John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director who has appeared in numerous stage, television and film roles, primarily in character roles. He is widely known for his role as patriarch
Gomez Addams
Gomez Addams is the patriarch of the fictional Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for ''The New Yorker'' magazine in the 1940s and subsequently portrayed on television, in film, and on the stage.
Cartoons
In Charles Addams's ...
in ''
The Addams Family
The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...
'' (1964–1966), reprising the role in the
television film
A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie, telefilm, telemovie or TV film/movie, is a film with a running time similar to a feature film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a Terrestr ...
''
Halloween with the New Addams Family'' (1977) and the animated series ''
The Addams Family
The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...
'' (1992–1993).
Astin starred in the TV film ''
Evil Roy Slade'' (1972). Other notable film roles include ''
West Side Story
''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents.
Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...
'' (1961), ''
That Touch of Mink'' (1962), ''
Move Over, Darling
''Move Over, Darling'' is a 1963 American comedy film starring Doris Day, James Garner, and Polly Bergen and directed by Michael Gordon filmed in DeLuxe Color and CinemaScope released by 20th Century Fox.
The film is a remake of a 1940 sc ...
'' (1963), ''
Freaky Friday'' (1976), ''
National Lampoon's European Vacation'' (1985), ''
Teen Wolf Too'' (1987) and ''
The Frighteners'' (1996). Astin was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film
The Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film is an award presented at the annual Academy Awards ceremony. The award has existed, under numerous names, since 1957.
From 1936 until 1956 there were two separate awards, ''Best Short Subject, On ...
for his directorial debut, the comedic short ''Prelude'' (1968).
Astin has been married three times. His second wife was actress
Patty Duke
Anna Marie Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016), known professionally as Patty Duke, was an American actress. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ...
, and Astin is the adoptive father of Duke's son, actor
Sean Astin.
Early years
Astin was born in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
, Maryland, to Margaret Linnie () and
Allen Varley Astin, a physicist, who was the director of the National Bureau of Standards (now the
National Institute of Standards and Technology
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is an agency of the United States Department of Commerce whose mission is to promote American innovation and industrial competitiveness. NIST's activities are organized into Outline of p ...
). At that time, Astin and his family resided on Battery Lane in Bethesda, Maryland. He graduated from
Johns Hopkins University
The Johns Hopkins University (often abbreviated as Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1876 based on the European research institution model, J ...
in 1952, after transferring from
Washington & Jefferson College
Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...
. He studied
mathematics
Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...
at Washington & Jefferson and then drama at Johns Hopkins; he was a member of the
Phi Kappa Psi fraternity at Johns Hopkins.
Career
Astin started his performing career in theater, making his first
Broadway appearance as an understudy in ''
Major Barbara
''Major Barbara'' is a three-act English play by George Bernard Shaw, written and premiered in 1905 and first published in 1907. The story concerns an idealistic young woman, Barbara Undershaft, who is engaged in helping the poor as a Major in ...
'' (1954) and also did voice-over work for commercials. He appeared as "Ready-Money Matt" in the long-running off-Broadway production of ''
Threepenny Opera'' (which began in 1954), starring
Lotte Lenya. His first big film break came with a small role in ''
West Side Story
''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents.
Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...
'' (1961).
During this period, his talent for also playing comedy was spotted by actor
Tony Randall, leading to guest starring roles on the
sitcom
A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
''
Dennis the Menace'', starring
Jay North; ''
The Donna Reed Show''; and ''
Harrigan and Son'', starring
Pat O'Brien, the first show broadcast on
CBS and the latter two shows broadcast on
ABC. In 1961, Astin appeared in the final episode of the ABC
police drama
The police procedural, police show, or police crime drama is a subgenre of procedural drama and detective fiction that emphasises the investigative procedure of police officers, police detectives, or law enforcement agencies as the protagonists, as ...
''
The Asphalt Jungle''. On April 7, 1961 he played the role of Charlie in the ''
Twilight Zone'' episode, "
A Hundred Yards Over the Rim" which starred
Cliff Robertson
Clifford Parker Robertson III (September 9, 1923 – September 10, 2011) was an American actor whose career in film and television spanned over six decades. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film ''PT 109 (film), PT 109'', a ...
.
During the 1962–63 television season, Astin had his first lead in a television series, the ABC sitcom ''
I'm Dickens, He's Fenster'', co-starring with
Marty Ingels. Astin played Harry Dickens to Ingels's Arch Fenster, as two trouble-prone carpenters. The series combined witty dialogue with moments of
slapstick
Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such as ...
comedy. ''I'm Dickens, He's Fenster'' received critical raves, but was against two high-rated shows, ''
Sing Along with Mitch'' on
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
and ''
Route 66'' on
CBS. By the time ''I'm Dickens, He's Fenster'' gained a following and started winning its time slot, ABC had already canceled the show. A total of 32 episodes were produced.
Astin is widely known for ''
The Addams Family
The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...
'', a popular sitcom that ran on ABC from 1964 to 1966, based on cartoons created by
Charles Addams. Astin starred as Gomez Addams, the head of the macabre family. He later reprised the role of Gomez in the 1977 made-for-television film ''
Halloween with the New Addams Family'' and voiced the role of Gomez in the animated series ''
The Addams Family
The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in ''The New Yorker'' between 193 ...
'' from 1992 to 1993. In the Canadian-American television series ''
The New Addams Family'', which ran from 1998 to 1999, Astin appeared as Grandpapa Addams, with the role of Gomez played by
Glenn Taranto
Glenn Taranto (born ) is an American actor and screenwriter, who played Gomez Addams in ''The New Addams Family''.
He has appeared in six of Paul Haggis' projects.
Taranto's first screenplay, ''Stolen (2009 drama film), Stolen'', starring Josh ...
. With the death of
Lisa Loring, who played Wednesday, as of January 2023, Astin is the last surviving cast member of ''The Addams Family''.

Astin joined the retooled ''
The Pruitts of Southampton'' (re-titled ''The Phyllis Diller Show'') for the second half of the 1966–67 season, playing Diller's brother-in-law, Angus Pruitt. He also played the
Riddler
The Riddler (Edward Nigma, later Edward Nygma or Edward Nashton) is a supervillain appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang, and debuted in ''Detective Comics'' #140 in O ...
in the second season of ''
Batman
Batman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Batman was created by the artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on M ...
'' (
Frank Gorshin
Frank John Gorshin Jr. (April 5, 1933 – May 17, 2005) was an American actor, comedian and impressionist. He made many guest appearances on television variety and talk shows, including '' The Ed Sullivan Show'', '' Tonight Starring Steve Allen' ...
returned for the third and final season.)
Astin played submarine commander Matthew Sherman on the 1970s television series ''
Operation Petticoat''. He also made several appearances in the first two seasons of the popular mystery series ''
Murder, She Wrote
''Murder, She Wrote'' is an American crime drama television series, created by Peter S. Fischer, Richard Levinson and William Link, starring Angela Lansbury, and produced and distributed by Universal Television for the CBS network. The series f ...
'', as scheming real estate developer (and finally Sheriff) Harry Pierce, who ends up as the murderer in his last episode. He had a recurring role on the sitcom ''
Night Court
''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that premiered on NBC on January 4, 1984, and ended on May 31, 1992, after nine seasons consisting of List of Night Court episodes, 193 episodes. The show is set in the night shift of a Manhattan ...
'' as Buddy, eccentric former mental patient and the father of lead character Harry Stone, who often ended his conversations with a big smile and the phrase,"...but I'm feeling MUCH better now!"
Astin played the regular role of Ed LaSalle on the short-lived
Mary Tyler Moore sitcom ''
Mary'' during the 1985–86 television season. He also guest starred on numerous television series, including appearances on ''
Duckman
''Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man'', commonly known simply as ''Duckman'', is an American adult animated sitcom created and developed by Everett Peck, based on the characters he created in his 1990 one-shot comic book published by Dark Horse Com ...
'', ''
Homeboys in Outer Space'',
Jack Palance's ABC circus drama ''
The Greatest Show on Earth'', and a 1967 episode of ''
Gunsmoke
''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...
'' as Festus Haggen's cousin Henry.
Astin received an Academy Award nomination for ''Prelude'', a short film that he wrote, produced, and directed. He was nominated for an Ace Award for his work on ''
Tales from the Crypt'', and received an Emmy Award nomination for the cartoon voice of Gomez on ABC-TV's ''The Addams Family''. He also voiced the character Bull Gator on the animated series ''
Taz-Mania
''Taz-Mania'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation from 1991 to 1995, broadcast in the United States on Fox Kids where it stars the Tasmanian Devil.
Similar to other Warner Bros. cartoons of its time, such as ''An ...
''. Astin served for four years on the board of directors of the
Writers Guild of America
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is the name of two American labor unions representing writers in film, television, radio, and online media:
* The Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) is headquartered in New York City and is affiliated wit ...
, and has been active in community affairs in Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
Astin has continued to work in acting, appearing in a string of ''Killer Tomatoes'' films as Professor Gangreen and as Professor Wickwire in ''
The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.''. In 1996 he featured as The Judge, the ghost of an Old West gunslinger, in
Peter Jackson
Sir Peter Robert Jackson (born 31 October 1961) is a New Zealand filmmaker. He is best known as the director, writer, and producer of the ''Lord of the Rings'' trilogy (2001–2003) and the ''Hobbit'' trilogy (2012–2014), both of which ar ...
's ''
The Frighteners''. He also has toured the one-man play ''
Edgar Allan Poe: Once Upon a Midnight'', written by Paul Day Clemens and Ron Magid. In a December 2007 ''
Baltimore Examiner'' interview, Astin said of his acting experience:
Astin is a member of the board of directors of the
Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts in
Columbia, Maryland
Columbia is a planned community in Howard County, Maryland, United States, consisting of 10 self-contained villages. With a population of 104,681 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the second-most-populous community in Maryland ...
.
Teaching

Until his retirement in 2021, Astin was director of the Theater Arts and Studies Department and Homewood Professor of the Arts at Johns Hopkins University, his alma mater, which offers an undergraduate minor program.
Commenting on his dual career, he said in 2007, "I don't know one major university that has a known actor teaching every day." Astin noted that he is one of only a handful to earn a drama degree from Hopkins. He taught at Hopkins from 2001 until 2021.
Devika Bhise has been working with the university to create "The Astin Fund", an endowed chair that would allow theater to be a major at Johns Hopkins University for undergraduates.
Personal life
Astin has five children; three (David, Allen, and Ashley) with his first wife, Suzanne Hahn, and two with his second wife, actress
Patty Duke
Anna Marie Duke (December 14, 1946 – March 29, 2016), known professionally as Patty Duke, was an American actress. Over the course of her acting career, she was the recipient of an Academy Awards, Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, three ...
– one adopted (
Sean
Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Hiberno-English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name '' Yohanan'' (), Seán ( anglicized as '' Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; a ...
, Patty's son from an earlier relationship, whom Astin adopted during their marriage) and one biological (
Mackenzie).
Astin married Valerie Ann Sandobal in 1989, and they live in
Baltimore
Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
. Astin is a
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
.
"John Astin Biography"
tvguide.com. Retrieved 1 February 2023. He practices Nichiren Buddhism
Nichiren Buddhism (), also known as ''Hokkeshū'' (, meaning ''Lotus Sect''), is a branch of Mahayana Buddhism based on the teachings of the 13th-century Japanese Buddhist priest Nichiren (1222–1282) and is one of the Kamakura period school ...
as a member of the worldwide Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International
Soka Gakkai International (SGI) is an international Nichiren Buddhist organization founded in 1975 by Daisaku Ikeda, as an umbrella organization of Soka Gakkai.
It is run by two vice-presidents, including Hiromasa Ikeda, son of the founder. It c ...
.
Filmography
Astin's film and television roles include:
Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
*
*
*
*
Facebook page (official)
* a
TV.com
from the ''Johns Hopkins Gazette'', "Course Catalog: Contemporary Theatre and Film: An Insider's View"; April 24, 2006 (Vol. 35 No. 31) (Includes 2006 picture of Astin)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astin, John
1930 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
20th-century American Buddhists
21st-century American Buddhists
American Nichiren Buddhists
Members of Sōka Gakkai
American male film actors
American male stage actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American television directors
Johns Hopkins University alumni
Johns Hopkins University faculty
Living people
Male actors from Baltimore
Washington & Jefferson College alumni