John F. Kennedy
Famous Military Veterans
Marilyn Monroe
Anthony Weiner
My Ghost Story
I Survived
Babe Ruth
Johnny Cash
Georgia O'Keefe
I Survived
Quick Facts
Best Known For
Quiz
Think you know about Biography?
Answer questions and see how you rank against other players.
Play NowCarolyn Jones. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 02:11, May 26, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-jones-183550.
Carolyn Jones. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-jones-183550 [Accessed 26 May 2013].
"Carolyn Jones." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 26 2013, 02:11 http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-jones-183550.
"Carolyn Jones," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-jones-183550 [accessed May 26, 2013].
"Carolyn Jones," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-jones-183550 (accessed May 26, 2013).
Carolyn Jones [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 26] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-jones-183550.
Carolyn Jones, http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-jones-183550 (last visited May 26, 2013).
Carolyn Jones. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/carolyn-jones-183550. Accessed May 26, 2013.
Synopsis
Early Life and Career
Actress Carolyn Jones was born Carolyn Baker on April 28, 1930, in Amarillo, Texas. Best known for her portrayal of the gothic matriarch Morticia on The Addams Family, Jones started out in the theater. At the age of 15, she signed up for acting classes at the Pasadena Community Playhouse, and it was at a playhouse production that she caught her first big break. An agent saw her perform and signed her to her first movie role, in The Turning Point (1952), alongside William Holden.
Other early film credits include House of Wax (1953), The War of the Worlds (1953), The Tender Trap (1955) and The Bachelor Party (1957). Jones received an Academy Award nomination for her work on The Bachelor Party, and went on to appear in more than 30 films during her career.
In addition to film, Jones made numerous appearances on television. She played parts on Dragnet, Playhouse 90, Colgate Comedy Hour, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Wagon Train, Batman and Wonder Woman, among others.
'The Addams Family'
But it was Carolyn Jones's role as the caring, slightly creepy Morticia on The Addams Family that garnered her the most attention. The series was based in part on the cartoons of Charles Addams and depicted the adventures of a ghoulish family living in a rundown mansion, much to the horror and confusion of their neighbors. Audiences delighted in watching Morticia and her wacky, macabre husband, Gomez (played by John Astin), handle the day-to-day challenges of raising their children and managing their extremely odd household. While the show only ran from 1964 to 1966, it was syndicated for many years thereafter.
Personal Life and Death
Jones married three times. Her first marriage was to producer Aaron Spelling in 1953. The pair divorced in 1964. Four years later, she married composer-arranger Herbert Green, and they were divorced in 1977. Jones wed actor Peter Bailey-Britton in 1981.
Carolyn Jones died of cancer on August 3, 1983, in West Hollywood, Los Angeles, California.
© 2013 A+E Networks. All rights reserved.
profile name: Carolyn Jones profile occupation:
Your Connections
Sign in with Facebook to see how you and your friends are connected to famous icons.
Profile Connections
Included In These Groups
-
TV Moms: 1960s
View groupAs traditional family structures changed in America, so did the women of 1960s television. Mary Tyler Moore began wearing the pants in the family, when she traded in her housedress for capris on The Dick Van Dyke Show. Florence Henderson played the head of a blended family on The Brady Bunch, and Lucille Ball starred as a widow with big career aspirations on The Lucy Show. These shows, and others like them, reflected the burgeoning 1960s feminist movement. Their popularity among female viewers also proved a growing national interest in women's equality.
TV Moms: 1960s 5 people in this group
-
Creepy Actors
View groupThey can be chainsaw-wielding mainiacs, creatures from another dimension or supernatural presences. Horror film monsters frighten, haunt and shock us. They personify our biggest nightmares. And the actors that truly make those characters come to life on the big screen often give performances so convincing that—for just a minute—you forget they're only imaginary. Here are some of the actors and actresses who have given performances so real, they made viewers think twice about turning off the lights at night.
Creepy Actors 24 people in this group
-
Batman Villains
View groupA superhero like Batman needs a legion of super villains to zap, ka-pow and wham out of Gotham City. From his first appearance in Batman comic books of the late 1930s to later television shows and films, the Caped Crusader has battled such infamous foes as "the Penguin," played by Burgess Meredith on TV and Danny DeVito on the big screen, and "the Joker," played by both Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger, among others. Browse our evil lair of actors who have played some of the baddest Batman baddies.
Batman Villains 21 people in this group
