Born 1930 in Amarillo, Texas, American actress Carolyn Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party (1957) and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising new actresses of 1959.
Her film career continued for another 20 years. In 1964, Jones began playing the role of matriarch Morticia Addams in the original black and white television series The Addams Family.
Even after being diagnosed with colon cancer, Jones continued to work, telling colleagues that she was being treated for ulcers. After a period of apparent remission, the cancer returned in 1982. In September 1982, realizing she was dying, Jones married her boyfriend of five years, actor Peter Bailey-Britton. She wore a lace-and-ribbon cap to hide the loss of her hair from chemotherapy.
In July 1983, she fell into a coma at her home in West Hollywood, California, where she died on August 3, 1983. Take a look at these fabulous photos to see the beauty of young Carolyn Jones in the 1950s.
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