Lurch (The Addams Family)
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Lurch (whose first name is unknown) is the fictional manservant to The Addams Family created by cartoonist Charles Addams. He is a tall, shambling, lugubrious butler who somewhat resembles Frankenstein's monster (as played by Boris Karloff) and (on the television series) has a deep, resonant voice. Although fully capable of normal speech, Lurch sometimes communicates via simple inarticulate moans, which, much like the dialogue of Cousin Itt, his employers have no trouble understanding. Ironically, the Addamses often comment that Lurch is eloquent and vivacious.
| “ | This towering mute has been shambling around the house forever…He is not a very good butler but a faithful one…One eye is opaque, the scanty hair is damply clinging to his narrow flat head…generally the family regards him as something of a joke.[1] | ” |
Lurch tries to help around the house like any other butler, though occasionally his great size and strength cause trouble. He clearly takes pride in his work and is willing to do even the most arduous task.
Lurch often seems exasperated by his employers, and yet has a profound loyalty to them; in turn, the family treats Lurch like one of their own.
The family summons him with an ever-present bell pull (in the form of a hangman's noose). When pulled, it produces a loud gong noise that shakes the house, to which Lurch instantly responds with the line, "You rang?" When the bell is rung, Lurch appears immediately (in contrast to his slow demeanor), even if wide-angle shots reveal he was clearly nowhere in the vicinity before; on a few occasions Lurch arrives even before the bell pull is tugged.
Lurch largely shares the family's macabre standards, although he occasionally looks askance at some of their activities. (He has a similar attitude toward visitors – almost a sixth sense. When a plainclothes policeman (played by George Neise) visits, Lurch pats him down and removes something from inside his suit coat: his service revolver. Lurch groans at the affront of bringing a weapon into the house. Neise shows Lurch his badge, and Lurch hands the gun back to him.)
Aside from her headless Marie Antoinette doll, Lurch is Wednesday's best friend. He seems to have a paternal affection for both Wednesday and Pugsley. Although his job title is limited to butler, he seems to be a "jack of all trades" when it comes to the children, doing everything from taking them to school to making them lunch to even keeping an eye on them around the house. He is close friends with the disembodied hand Thing.
Lurch is often seen playing the harpsichord at virtuoso level. (The actor played on a dead keyboard; Vic Mizzy, the show's musical director, played the actual tunes.)
As originally conceived, Lurch was to have no lines, but in the pilot Ted Cassidy ad-libbed the line "you rang?" in his trademark deep voice, and it was so impressive it led to Lurch getting more dialogue; he ultimately had three lines in the pilot. In the films, however, Lurch was totally mute.
In the original television series, Lurch was played by Ted Cassidy, who also voiced the character in the first animated series, as well as the episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies cartoon that preceded it. In the second animated series, Lurch was voiced by Jim Cummings. Carel Struycken played Lurch in the films. In the New Addams Family series, Lurch was portrayed by Canadian actor John DeSantis
In Spanish-speaking countries, he is known as "Largo", because of his height.
[edit] Backstory
Much of Lurch's history, including his first name and the nature of his relationship to any other Addamses was originally unknown. "Lurch" was revealed during the original TV series to be a surname, as there was a "Mother Lurch" who appeared in one episode. She addresses Lurch as "Sonny", which could either be a parental nickname or his actual first name. It was stated in Addams Family Reunion that Lurch is part-Addams. This plays into his being a Frankenstein's monster-like creation. The only definite body part that is from an Addams is his heart. Lurch's mother appears to be a physically normal elderly woman, although she does not see anything unusual about the Addams family or their home, with the exception of Thing.
[edit] Influence
On October 30, 1965 a "Lurch dance" song and dance were introduced on an ABC music program [1].
Lurch appears in the NES game Fester's Quest. Uncle Fester can get the famous noose from Grandmama, which, when used, shakes the screen with a loud gong (just like the TV show). Lurch's picture appears with his "You rang?" line, and he will immediately destroy all on-screen enemies.
On at least two episodes of Scrubs, the Janitor (played by Neil Flynn) has been called 'Lurch' by other characters, obviously alluding to his vague physical resemblance to the Addams Family character (including his impressive height), and most likely also to certain behavioral traits they seem to share, like appearing seemingly out of nowhere or the jack-of-all-trades element. Interestingly, much like 'Lurch', the Janitor character on Scrubs was not initially meant to have lines (except when talking to J.D., the viewpoint character), but this was subsequently changed, as he seems to interact normally with all other characters as of Season Two. A further similarity is that the Janitor's name is never revealed. On one occasion he even responded to a summons with "You rang?", and explicitly stated that he was imitating Lurch.
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