Adam Maitland is one of the main protagonists of Beetlejuice. He is the husband of Barbara Maitland who died alongside her in a car crash. When a family moves into their former home, Adam and Barbara do everything they can to scare away the new residents as ghosts, even reluctantly requesting the aid of a dangerous poltergeist named Betelgeuse.
He is portrayed by Alec Baldwin.
Background[]
Personality[]
Adam is a nice, polite guy who wants to get along with everyone and be in peace. Being a quiet man, his hobby was creating realistic sculptures (especially for his model of his hometown) before he and his wife Barbara died in a car accident after a short trip into town to get supplies for the day's projects. When he finds himself a ghost and his house sold, he finds the new owners do not share his aesthetic. He is disgusted by the elaborate, abstract artwork of Delia Deetz, which ruins the simple, tranquil feeling of their now haunted Victorian home. Although Jane took credit, he and his wife worked very hard on redecorating their house, and he decides that as ghosts, his and Barbara's opportunity to scare the Deetz family out of the house is their best chance to restore the house to its original beauty where he and Barbara may spend their afterlife together in peace.
Physical Appearance[]
Role in the film[]
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Alec Baldwin has stated that this is one of his least favorite roles.
- According to Tim Burton, there were reasons why Adam and Barbara did not return for the 2024 sequel. These included wanting to focus on a new set of characters and the fact that both actors who portrayed the Maitlands have aged significantly since the first film's release, which would have made it difficult for them to be the same age the Maitlands had died at.[1]