EXCLUSIVE: The Horrific Life of the Original Wednesday Addams Revealed After Jenna Ortega Made the Goth a Hit Again — From Addiction to Porn-Star Marriage

Born Lisa Ann DeCinces in 1958 on the Marshall Islands to US Navy parents, Loring became a household name in 1964 after being cast in The Addams Family. Her sweet but spooky portrayal of Wednesday – a pigtailed girl with a pet spider named Homer and a headless doll she called Marie Antoinette – defined the character for decades.

Off set, though, her own childhood was marked by turmoil. Her parents divorced soon after her birth, and she was raised by her mother, Judith Ann Callies, who later died from alcoholism when Loring was 14.

"I got it because of my pout," she once said of her successful audition, recalling how producer Nat Perrin chose her because she resembled Carolyn Jones, who played her on-screen mother, Morticia.

She said: "Carolyn and John (Astin, who played Gomez) were like parents to me. You couldn't have picked a better cast."

Speaking to TV Times years later, a friend said about Loring: "She was adored on that set, but once the lights went out, Hollywood didn't know what to do with her."

After The Addams Family ended in 1966, Loring, then six, found it hard to recapture the fame. She landed small roles in The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. and Fantasy Island before joining the long-running soap As the World Turns as rebellious teen Cricket Montgomery.

But as the 1980s arrived, her career declined, and she drifted into B-movie horror, appearing in low-budget titles such as Blood Frenzy.

Behind the scenes, Loring was battling substance abuse and heartbreak.

Friends said she turned to drugs and alcohol to cope with fading fame and mounting debt.

"She was chasing that early success and couldn't find it again," a former co-star said.

In 1990, she checked into rehab after what she later described as a near-death spiral.