Kenneth Patrick Weatherwax (September 29, 1955 – December 7, 2014) was an American child actor best known for having played

Pugsley Addams Pugsley Pubert Addams is a member of the fictional Addams Family, created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. Cartoons Pugsley is depicted as a devious, young, brilliant boy in Charles Addams's original cartoons. He is often shown releasing ...

on ''

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 ...

''.

Early life

Weatherwax was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

into a show-business family. His aunt was actress and dancer

Ruby Keeler Ethel Ruby Keeler (August 25, 1909 – February 28, 1993) was a Canadian and American actress, dancer, and singer who was paired on-screen with Dick Powell in a string of successful early musicals at Warner Bros., particularly '' 42nd Street'' ( ...

. Beginning in 1954, his half-brother, Joey D. Vieira, played Porky on the first three seasons of ''

Lassie Lassie is a fictional female Rough Collie dog and is featured in a 1938 short story by Eric Knight that was later expanded to a 1940 full-length novel, '' Lassie Come-Home''. Knight's portrayal of Lassie bears some features in common with anot ...

'' under the stage name of Donald Keeler. Ken Weatherwax's uncles were Frank and

Rudd Weatherwax Ruddell Bird "Rudd" Weatherwax (September 23, 1907 – February 25, 1985) was an American actor, animal trainer, and breeder. He and his brother Frank are best remembered for training dogs for motion pictures and television. Their col ...

, Lassie's trainers and owners of the first dog to play the role.

Career

Weatherwax made his acting debut in the early 1960s when he was age 9, playing a boy named Chester in a commercial for Gleem toothpaste. He was cast as Pugsley Addams on ''

''. The program ran for two seasons from 1964 to 1966. After its cancellation, Weatherwax found he was typecast as Pugsley and lost interest in acting. As Weatherwax matured, he lost his chubby physique. He entered the U.S. Army at age 17 and, at age 21, he reprised the role of Pugsley in the 1977 reunion film ''

Halloween with the New Addams Family ''Halloween with the New Addams Family'' is a 1977 American made-for-television comedy horror film based on the 1964–1966 sitcom ''The Addams Family''. In contrast to the "new" in the title, most of the original series regulars reprised their ...

'', although Pugsley was now shown as a tall, muscular character. He established a career behind the camera as a movie studio grip and set builder, and made occasional appearances at ''Addams Family''-related events with former costar

Lisa Loring Lisa Loring (born Lisa Ann DeCinces; February 16, 1958 – January 28, 2023) was an American actress. She was best known for her work as a child actress from age six playing Wednesday Addams on the 1964–1966 sitcom ''The Addams Family (1964 TV ...

, who had played Pugsley's younger sister

Wednesday Addams Wednesday Friday Addams is a character from the Addams Family multimedia franchise created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. She is typically portrayed as a morbid and emotionally reserved child that is fascinated by the macabre, often ...

on the show. The two remained lifelong friends.

Death

Weatherwax died on December 7, 2014, of a heart attack at his home in West Hills, California, at the age of 59. Via a

crowdfunding Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a project or venture by raising money from a large number of people, typically via the internet. Crowdfunding is a form of crowdsourcing and Alternative Finance, alternative finance, to fund projects "withou ...

campaign, the owner of Dearly Departed Tours & Artifact Museum raised the funds to have Weatherwax interred in

Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery is a cemetery located at 10621 Victory Boulevard, straddling the border between the Los Angeles neighborhood of North Hollywood and Burbank, California. The cemetery's East entrance features the Portal of the Fo ...

North Hollywood North Hollywood is a neighborhood and district in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, California. The neighborhood contains the NoHo Arts District, El Portal Theater, several art galleries, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Th ...

in 2017. A portion of his cremated remains are located at Dearly Departed Tours & Artifact Museum.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Weatherwax, Ken 1955 births 2014 deaths 20th-century American male actors American male child actors American male television actors Burials at Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery Male actors from Los Angeles United States Army soldiers People from West Hills, Los Angeles Military personnel from California