John Allen Astin is an American actor who has appeared in numerous films and television series, as well as a television director and voice artist. He is best known for starring as Gomez Addams in The Addams Family, reprising the role in the television film Halloween with the New Addams Family and the animated series The Addams Family. Notable film projects include West Side Story, That Touch of Mink, Move Over Darling, Freaky Friday, National Lampoon's European Vacation, Teen Wolf Too and The Frighteners. His second wife was actress Patty Duke and he is the adoptive father of Duke's son, actor Sean Astin. Astin was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film for his directorial debut, the comedic short Prelude.
Astin started in theater, making his first Broadway appearance as an understudy in Major Barbara, and also did voice-over work for commercials. His first big break in film came with a small role in West Side Story. During this period, his talent for also playing comedy was spotted by actor Tony Randall, leading to guest starring roles on the sitcomDennis the Menace, starring Jay North, The Donna Reed Show, and Harrigan and Son, starring Pat O'Brien, the first carried on CBS and the latter two carried on ABC. In 1961, he appeared in the final episode of the ABC police dramaThe Asphalt Jungle. In 1962–63, Astin starred with Marty Ingels on the unusual ABC sitcom I'm Dickens, He's Fenster, which lasted for thirty-one episodes. From 1964 to 1966, he starred in the comedic television series The Addams Family as Gomez Addams, the head of the macabre family, based on cartoons created by Charles Addams. He later reprised the role of Gomez in the 1977 made-for-television film Halloween with the New Addams Family and voiced the role of Gomez in the animated series The Addams Family from 1992 to 1993. In the Canadian-American television series The New Addams Family, which ran from 1998 to 1999, Astin appeared as Grandpapa Addams, with the role of Gomez played by Glenn Taranto. as Gomez and Morticia Addams in The Addams Family 1964 Astin joined the retooled The Pruitts of Southampton for the second half of the 1966–67 season, playing Diller's brother-in-law, Angus Pruitt. He also played the Riddler in the second season of Batman He played submarine commander Matthew Sherman on the 1970s television series Operation Petticoat. He also made several appearances in the first two seasons of the popular mystery series Murder, She Wrote, as scheming real estate developer Harry Pierce, who ends up as the murderer in his last episode. He had a recurring role on the sitcom Night Court as Buddy, eccentric former mental patient and the father of lead character Harry Stone. Astin played the regular role of Ed LaSalle on the short-lived Mary Tyler Moore sitcom Mary during the 1985–86 television season. He also guest starred on numerous television series, including appearances on Duckman, Homeboys in Outer Space, Jack Palance's ABC circus drama The Greatest Show on Earth, and a 1967 episode of Gunsmoke as Festus Haggen's cousin Henry. Astin received an Academy Award nomination for Prelude, a short film that he wrote, produced, and directed. He was nominated for an Ace Award for his work on Tales from the Crypt, and received an Emmy Award nomination for the cartoon voice of Gomez on ABC-TV's The Addams Family. He also voiced the character Bull Gator on the animated series Taz-Mania. Astin served for four years on the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America, and has been active in community affairs in Los Angeles and Santa Monica. He has continued to work in acting, appearing in a string of Killer Tomatoes films as Professor Gangreen and as Professor Wickwire in The Adventures of Brisco County, Jr.. In 1996 he featured as The Judge, the ghost of an Old West gunslinger, in Peter Jackson's The Frighteners. He also has toured the one-man play , written by Paul Day Clemens and Ron Magid. In a December 2007Baltimore Examiner interview, Astin said of his acting experience: Astin serves as a member on the board of directors for the Columbia Center for Theatrical Arts.
Teaching
Astin is director of the Theater Arts and Studies Department and Homewood Professor of the Arts at Johns Hopkins University, his alma mater, which offers an undergraduate minor program. Commenting on his dual career, he said in 2007, "I don't know one major university that has a known actor teaching every day." Astin noted that he is one of only a handful to earn a drama degree from Hopkins. Astin has taught at Hopkins since 2001. Devika Bhise has been working with the university to create "The Astin Fund", an endowed chair that would allow theater to be a major at Johns Hopkins University for undergraduates.
Personal life
Astin has five sons; three with his first wife, Suzanne Hahn; two with his second wife, actress Patty Duke – one adopted and one biological. Astin married Valerie Ann Sandobal in 1989 and the couple resides in Baltimore, Maryland. He practices Nichiren Buddhism as a member of the worldwide Buddhist association Soka Gakkai International.
