Actress Carolyn Jones, best known for her role as Morticia on the cult classic, The Addams Family, died August 3, 1983. She was 54.

Jones was born April 28, 1929 in Amarillo, Texas. In high school, she worked as a disc jockey for a local radio station. Wanting a show business career, she moved to Hollywood and began appearing in small roles in the early 1950’s.

To hone her acting skills, she attended the Pasadena Community Playhouse.

One of her first movies was with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby in one of their road pictures, Road to Bali in 1952. Small roles in House of Wax, The Tender Trap, and The Seven Year Itch finally led to better roles. One of her better films during this time period was Invasion of the Body Snatchers in 1956. She played the wife of a man whose body was being doubled by aliens.

Her most acclaimed movie role was The Bachelor Party in 1957. Jones only appeared in the movie for six minutes, but they were so memorable that she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. She didn’t win, but she did garner a Golden Globe Award as Most Promising Newcomer in 1957.

She appeared with Elvis Presley in King Creole in 1958. Critics gave her high marks for her acting. She also got rave reviews in A Hole in the Head in 1959.

In 1953, Jones married producer Aaron Spelling, who would later go on to produce some of television’s most memorable series like Mod Squad, Fantasy Island, and Beverly Hills 90210. They divorced in 1965.

Jones married twice more, to vocal coach Herbert Greene and to actor Peter Bailey-Britton, to whom she was married when she died.

Jones’ signature role would come in 1964 when she was cast as the seductive Morticia on the cult classic, The Addams Family. The show only lasted two seasons, but it gave Jones a lot of notoriety. Her interaction with co-star John Astin provided a lot of fun for viewers.

She also had a recurring role on TV’s Batman, as Marsha, Queen of Diamonds.

Jones appeared in two television movies in the late 1960’s, Color Me Dead and Heaven With a Gun.

The 1970’s were characterized by a number of low budget theatrical movies and several television-made movies, none of them very memorable.

Jones last work came as one of the stars of the daytime soar opera Capitol. She co-starred with another former TV and movie star, Richard Egan.

Jones was diagnosed with cancer during the series, but continued to act on the drama until her death on August 3, 1983.