| Children | Wednesday (daughter) Pugsley (older son) Pubert (younger son,Addams Family Values) Wednesday Jr. (younger daughter,Halloween with the New Addams Family) Pugsley Jr. (youngest son,Halloween with the New Addams Family) |
| Nationality | Spanish |
Gomez Addams is the patriarch of the fictionalAddams Family, created by cartoonistCharles Addams forThe New Yorker magazine in the 1940s and subsequently portrayed on television, in film, and on the stage.
"Husband ofMorticia (if indeed they are married at all), a crafty schemer, but also a jolly man in his own way. Tries hard to be father and teacher to the children, though sometimes misguided— we can depend on Morticia to straighten him out. Sentimental and often puckish—optimistic, he is full of enthusiasm for his dreadful plots. He is dressed in a tight double-breasted striped suit and is sometimes seen in a rather formal dressing gown. The only one who smokes—thoughPugsley can be allowed an occasional cigar."— Charles Addams[1]
In Charles Addams's original cartoons, Gomez was the nameless patriarch of the family. He had a somewhat grotesque appearance, with a tubby body, a snub nose, a crooked tooth, and a receding chin. He was often depicted reading in the den or lounging on the windowsill.
In the Charles Addams cartoons, Gomez—as with all of the members of the family—had nogiven name.[2] WhenThe Addams Family television series was being developed, Charles Addams suggested naming the character either Repelli or Gomez. Addams left the final choice up to portrayerJohn Astin, who chose Gomez.[3]
Because "Gómez" is originally a Spanishsurname, the character's name was changed to "Homero" ("Homer") in Spanish speaking translations. In Spain, where the surname originated, he is called Gómez.[clarification needed]
Like the other members of the family, Gomez's personality became largely codified by the television series.[2] He is depicted as being ofCastilian extraction and Spanish ancestry, which was first brought up in "Art and the Addams Family" on December 18, 1964; in the episode, Gomez says his "ancestral land" is Spain and Morticia refers to him as a "mad Castilian."[4]
John Astin had long sessions with Addams and series producer David Levy, who gave him free rein in developing the character. Enlarging on Addams's description of Gomez as aLatin lover type, Astin suggested the eye-rolling, pencil moustache, and ardent devotion to Morticia.[5]
In the Addams cartoons and the television shows, Gomez wore anecktie to hischalk-stripe suit, though in the films, Gomez wears abow tie and a wide variety of extravagant clothing. He spends $1000 per month on cigars,[6] and he is an accomplished juggler andknife thrower. He loves crashingtoy trains and diving for crabs on Halloween. When he wishes to know the time, he will pull a pocket watch from the breast pocket of his jacket (the chain is attached to the lapel) while simultaneously checking a wristwatch.
Gomez is anathletic,acrobatic, and eccentricmultibillionaire.[6] Though an extremely successful businessman, having acquired much of his wealth through inheritance and investments, he has little regard for money and will casually spend thousands of dollars on any whimsical endeavor. Gomez's investments are guided more by whimsy than strategy, yet rarely fail him. Gomez owns businesses around the world, including a swamp, bought for "scenic value", acrocodile farm, a buzzard farm, a salt mine, a tombstone factory, a uranium mine, and many others. In Forbes 2007 "Fictional 15" list of the richest fictional characters, he was ranked number 12 with a net worth of $2.5 billion.[6]
As a young man, Gomez was, per flashback in "Morticia's Romance", a perennially sickly youth, gaining perfect health only after meeting Morticia. He nevertheless studied law (voted "Most Likely Never to Pass the Bar") and is quite proud his law class voted him "Least Likely to Succeed"; and although he rarely practices, he takes an absurd delight in losing cases, boasting of having put many criminals behind bars while acting as theirdefense attorney, claiming that he "never sent an innocent man to jail"; this is somewhat contradicted in the episode "The Addams Family Goes to Court," which noted that while Gomez has never won a case, he has never lost one either. This backstory, while not mentioned directly, is recalled inThe Addams Family (1991), when Gomez announces he willserve as his own attorney, only to lose the case. InThe New Addams Family, Gomez had also studied medicine.
Gomez has offered contradictory views on work; in one episode, he claims that although his family was wealthy even in his childhood, he nonetheless performed odd jobs and "scrimped and saved [his] kopeks," which he considered character building. When his son Pugsley decided to find a job, however, Gomez was horrified, claiming, "No Addams has worked in 300 years!" In the 1991 animated series, Gomez deliberately tried to fail at something, anything, only to realize in the end of the episode that he is only a failure in failure. This is additionally contradicted in "New Neighbors Meet the Addams Family" (season one, episode 9, 1964). He specifically states that Thing always beats him at bridge.[7][better source needed]
In the 1960sAmericantelevision series, Gomez was portrayed by John Astin. Astin also voiced the character in an episode ofThe New Scooby-Doo Movies, which featured the family. In the first animated series byHanna-Barbera, Gomez was voiced byLennie Weinrib. In the second animated series, also by Hanna-Barbera, Gomez's voice was again performed by John Astin.
Gomez was played byRaul Julia inThe Addams Family (1991) andAddams Family Values (1993). After Julia died in 1994,Tim Curry took up the role in the television filmAddams Family Reunion in 1998, and in 1999, Gomez was played byGlenn Taranto in the TV seriesThe New Addams Family, where he returned to the madcap attitude of his original 1960s incarnation with Astin guest-starring as Gomez's grandfather. In theBroadway musical, Gomez was initially played byNathan Lane and later byRoger Rees. In the UK tour ofThe Addams Family musical in 2017, Gomez was portrayed by Cameron Blakely, who was set to reprise his role in 2021. The films differ from the television series in several ways, most significantly thatFester is Gomez's brother (in the television show, he was Morticia's uncle).The Addams Family notes that Gomez's parents were murdered by an angry mob, though in one scene in the sequel, when Gomez catches Fester with a pornographic magazine, they both look at the centerfold (unseen by the viewer) and fondly say "Mom". InAddams Family Values, Gomez and Morticia have a third child named Pubert, a seemingly indestructible baby with a thin, black moustache like his father.
Oscar Isaac voiced Gomez in the2019 animated adaptation ofThe Addams Family and its2021 sequel. In the latter film, it is revealed that Gomez wears a wig made ofSasquatch fur due to losing his original hair in a napalm accident.
Luis Guzmán portrays Gomez inNetflix seriesWednesday.[8] Both he and Morticia first met at Nevermore Academy, a boarding school for supernatural people (also known as "Outcasts"). It is revealed in flashbacks that he and Morticia were involved in the death of a local teenage boy named Garrett Gates, who tried to kill Gomez in a blind rage, due to Gates' own infatuation with Morticia. Sheriff Galpin still believes that Gomez committed the murder and holds a grudge against the Addams' bloodline. After Gomez is re-arrested for Gates' murder, Morticia andWednesday exhume Gates' body and find evidence that Gates died of accidental nightshade poisoning, clearing Gomez. In season 2, it's revealed that Gomez had the power to produce strong electrical charges, similar to his brother Fester and son Pugsley, but his powers were taken from him by his classmate Issac Night in an experiment in which Gomez was tricked into participating; it nearly killed him.
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