John Astin - Biography

Last Editor: sarah1369				John Astin Biography -   Name : John Astin Date of birth : 30 March 1930 Place of birth : Baltimore, Maryland, USA Height : 5' 11

John Astin Trivia -

Father, Allen Astin, was the 5th Director of the National Bureau of Standards. Father of actors Sean Astin and Mackenzie Astin Is a vegetarian He and his wife Val are leaders of a Buddhist group in Santa Monica. Grandfather of actress Alexandra Astin and Elizabeth Louise Astin. Appeared in three separate episodes of "Night Gallery." During each episode, his character was killed, and during two episodes, his character found himself in Hell. Also directed three episodes of "Night Gallery." Biography in: "Who's Who in Comedy" by Ronald L. Smith. pg. 31-32. New York: Facts on File, 1992. ISBN 0816023387 Three generations of his family have worked with director Peter Jackson. He appeared in The Frighteners, while his son Sean appeared in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Sean's real-life daughter, Alexandra, played the daughter of his character in The Return of the King. Currently a visiting theater professor at Johns Hopkins University. His new facility is the "Old Barn," former home of Theater Hopkins, a top-scale community theater outfit. Astin won rave reviews for his portrayal of the Stage Manager in a performance of "Our Town" with Hopkins as well as for a recent portrayal of Edgar Allen Poe. Has twice played father to Jodie Foster. They appeared together as father and daughter in Freaky Friday. In the live action Addams Family, John plays Gomez. In an animated series in the early 1970s, Jodie Foster voiced Pugsley. Three generations of his family have worked with Christopher Lee. His son, Sean, and granddaughter, Alexandra, appeared in The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. He and Lee appeared together in Gremlins 2.

John Astin Detailed Biography -

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 1960s TV series "The Addams Family" (1964). Astin was born March 30th, 1930 in Baltimore, Maryland and he attended John Hopkins University and studied mathematics, however he discovered a passion for the theater and began in minor plays and voice over work for commercials. He first got noticed in a small role in West Side Story (1961), then appeared in several other movies, before being cast as "Gomez Addams". Whilst "The Addams Family" was initially a huge hit, its popularity petered out after two years, and Astin moved on to other work including the off beat Bunny O'Hare (1971), playing a grizzled gunfighter in _Evil Roy Slade (1972)_ , in the comedy Freaky Friday (1976) and dual roles in European Vacation (1985). He has since lent his comedic talents to numerous appearances as "Dr Gangreen" in several corny "Killer Tomato" movies, plus Astin 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, plus he regularly appears in film productions.