The Addams Family’s Carolyn Jones: A Descendant of Geronimo?

Actress Carolyn Jones is forever remembered as the ghoulishly captivating Morticia Addams in The Addams Family. The avant-garde television series lasted only two years (1964—1966), yet it lives in syndication as a cult classic. The actress subtly stole scenes in her roles as the smoldering Morticia, the suspicious Mrs. Moore (the wife of an enslaver in Roots), and the ruthless Myra Clegg in Capitol.

Reportedly, Carolyn Jones was one-eighth Native American, and she was a descendant of the famous Apache chief Geronimo. I asked the late actress’s sister, Bette Jones Moriarty, about that claim, which she dismisses as a Hollywood “publicity stunt.” Harlyn Geronimo, great-grandson of Geronimo, also finds the claim doubtful. “As far as I am concerned, my immediate family and I are his only descendants,” he tells me. Research into the family background of the actress has failed produce any evidence of an Apache connection or yet another claimed Native American bloodline—Comanche.

From Wikipedia (English):

Carolyn Sue Jones (April 28, 1930 – August 3, 1983) was an American actress.

Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party (1957) and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising actresses of 1959. Her film career continued for another 20 years. In 1964, she began playing the role of Morticia Addams in the television series The Addams Family, receiving a Golden Globe Award nomination for her work.

Early life

Jones was born in Amarillo, Texas, the daughter of Cloe Jeanette Southern, a housewife, and Julius Alfred Jones, a barber. In 1934 her father abandoned the family and her mother moved with her two children to her parents' home in Amarillo. Carolyn suffered from severe asthma that often restricted her from childhood activities. She was an avid reader, and loved Hollywood magazines. When her condition permitted, she loved to go to the movies. She enrolled in 'The Pasadena Playhouse' in California, although at 15 she was still three years under the minimum age;[6] her father agreed to pay her tuition.

Personal life and illness

Her acting career declined after The Addams Family ended in 1966. Sporadic roles in the 1970s included that of Mrs. Moore, the wife of the plantation owner in the Roots miniseries.

Jones landed the role of the power-driven political matriarch Myrna Clegg in the CBS daytime television soap opera Capitol in 1981. The following year, shortly after Capitol debuted, she was diagnosed with colon cancer, and played many of her scenes in a wheelchair. The cancer spread quickly to her liver and stomach. Despite the pain, Carolyn finished the first season.

Marriages

Carolyn Jones was married four times. While studying at the Pasadena Playhouse, Jones married Don Donaldson, a twenty-eight-year-old fellow student. The couple soon divorced. Jones was subsequently married to television producer Aaron Spelling from 1953 until 1964; Jones converted to Judaism when she married Spelling. She and Spelling separated in 1964.

Her third marriage was to Tony Award-winning Broadway musical director, vocal arranger and co-producer Herbert Greene (who was her vocal coach); she left him in 1977.

In September 1982, realizing she was dying, Jones married her boyfriend of five years, actor Peter Bailey-Britton. She wore a lace and ribbon cap to hide the loss of her hair from chemotherapy.

Death

Jones was diagnosed with colon cancer in March 1981. She continued to work, telling her friends she was being treated for ulcers. After a period of apparent remission, the cancer returned in 1982, and in July 1983 she fell into a coma at her home in West Hollywood, California. She died there on August 3, 1983, with her husband at her side. Her ashes were entombed at Melrose Abbey Memorial Park Cemetery in Anaheim, California, beside her mother.

Carolyn Sue Jones (April 28, 1930 – August 3, 1983) was an American actress.

Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party (1957) and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising actresses of 1959. Her film career continued for another 20 years. In 1964, she began playing the role of Morticia Addams in the television series The Addams Family, receiving a Golden Globe Award nomination for her work.

Filmography

Actress. She is best remembered for her role of Morticia Frump Addams on "The Addams Family" television show (1964-1966). Born Carolyn Sue Jones in Amarillo, Texas, her father abandoned the family in 1933 when he lost his job in the Great Depression, and her mother moved the family in with her parents, then also living in Amarillo. As a child, she suffered from asthma, but loved to go to the movies, and while in school, she won several awards for speech, poetry and dramatics. In 1947, she was accepted to the acting school at the Pasadena Playhouse, and played summer stock to gain experience and to supplement her income, until her graduation in 1950. Initially working as an understudy at the Players Ring Theatre, she stepped in for the star where she was seen by a Paramount Studios talent scout. She soon appeared in her first movie, "The Turning Point" (1952). Let go from her contract six months later, she moved to television, where she met struggling director Aaron Spelling. They married in April 1953, but Carolyn decided against having children, as she felt she could not have both a career and children. In 1953, she was selected for the role of Alma Burke in "From Here to Eternity" (1953), but had to withdraw due to pneumonia, and the role went to Donna Reed instead. She became noted for her role of the philosophical nymphomaniac in "The Bachelor Party" (1957), in which she surprised the cast by dying her hair black and cutting it short. The look was startling, but it served her well in later roles. Although she was nominated for an Academy Award for "The Bachelor Party" (which she lost), she was rewarded with roles in such notable films as Elvis Presley's "King Creole" (1958), and "Career" (1959). Even as her husband's career began to take off, the couple separated in October 1963, and they divorced on good terms in August 1964, with Carolyn asking for no alimony. In 1964, she began playing Morticia in the television series, "The Addams Family" and won success as a comedienne; her role was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. When "The Addams Family" show ended in 1966, her career went into a decline, and although she continued to act, her roles came less frequently, partly due to her being typecast. She married her voice coach, Herbert Greene, and they moved to Palm Springs, California. After seven years, she divorced him and returned to Hollywood, to restart her stalled career. For the next 15 years, she was seen in guest roles on such television series as Batman, The Danny Thomas Hour, The Mod Squad, Love American Style, The Virginian, Ironside, Wonder Woman, Quincy ME, and Fantasy Island. Her last role was as Myrna Clegg, in the television soap opera series, "Capitol" (1982-83), and when she was diagnosed with colon cancer, she continued to play her scenes in a wheelchair. Although chemotherapy slowed the cancer, she knew she was dying, and she married her long-term boyfriend, Peter Bailey-Britton, in September 1982. She died the following year in Hollywood, California, at the age of 53.

Bio by: Kit and Morgan Benson

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jun 23 2024, 20:27:18 UTC