Though it lasted for only two seasons and a total of 64 episodes between 1964 and 1966, The Addams Family has become such a staple of popular culture it’s reckoned that every day somewhere in the world an episode of the show is still being watched by fans old and new. Adapted from Charles Addams’ original comic strip in The New Yorker, The Addams Family shared the strange adventures of a kooky and macabre family headed-up by Gomez (John Astin) and Morticia Adams (Carolyn Jones), their daughter Wednesday (Lisa Loring), son Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax), Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan), Grandma (Blossom Rock), and, last but not least, the family butler Lurch (Ted Cassidy).

The Addams Family TV series was produced by Nat Perrin, a gag writer-cum-scriptwriter who had worked with the Marx Brothers. This might explain why Gomez had a touch of Groucho Marx about him. But it’s not Gomez I want to talk about. I want to share with you a small nugget of video Heaven featuring Ted Cassidy as Lurch singing (if that’s the right word) about a new dance craze he wants everyone to do called “The Lurch.”

Cassidy was a six-foot nine-inches tall actor whose stature meant he was usually cast as extraterrestrials, villains, or deeply menacing tough guys. You may recall the scene in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when Cassidy as a knife-wielding bad guy squared up to Paul Newman only to be righteously kicked in balls. But Cassidy was more than just a physical presence in feet and inches, his vocal skills led to him being regularly hired to voice numerous cartoon and TV series—including the narration and voice for TV’s The Incredible Hulk. He was adept at playing the organ and also co-wrote the movie The Harrad Experiment about a sexually liberated student campus directed by Ted Post. Though obviously more than capable of doing other things, Cassidy will always be best remembered for his performance as the cadaverous, monosyllabic, giant of a servant, Lurch.
 

A life mask of Ted Cassidy as Lurch made during the making of ‘The Addams Family.’
 
In October 1965, at the height of The Addams Family popularity on TV, Cassidy cashed-in on his fame as Lurch with a one-off single called (unsurprisingly) “The Lurch.” Intended to hit the Halloween market this novelty record written by Gary Paxton, who had previously produced “Alley-Oop” for the Hollywood Argyles in 1960 and “Monster Mash” for Bobby “Boris” Pickett in 1962.

Hear it, after the jump…