Charles Samuel Addams (January 7, 1912, Westfield, New Jersey–September 29, 1988, New York, New York) was an American cartoonist known for his particularly black humor and macabre characters. His cartoons regularly appeared in The New Yorker from 1938 until his death. He also created a syndicated comic strip, Out of This World, which ran in 1956. Some of the recurring characters, who became known as The Addams Family, became the basis for two live action television series, two cartoon series, and three motion pictures. It is said that the exterior of the Addams Family Mansion was based on a home in Westfield, New Jersey.

Typical of his work, one well known cartoon shows two men standing in a room labeled "Patent Office." One of them is pointing a bizarre gun out the window and saying to the other, "Death ray, fiddlesticks! It doesn't even slow them up!"

Addams studied at Colgate University and at the University of Pennsylvania. A Fine Arts building on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, Addams' alma mater, is named for him. There is a sculpture of the silhouettes of the Addams family characters in front of the building.