Gomez Addams is the patriarch of The Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s, and subsequently portrayed in television, film and stage. In Charles Addams's original cartoons, Gomez was the nameless patriarch of the Family. He had a somewhat grotesque appearance, with a tubby body, a snub-nose, a crooked tooth and a receding chin. He was often depicted reading in the den or lounging on the windowsill. Gomez—as with all of the members of the family—had no given name. When The Addams Family 1964 television series was being developed, Charles Addams suggested naming the character either Repelli or Gomez. Addams left the final choice up to portrayer John Astin, who chose Gomez. Because "Gómez" is usually recognized as a family name in Spanish-speaking countries, in Hispanic America the character's name was changed to "Homero" ("Homer"). Like the other members of the family, Gomez's personality became largely codified by the television series. Gomez is of Castilian extraction. John Astin had long sessions with Addams and series producer David Levy, who gave him free rein in developing the character. Enlarging on Addams' description of Gomez as a Latin lover type, Astin suggested the eye- rolling, pencil moustache, and ardent devotion to Morticia. • He spends $1000 per month on cigars, and he is an accomplished juggler and knife-thrower. • He loves crashing toy trains and diving for crabs on Halloween. • When he wishes to know the time he will pull a pocket watch from the breast pocket of his coat (the chain is attached to the lapel) while simultaneously checking a wrist watch. Gomez is an athletic, acrobatic, and eccentric multi-billionaire. Though an extremely successful businessman, having acquired much of his wealth through inheritance and investments, he has little regard for money and will casually spend thousands of dollars on any whimsical endeavor. Gomez's investments are guided more by whimsy than strategy, yet luck rarely fails him. Gomez owns businesses around the world, including a swamp, bought for "scenic value", crocodile farm, a buzzard farm, a salt mine, a tombstone factory, a uranium mine, and many others. As a young man, Gomez was, per flashback in "Morticia's Romance," a perennially sickly youth, gaining perfect health only after meeting Morticia. He nevertheless studied law (voted "Most Likely Never to Pass the Bar") and is quite proud his law class voted him "Least Likely to Succeed" .