John Astin

Birthday: 30 March 1930, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

Birth Name: John Allen Astin

Height: 180 cm

Dark haired, usually mustachioed US actor with a cheeky grin who achieved pop culture status through his portrayal of the kooky patriarch "Gomez Addams" in the hit TV series The Addams Family (1964), John Astin was born March 30, 1930, in Baltimore, MD. He attended Johns Hopkins University and studied mathematics. However he discovered a passion for the theater and began performing in minor plays and doing voice-over work for commercials. He first got noticed in a small role in West Side Story (1961), then appeared in several other films before being cast as "Gomez Addams". While "The Addams Family" was initially a huge hit, its popularity petered out after two years, and Astin moved on to other work including the offbeat Bunny O'Hare (1971), playing a grizzled but not particularly bright gunfighter in the western spoof Evil Roy Slade (1972), an appearance in the Disney comedy Freaky Friday (1976) and dual roles in National Lampoon's European Vacation (1985).He has since lent his comedic talents to numerous appearances as "Dr. Gangreen" in several corny "Killer Tomato" movies, and has contributed his voice to recreate "Gomez Addams" in the animated series The Addams Family (1992), and then played "Grandpa Addams" in the short-lived TV series The New Addams Family (1998). In addition, Astin has contributed voices to several animated shows, and still regularly appears in films. Show less «

One life is worth the universe. Poe was able to go right into the very depth of life and to demonstr...Show more »

One life is worth the universe. Poe was able to go right into the very depth of life and to demonstrate this. Show less «

It is important to me that what Poe has to say gets across to people. I want to give people the feel...Show more »

It is important to me that what Poe has to say gets across to people. I want to give people the feeling that I get from all this. I think that we are succeeding. The feedback is very warm. Show less «

My work is to reach people with ideas, hopes, dreams, encouragement, insight, and revelation. That's...Show more »

My work is to reach people with ideas, hopes, dreams, encouragement, insight, and revelation. That's what an actor wants to do. Show less «

Poe was a student of many things, and among those things he read and referred to in his work was the...Show more »

Poe was a student of many things, and among those things he read and referred to in his work was the Bible. Show less «

I get into certain yoga positions at times, when I'm working out and for exercises. I use a little o...Show more »

I get into certain yoga positions at times, when I'm working out and for exercises. I use a little of it in some of my meditation, but I chant now and that sort of replaced it. Show less «

People are transported to that space that Poe wanted to make available to us.

The themes Poe used were universal and timeless. As long as the English language exists at all, we w...Show more »

The themes Poe used were universal and timeless. As long as the English language exists at all, we will be able to appreciate what he did. It will not age! It will not become dated! Show less «

At a certain point he was very popular, from "The Raven". He was never fully appreciated, never made...Show more »

At a certain point he was very popular, from "The Raven". He was never fully appreciated, never made the money, and you know he was looked upon with admiration by some people, but also as an oddball. But that was his point. Show less «

We are running ourselves into a damaged earth. But I am optimistic. I believe that we can change; we...Show more »

We are running ourselves into a damaged earth. But I am optimistic. I believe that we can change; we must change. As a human race, we are very young and quite primitive. The sooner we learn the greatness of humanity the better off we will all be. Show less «

[on filming The Addams Family (1964)] Sometimes it was tough doing take after take upside down! I di...Show more »

[on filming The Addams Family (1964)] Sometimes it was tough doing take after take upside down! I did a lot of that sort of thing. Show less «

There was one where Gomez was on a Trapeze hanging by the legs upside down. I remember how much the ...Show more »

There was one where Gomez was on a Trapeze hanging by the legs upside down. I remember how much the backs of my knees would hurt until I got used to it. It was hard. Show less «

People are smarter than you might think.

I think Poe had a mission to tell us what it's all about. To answer some of the great questions of l...Show more »

I think Poe had a mission to tell us what it's all about. To answer some of the great questions of life. Show less «

My background is basically scientific math. My dad was a physicist, so I have it in my blood somewhe...Show more »

My background is basically scientific math. My dad was a physicist, so I have it in my blood somewhere. Scientific method is very important to me. I think anything that contradicts it is probably not true. Show less «

There are things so deep and complex that only intuition can reach it in our stage of development as...Show more »

There are things so deep and complex that only intuition can reach it in our stage of development as human beings. And to Poe... well, a great logician could be an enemy to him, what he called conventional world reason. Show less «

The feedback that I get from my association with Gomez is heartwarming. It is very difficult for me ...Show more »

The feedback that I get from my association with Gomez is heartwarming. It is very difficult for me to take anything but a positive view of the Gomez phenomenon. Show less «

I got things like the lotus position long before anybody else did, or at least in the mainstream. Bu...Show more »

I got things like the lotus position long before anybody else did, or at least in the mainstream. But I had fun. I guess my legs are pretty flexible, so I used to get a kick out of doing things like that. I would get into a full lotus with my legs and then roll around. Show less «

Sometimes when I see a performance that really takes me, I struggle. How can I express this to this ...Show more »

Sometimes when I see a performance that really takes me, I struggle. How can I express this to this person, I want this person to know how I felt. I want to get this across, and it's not very easy. Show less «

United Artists wanted to do records with me. I had no idea, what a rare thing that was... to make an...Show more »

United Artists wanted to do records with me. I had no idea, what a rare thing that was... to make an album. And they put a guy with me working on songs, and I got busy with films. I just kind of let it slide. Isn't that amazing? Show less «

One of the great things about being recognized is that you receive this feedback from people. It is ...Show more »

One of the great things about being recognized is that you receive this feedback from people. It is easy to see how sincere people are. It's nothing fake or jive. They're giving sincere appreciation. And it's not that easy to express. Show less «

I love to play for audiences that are simply made of people rather than so-called special people.

I figure I basically am a ghost. I think we all are.

I think people really want to be happy.

I guess one of the reasons I'm doing the Poe piece is that I think Poe demonstrates that no matter h...Show more »

I guess one of the reasons I'm doing the Poe piece is that I think Poe demonstrates that no matter how difficult things are, if you continue to move forward in life, you can eventually become victorious, even if it's later in life. Show less «

John Astin

John Astin's FILMOGRAPHY

John Astin'S roles

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