Lisa Loring, best known as the first actress to play Wednesday Addams in the original The Addams Family sitcom, has died at 64.

Loring’s daughter, Vanessa Foumberg, confirmed in a statement to Variety that her mother died on Saturday after a stroke.

“She went peacefully with both her daughters holding her hands,” Ms Foumberg said.

Laurie Jacobson, Loring’s friend, also reported her death on Facebook, saying she had “suffered a massive stroke brought on by smoking and high blood pressure.”

“She had been on life support for three days. Yesterday, her family made the difficult decision to remove it and she passed last night,” Ms Jacobson wrote.

“She is embedded in the tapestry that is pop culture and in our hearts always as Wednesday Addams.

“Beautiful, kind, a loving mother, Lisa’s legacy in the world of entertainment is huge. And the legacy for her family and friends — a wealth of humor, affection and love will long play in our memories. RIP, Lisa. Damn, girl… you were a ton of fun.”

Aged just six, Loring was the first actress to play pigtail-wearing Wednesday after being cast in The Addams Family in 1964. She played the role for the show’s two-year run and in the 1977 TV film Halloween with the New Addams Family.

“I learned to memorise before I could read,” she told the Canberra Times in 2017.

The role has since been played by Christina Ricci in the 1991 hit movie The Addams Family and its 1993 sequel Addams Family Values, and Jenna Ortega in Tim Burton’s Netflix comedy horror Wednesday last year.

Jenna Ortega paid tribute to Loring’s dancing in an early episode.

“I knew there were certain things I wanted to do. I paid homage to Lisa Loring, the first Wednesday Addams. I did a little bit of her shuffle that she does,” she told Jimmy Fallon during an appearance on The Tonight Show.

“Of course, they cut out of camera when I did do it, but it’s there! I know it is!”

Loring was born Lisa Ann DeCinces in the Marshall Islands in 1958. She later moved to Hawaii and then Los Angeles with her mother.

She began modelling when she was three and landed her first TV role soon after, in an episode of the NBC medical drama Dr. Kildare.

Her otheracting credits also included shows The Girl From U.N.C.L.E., Fantasy Island and Barnaby Jones.

From 1980 to 1983, she played the character Cricket Montgomery on the US soap opera As The World Turns. She also appeared in three B-rate slasher films: Blood Frenzy (1987), Iced (1988), and Savage Harbor (1987).

Loring was married four times and is survived by daughters Marianne and Vanessa, and her grandchildren Emiliana and Charles.

Her death leaves 92-year-old John Astin – who played her father Gomez Addams – as the last surviving cast member of The Addams Family.

-with AAP