Uncle Fester is a member of the fictional Addams Family. He was played by Jackie Coogan in the television series The Addams Family (1964), by Christopher Lloyd in the feature films The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993), by Patrick Thomas in the direct-to-video film Addams Family Reunion (1998), by Michael Roberds in the television series The New Addams Family (1998–1999), and by Fred Armisen in the streaming television series Wednesday (2022). In the Broadway musical, the part was originated by Kevin Chamberlin.
Character
Uncle Fester is a completely hairless, hunched, and barrel-shaped man with dark, sunken eyes and often a deranged smile. He always wears a heavy, full-length fur coat. Fester was derived from a character drawn by cartoonist Charles Addams, although these were single-page cartoons, with no stories or character names. Nevertheless, the character is recognizable in a number of cartoons, both by his appearance (bald, stooping, sunken eyes) and behavior (e.g. turning the shower to a special "scalding" setting, feeding his garden plants blood plasma, and releasing an eagle on the neighbor's homing pigeons). While he is occasionally seen with the rest of the family, particularly on anthology covers, he is also seen on his own more often than the others. He is sometimes indicated to live in a small shack surrounded by a wrought-iron fence.
Fester has a strange ability to generate electricity (in the film The Addams Family, he loses his memory and regains it after being struck by lightning, leading to this power, though in other adaptations it is never stated where he got his power from). He would often demonstrate this by putting a light bulb in his mouth, which would illuminate, accompanied by a loud, crackling noise. He claims to possess 110 volts of power in one episode of the sitcom, while in another episode he demonstrated his "magnetic" quality by levitating a metal paperweight up to his hand. In the 2022 Netflix series Wednesday, he can shoot lightning directly from his hands and uses it to revive a near-dead Thing. This ability is also believed to give him resistance to lightning and blunt force trauma; when struck directly on the head by a fired cannonball, he appears only mildly dazed, while the cannonball bounces off his head.
Uncle Fester at times has severe migraines but appears to enjoy them. Fester relieves his migraines by placing his head in a large screw press and tightening it to levels that normal people would not be able to withstand. At times, Fester uses the screw press on his head simply for enjoyment.
Despite Uncle Fester's menacing look and bizarre behavior, he is gentle and caring to everyone. He shows great respect to Gomez and Morticia. He has always exhibited love and great care to his niece and nephews, despite their frequent naughtiness.
In the original sitcom of the 1960s, Fester is said to be Morticia's maternal uncle (his name rhymes with Morticia's mother Hester's), but from the 1970s onward, he is Gomez's brother; they are very close, though he admits to sometimes “despising” Gomez and is sometimes jealous of his relationship with Morticia, often trying to find love to chaotic consequences. In all adaptations, he is either uncle or great-uncle to Wednesday and Pugsley. He is known as "Tío Fétido" in Spain, "Tío Lucas" in Spanish-speaking countries, and "Fétide" in France. In Brazil, he has two names: "Tio Chico" (original series and cartoon) and "Tio Fester" (Broadway musical and movies).
In the series Wednesday, Fester still possesses his electric powers and a great affection for his niece, but is portrayed as more roguish and bloodthirsty, appearing at Nevermore Academy looking for a place to hide out from the law and saying he used to keep Gomez on his toes by dropping "from the ceiling, with a dagger clutched between my teeth".