Lurch (The Addams Family)

Ted Cassidy as Lurch

Lurch (whose first name is unknown) is a fictional character created by cartoonist Charles Addams as a manservant to The Addams Family. In the original television series, Lurch was played by Ted Cassidy, who came up with the now-famous catchphrase: "You rang?" When the phrase was delivered in the actor's slow-motion basso-profundo voice, producers found it so funny that it was incorporated in the show, where the Lurch character had originally been intended to be nonspeaking. Cassidy 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. Zachary James is currently performing this character in the Broadway musical.

Characterization

Lurch is a 6 ft 9 in (206 cm) tall, shambling, gloomy butler who somewhat resembles Frankenstein's monster (as played by Boris Karloff). On the Addams Family television series, Lurch has a deep, resonant voice quite unlike that of Herman Munster, a character on the show's main competitor, The Munsters. Although fully capable of normal speech, Lurch often communicates via simple inarticulate moans, which, much like the dialogue of Cousin Itt, his employers have no trouble understanding. The Addamses often comment that Lurch is eloquent and vivacious. According to creator Charles Addams:

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]

—Charles Addams

Like any butler, Lurch tries to help around the house, but 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 he has a profound loyalty to them. In return, 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 appears and responds, "You rang?", even if wide-angle shots reveal that 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 N. 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 a headless Marie Antoinette doll, Lurch is Wednesday's best friend. He has 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 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 a 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 show's pilot episode, Ted Cassidy ad-libbed the line "You rang?" in his trademark deep voice (the inherent joke being that, because the bell is so thunderously loud, the fact that it rang is indisputable, yet Lurch politely inquires anyway), and it was so impressive that it led to Lurch getting more dialogue; he ultimately had three lines in the pilot. In the films, however, Lurch was totally mute except for the occasional expressive grunt.

In Spanish-speaking countries, he is known as Largo, because of his height. In Brazil, he is known as Tropeço ("stumbling block"; also "I stumble, trip over").

Backstory

Much of Lurch's history, including his first name and the nature of his relationship to any other Addamses, was originally unspecified. "Lurch" was revealed during the original TV series to be a surname, as there was a "Mother Lurch" who appeared in one episode. She addressed Lurch as "Sonny", which could either be a parental nickname or his actual first name. As for his father, he was mentioned once, and in an apparent reference to his Frankenstein's monster-like appearance, Lurch said, smiling, "He put me together."

It was stated in Addams Family Reunion that Lurch is part Addams. This plays into his being a creation similar to Frankenstein's monster. 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.

In The New Addams Family, a woman comments to Morticia about Lurch, "Where did you dig him up?", to which Morticia responds, "Funny, I can't remember which cemetery it was." Lurch is also referenced as having "two left feet."

Influence

Carel Struycken as Lurch in The Addams Family film (1991).

On October 30, 1965, a song and dance based on Lurch, entitled "The Lurch", were introduced on the ABC music program Shindig!. This mirrored an earlier episode of the television series, entitled "Lurch, the Teenage Idol" (which was remade in 1999 for The New Addams Family). In it, Lurch records a song on his harpischord and becomes a pop sensation.^[2]

Lurch makes a momentary appearance in the Batman TV episode entitled "The Penguin's Nest" (1966), when he opens a window and sticks his head out and observes Batman and Robin climbing the wall to the Penguin's kitchen.

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, says "You rang?", and destroys all on-screen enemies.

Lurch is mentioned the 1995 film Die Hard with a Vengeance. During the fight on the cargo ship, John McClane (Bruce Willis) repeatedly tries to provoke and mock his opponent, terrorist Mathias Targo (Nick Wyman), including by comparing his appearance with Lurch from The Addams Family.

On at least two episodes of Scrubs, the Janitor (played by Neil Flynn) has been called "Lurch" by other characters, alluding to his vague physical resemblance to the Addams Family character and certain behavioral traits they share, such as appearing out of nowhere or the jack-of-all-trades element. The Janitor character on Scrubs was not initially meant to have lines (except when talking to J.D., the viewpoint character), but this was changed, as he speaks with all other characters as of Season Two. A further similarity is that the Janitor's name is never revealed. The Janitor has also changed his address in his profile to say that he lives at "0001 Cemetery Lane" (the address of the Addams Family). On one occasion he even responded to a summons with "You rang?", and stated that he was imitating Lurch.

Radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh, soon joined by other conservative pundits, used the nickname Lurch to describe the tall and slim 2004 Democrat Presidential nominee, Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts.

References

1. ^ Addams Foundation website
2. ^ http://www.tvacres.com/dance_lurch.htm