John Astin facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

Quick facts for kids John Astin
Astin in a 1977 publicity photo for Operation Petticoat
Born	John Allen Astin (1930-03-30) March 30, 1930 (age 95) Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
Alma mater	Washington & Jefferson College Johns Hopkins University
Occupation	Actor director
Years active	1954–2021
Television	The Addams Family
Spouse(s)	Suzanne Hahn (m. 1956; div. 1972) Patty Duke (m. 1972; div. 1985) Valerie Sandobal (m. 1989)
Children	5, including Sean and Mackenzie
Parents	Allen V. Astin (father) Margaret Astin (mother)
Relatives	Alexander Astin (brother)
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John Allen Astin (born March 30, 1930) is an American actor and director. He is famous for playing many different characters on stage, TV, and in movies.

John Astin is best known for his role as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family TV show from 1964 to 1966. He played Gomez again in the TV movie Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977) and voiced him in The Addams Family cartoon (1992–1993).

He also appeared in movies like West Side Story (1961), Freaky Friday (1976), and The Frighteners (1996). John Astin was even nominated for an Academy Award for a short film he directed called Prelude (1968).

Early Life and Education
Acting Career Highlights
Teaching Career
Personal Life
Selected Film and TV Roles
- Film
- Television
Images for kids
See also

Early Life and Education

John Astin was born in Baltimore, Maryland. His parents were Margaret Linnie and Dr. Allen V. Astin, who was a director at the National Bureau of Standards.

He went to Johns Hopkins University and graduated in 1952. Before that, he studied mathematics at Washington & Jefferson College. At Johns Hopkins, he studied drama and was part of the Phi Kappa Psi club.

Acting Career Highlights

John Astin began his acting journey in theater. His first appearance on Broadway was in a play called Major Barbara in 1954. He also did voice-overs for commercials.

His first big movie role was a small part in West Side Story in 1961. Around this time, actor Tony Randall noticed his talent for comedy. This led to guest roles on TV shows like Dennis the Menace and The Donna Reed Show. In 1961, he also appeared in an episode of The Twilight Zone called "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim".

First Lead TV Role

From 1962 to 1963, Astin had his first main role in a TV series. It was an ABC comedy called I'm Dickens, He's Fenster. He played Harry Dickens, a carpenter who often got into funny trouble with his co-star, Marty Ingels. Even though critics loved the show, it was canceled after 32 episodes.

The Addams Family and Beyond

John Astin is most famous for playing Gomez Addams in The Addams Family. This popular comedy show ran on ABC from 1964 to 1966. It was based on funny cartoons by Charles Addams.

He played Gomez again in a 1977 TV movie and voiced the character in a cartoon series from 1992 to 1993. Later, in The New Addams Family (1998–1999), he played Grandpapa Addams.

John Astin with Carolyn Jones as Gomez and Morticia Addams in The Addams Family in 1964.

Astin also played the Riddler in the second season of the Batman TV show. He was also in the TV series Operation Petticoat as submarine commander Matthew Sherman. He had a recurring role on the comedy show Night Court as Buddy, the father of the main character, Harry Stone.

He also guest-starred in many other TV shows, including Murder, She Wrote, Duckman, and Gunsmoke.

Awards and Recognition

John Astin was nominated for an Academy Award for his short film Prelude, which he wrote, produced, and directed. He also received an Emmy Award nomination for voicing Gomez in The Addams Family cartoon. He was also nominated for an Ace Award for his work on Tales from the Crypt.

He has continued acting, appearing in the Killer Tomatoes movies as Professor Gangreen and in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.. In 1996, he played The Judge, a ghost, in Peter Jackson's movie The Frighteners. He also performed a one-man play about Edgar Allan Poe.

Teaching Career

John Astin was the director of the Theater Arts and Studies Department at Johns Hopkins University, his old school. He was also a professor there until he retired in 2021. He taught at Johns Hopkins from 2001 to 2021. He once said that he didn't know many major universities where a famous actor taught every day.

Personal Life

John Astin has five children. Three are with his first wife, Suzanne Hahn: David, Allen, and Ashley. He has two children with his second wife, actress Patty Duke. One is Sean Astin, whom John adopted, and the other is Mackenzie Astin, his biological son.

In 1989, John Astin married Valerie Ann Sandobal. They live in Baltimore, Maryland. John Astin is a vegetarian and practices Nichiren Buddhism.

Selected Film and TV Roles

Here are some of the movies and TV shows John Astin has been in:

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1960	The Pusher	Detective
1961	West Side Story	Glad Hand, Social Worker Leading Dance	A romantic musical film.
1962	That Touch of Mink	Mr. Everett Beasley
1963	Move Over, Darling	Clyde Prokey	A remake of the 1940 film My Favorite Wife.
1963	The Wheeler Dealers	SEC official	Also known as Separate Beds in the UK.
1967	The Spirit Is Willing	Dr. Frieden
1969	Viva Max!	Sergeant Valdez	A comedy film.
1971	Bunny O'Hare	Ad
1972	Un secuestro de locura	Star	A Spanish-language film.
	Evil Roy Slade	Evil Roy Slade
	Get to Know Your Rabbit	Mr. Turnbull
	Every Little Crook and Nanny	Vito Garbugli
	Wacky Taxi	Pepper
1973	The Brothers O'Toole	Michael O'Toole / Desperate Ambrose Littleberry	A comedy western film.
1976	Freaky Friday	Bill Andrews	A fantasy comedy film.
1985	National Lampoon's European Vacation	Kent Winkdale (host of "Pig in a Poke")	The second film in the Vacation film series.
1987	Teen Wolf Too	Dean Dunn	A comedy film, sequel to Teen Wolf.
1987	Body Slam	Scotty the car dealer	A comedy film.
1988	Return of the Killer Tomatoes	Professor Mortimer Gangreen	A horror comedy film, second in the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes series.
1989	Night Life	Uncle Verlin	A horror comedy film.
1990	Gremlins 2: The New Batch	Janitor
1990	Killer Tomatoes Strike Back	Professor Mortimer Gangreen	The third film in the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes series.
1991	Killer Tomatoes Eat France	Professor Mortimer Gangreen	The fourth film in the Attack of the Killer Tomatoes series.
1993	Stepmonster	Minister	A direct-to-video film.
1994	The Silence of the Hams	The Ranger	A parody film of thrillers and horror movies.
1994	Huck and the King of Hearts	Zach
1996	The Frighteners	The Judge	A horror comedy fantasy film.
2001	Betaville	President Sender
2006	What the Bleep!?: Down the Rabbit Hole	Dr. Quantum	Voice role.
2015	Starship II: Rendezvous with Ramses	Professor Peabody

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1960	Maverick	Joe Lambert	Episode: "The Town That Wasn't There"
1961	The Twilight Zone	Charlie	Episode: "A Hundred Yards Over the Rim"
1962	77 Sunset Strip	Martin Grosch	Episode: "Dress Rehearsal"
1962	Ben Casey	Nat Morris	Episode: "Preferably, the Less-Used Arm"
1962–1963	I'm Dickens, He's Fenster	Harry Dickens	Main role.
1964–1966	The Addams Family	Gomez Addams	Main role.
1967	The Pruitts of Southampton	Rudy Pruitt	Main role.
	Batman	The Riddler	2 episodes.
	The Wild Wild West	Count Nikolai Sazanov	Episode: "The Night of the Tartar"
	The Flying Nun	Father Lundigan	Episode: "Flight of the Dodo Bird"
	Gunsmoke	Henry Haggen	Episode: "Hard Luck Henry"
1968	Death Valley Days	Jesse Martin	Episode: "The Gold Mine on Main Street"
1969	Bonanza	Abner Willoughby	Episode: "Abner Willoughby's return"
1971	The Odd Couple	Beau Buffingham	Episode: "Oscar's New Life"
1971–1972	Night Gallery	Jonathan, Randy Miller, Munsch	3 episodes.
1972–1978	Insight	Guest star	4 episodes.
1972	The New Scooby-Doo Movies	Gomez Addams	Voice role, episode: "Wednesday Is Missing".
1972–1973	McMillan & Wife	Sykes	3 episodes.
1973	The Partridge Family	Sydney Rose	Episode: "The Mad Millionaire"
1973	Circle of Fear	Fred Colby	Episode: "The Graveyard Shift"
1974	Only with Married Men	Dr. Harvey Osterman	Television film.
1975	The Dream Makers	Manny Wheeler	Television film.
1975– 1979	Welcome Back, Kotter	Museum curator	Recurring role.
1976	Police Story	Dr. Milford	Episode: "Firebird".
1977	Halloween with the New Addams Family	Gomez Addams	Television film.
1977–1978	Operation Petticoat	Lt. Cmdr. Matthew Sherman	Main role.
1977–1980	Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels	Additional Voices	Recurring role.
1978	The Love Boat	Dave, The Hermit	Episode: "Marooned".
1978	Fantasy Island	Charles D. Preston	Episode: "The Beachcomber / The Last Whodunit".
1984	The Facts of Life	Vito Miles	Episode: "The Summer of '84".
	Diff'rent Strokes	C.W.	Episode: "A Haunting We Will Go".
	Simon & Simon	Uncle Ray Simon	Episode: "Revolution #9 1/2".
1984–1990	Night Court	Buddy Ryan, Kenny	Recurring role.
1984	Murder, She Wrote	Ross Hayley, Harry Pierce, Fritz Randall	5 episodes.
1985–1986	Mary	Ed LaSalle	Main role.
1985	Riptide	Baxter Bernard	Episode: "Baxter and Boz".
1985	Otherworld	Akin	Episode: "Mansion of the Beast".
1986	Mr. Boogedy	Neil Witherspoon	Television film.
1987	St. Elsewhere	Kevin	Episode: "Visiting Daze".
1987	The Charmings	Jack/The Devil	Episode: "The Witch is of Van Oaks".
1987–1988	Webster	Uncle Charles	2 episodes.
1988	Charles in Charge	Uncle Joe	Episode: "Pickle King of New York".
1989	The Saint: The Blue Dulac	George Lafosse	Television film.
1990	Attack of the Killer Tomatoes	Dr. Putrid T. Gangreen	Voice, main role.
1991	Eerie Indiana	Radford	Recurring role.
	Taz-Mania	Bull Gator	Voice, recurring role.
	Father Dowling Mysteries	Manager of Gun Club	Episode: "The Priest Killer Mystery".
	They Came from Outer Space	Neville Nessen
	Tales from the Crypt	Nelson Halliwell	Episode: "Top Billing".
1992–1993	The Addams Family	Gomez Addams	Voice, main role. This cartoon was made after the successful 1991 Addams Family movie.
1993	The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.	Professor Wickwire	7 episodes.
1993–1994	Problem Child	General Pierre Habib-Johnson	Voice, recurring role.
1994–1997	Duckman	Terry Duke Tetzloff	Voice, recurring role.
1994	Bonkers	The Mole	Episode: "Stressed to Kill".
	Burke's Law	Alexander	Episode: "Who Killed Alexander the Great?".
	Mad About You	Himself	Episode: "Up All Night".
	Step by Step	George Humphries	Episode: "The Ice Cream Man Cometh".
	Aaahh!!! Real Monsters	Doctor	Voice, episode: "Monstrous Make-Over / A Wing and a Scare".
1994–1995	Step by Step	George Humphries	2 episodes.
1994–1995	Aladdin	Sydney	Voice, 2 episodes.
1995	The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat	Additional Voices	Recurring role.
1996	The Nanny	Dr. Roberts	2 episodes.
1996	Quack Pack	Mr. Roborson	Voice, episode: "The Unusual Suspects".
1997	Homeboys in Outer Space	Rhymer	Episode: "The Adventures of Ratman and Gerbil or, Holy Homeboys in Outer Space".
	Johnny Bravo	Scientist 1/Blind Man	Voice, episode: "Jumbo Johnny / The Perfect Gift / Bravo, James Bravo".
	Pinky and the Brain	Grover Whalen	Voice, episode: "Mice Don't Dance".
1998–1999	The New Addams Family	Grampapa Addams	2 episodes.
1998–1999	Recess	Supt. Skinner, The Judge	Voice, 4 episodes.
1999	The Hughleys	Guest star	Episode: "Storm o' the Century".
1999	The Wild Thornberrys	Bangaboo, Pingah	Voice, episode: "The Great Bangaboo".
2000	The Strip	Orson Bates	Episode: "I Wear My Sunglasses At Night".
2000	Becker	Richard Wilson	Episode: "All the Rage".
2001	As Told By Ginger	Dave Bishop	Voice, 2 episodes.
2004–2007	Higglytown Heroes	Santa Claus	Voice, 2 episodes.
2005	School of Life	Stormin' Norman Warner	Television film.
2006	My First Time	Himself	Episode: "Something About Mary".
2017	Justice League Action	Uncle Dudley	Voice, episode: "Captain Bamboozle".

Images for kids

John Astin's handprints at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.