Jimmy Workman Biography

Jimmy Workman debuted on the big screen in the supernatural black comedy ‘The Addams Family’ in 1991. During the audition, he accompanied his sister Shanelle to the reading for the part of Wednesday Addams (Christina Ricci ultimately played the role). He was playing on the set when the cast directors approached him and enquired if he wanted to read for the part of Pugsley. He did and was selected. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld, the film was the cinematic adaptation of Charles Addams' comic strips and the David Levy’s 1964 TV series of the same name. Besides Workman and Ricci, the film also stars Anjelica Huston as Morticia Addams, Raúl Juliá as Gomez Addams, Judith Malina as Grandma Addams, and Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester. Workman’s character, Pugsley Addams, was created as a devious young genius by Charles Addams. However, Workman portrayed him as an unwitting accomplice of his sister, Wednesday. The film garnered mixed to positive reviews from the critics but was a massive commercial success, earning $191.5 million at the box office against its $30 million budget. Workman returned to play Pugsley in the video shorts ‘Hammer: Addams Groove’ (1991) and ‘Tag Team: Addams Family (Whoomp!)’ (1993), as well as the sequel ‘Addams Family Values’ (1993).

In 1992, he was cast as Little Bud Delp in the season-five episode, ‘Pennies from Heaven’, of ‘Jake and the Fatman’. Later that year, he appeared in the TNT telefilm ‘Christmas in Connecticut’. The TV movie is noted for being one of the very few directorial ventures of actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Workman then played a bully in the sixth-season episode, ‘Mr. Awesome’, of the NBC legal-drama series ‘Matlock’. Between 1991 and 1993, he made two uncredited appearances on the NBC sketch-comedy series ‘Saturday Night Live’.

In 1996, he played an uncredited role of a “druggy teen” in Penelope Spheeris’ comedy film ‘Black Sheep’. He then served as a voice actor in an episode of Fox’s animated series ‘Life with Louie’. In 1997, Workman shared the screen space with Jack Nicholson, Helen Hunt, Greg Kinnear, and Cuba Gooding Jr. in the romantic comedy ‘As Good as It Gets’. He portrayed Matt Parker in the 2002 teen drama ‘The Biggest Fan’. After appearing in the 2004 direct-to-video comedy film ‘To Kill a Mockumentary’, he retired from acting. Since then, he has served as a technical crew member in the transportation department of several films, including ‘Adolescence’ (2018) and ‘Adopt a Highway’ (2019).

Born on October 4, 1980, in Fairfax, Virginia, USA, Jimmy Workman is the second of three children of Chrisoula "Crystal" and Glenn Workman. His mother is a homemaker while his father owns a communications firm. His older sister is actress, voice actress, producer and director Shanelle Workman. His younger sister, Ariel Winter Workman, is also an actress and voice actress.

In 2013, Workman submitted legal documents in Los Angeles in order to gain custody of his younger sister Ariel from his older sister Shanelle, claiming that the latter was a bad influence on the former. TMZ reported that he asked the court to take away custody of the then-15-year-old actress from their older sister, so he could take care of her instead. He accused Shanelle of sexualising Ariel as well as using her popularity and fortune to draw attention to her acting school. He claimed that his older sister had been a drug user, made appearances in public “almost nude revealing her private parts”, and convinced Ariel to follow a party lifestyle. Furthermore, he accused Shanelle of turning their younger sister against her family, especially their mother, Crystal. This came after Ariel accused their mother of being physically and mentally abusive towards her, which led to the courts giving her guardianship to Shanelle. Workman’s attempt of obtaining Ariel’s guardianship was unsuccessful, and she remained with their older sister until she became an adult.

Jimmy Workman, known for his role as Pugsley Addams in "The Addams Family," comes from a family of actors including his sister, Ariel Winter, who stars in "Modern Family."

In addition to acting, Workman has also worked behind the scenes in Hollywood as a production assistant and set dresser.

Workman is a talented artist and enjoys painting and drawing in his spare time.

Despite his early success in acting, Workman decided to step away from the spotlight and pursue a more private life out of the public eye.

Workman remains grateful for the opportunities his acting career provided him and looks back on his time in Hollywood with fond memories.