Arts & Entertainment

Man in the News: Ronald MacCloskey

Resident promotes legacy of Charles Addams.

As a child growing up in Westfield, Ronald MacCloskey found himself focused on the arts and specifically one genre of movies.

"My first passion was for monster movies and the work of Boris Karloff," he said citing the famed horror movie actor.

In the mid 1960s, MacCloskey discovered two new television shows, "The Munsters" and "The Addams Family," which fed into his love of the horror genre. Soon he found out that "The Addams Family" was the creation of a fellow Westfield High School alum, Charles Addams.

Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Finding out more and more about Addams, who graduated from WHS in 1929 and was heavily influenced by Westfield in his art, MacCloskey wanted to do something to honor the cartoonist in his hometown. Addams based the famed house in his show on a home in Elm Street and as a child enjoyed roaming through the Presbyterian Church's Revolutionary War cemetery on Mountain Avenue.

MacCloskey founded the Charles Addams Scholarship Fund in 1992 after finding little interest in the work of the cartoonist. Awarded annually to a WHS art student, the first scholarship went to Seth Piazes, who would play a role in a future Addams legacy endeavor in town.

Find out what's happening in Westfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In 1994, MacCloskey received more note for the work of Addams when a movie based on the television series debuted. That allowed for more donations to the scholarship and public recognition of Addams.

"When you have an outside entity saying Charles Addams is great, it works to having his hometown say Charles Addams is great," MacCloskey said.

Seeing the Broadway musical of the television show coming out this month, MacCloskey looked to create a more lasting memorial for Addams in Westfield. In coming up with the new Addams letters that were unveiled Monday, MacCloskey put together a longer list of ideas. These include temporarily renaming town roads after Addams Family characters in October for Halloween and creating a tour of Westfield spots that influenced Addams. A positive response from high school prinicpal Peter Renwick to the letter idea, which included WHS and intermediate school students painting the letters, led the idea to the forefront for the 2010 tribute.

In addition to the letters, the historical society sponsored an Ebay auction of a musical poster signed by the cast, to raise money for the scholarship fund. This is where Piazes came in. He was the first bidder, hoping to help a WHS student. Piazes was out bid in the end, in the auction that raised $442.

An actor, writer and producer professionally, MacCloskey is not stopping his advocacy for Addams in Westfield. Down the line he envisions a park named after the cartoonist along with a permanent street naming.

Until the permanent memorial to Addams, MacCloskey is busy explaining his passion for the cartoonist.

"When I told people I grew up in Westfield, I would compare it to George Bailey and "It's a Wonderful Life," MacCloskey said. "It is great that someone like Addams came from Westfield. To have one of the greatest cartoonists of the 20th century be from Westfield is great."


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here