Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De CarloWe lost Yvonne De Carlo last week. Most people remember her as Lily Munster from The Munsters – a ridiculously fun tv series that ran (surprisingly) for only two seasons. If I had to guess, I’d say I’ve seen each and every episode in reruns about 500 times. I never got into the Addams Family or a lot of the other little shows from that time…but The Munsters? I grew up with them and never saw fit to grow away from them. If a marathon came on television right now, I’d fly out of my home office, grab snacks and sweet tea, and assume my position in the den.

And dare anyone to disturb me!

My dad and I would watch them faithfully when I was growing up…. and laugh at the same jokes and bits each time. I’ll never forget the time he told me that “Lily” was actually a real beauty. I thought he was pulling my leg, so the next day my mom got her hands on some old pictures of the actress and they proved my dad’s point.

Boy did they ever!

I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw just how gorgeous Yvonne De Carlo actually was. And, yet here she is remembered as a green-faced vampire married to Herman. Every newspaper I’ve seen has shown a picture of her as lily with her death announcement. At first I thought it seemed kind of a shame – but then I thought about it. What better way to be remembered than someone who people loved? Someone who made them laugh and, for thirty minutes made them forget all of their worries?!

Now, that’s a legacy.

A few fast facts:

She was born in Vacouver.

Her name was actually Margaret “Peggy” Yvonne Middleton.

Yvonne’s dad walked out on the family when she was only 3. The mom worked as a waitress to support the family, but she’d always dreamed of a career in Hollywood. So, she really encouraged Yvonne to go in that direction.

Her mom first took her to Hollywood when she was only 15 years old. Apparently, there wasn’t much of a call for baby beauties, so they returned home and tried again when Yvonne was 18 years old.

Yvonne starred opposite Charleston Heston in The Ten Commandments. She gives a memorable performance as the wife of Heston’s Moses.

She married actor and stuntman Robert Morgan in 1955. They appeared together in Death of a Scoundrel.

Yvonne and Robert had two sons. After the birth of her children, Yvonne took time off from acting. However, while working as a stuntman on the set of How the West Was Won (1962; with Henry Fonda), Robert was nearly killed when he was pinned underneath an avalanche of logs. Yvonne returned to work to support her family as well as pay for his outrageous medical bills. It took him several years to recover.

During this time, she took roles in several films, including McLintock! (1963 with John Wayne) and Law of the Lawless (1964 with Dale Robertson and John Agar). She was then cast as the infamous Lily Munster in the CBS series The Munsters.

Sometimes people wonder why Yvonne De Carlo took such a role in a television series. That question can be laid to rest – she was doing what a mother and wife had to do to support her family, and I’m an even bigger fan than before.

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Yvonne DeCarlo and Clark GableYvonne DeCarlo’s Career:

I Look at You (1941)
The Kink of the Campus (1941)
Youth on Parade (1942)
Lucky Jordan (1942)
Harvard, Here I Come! (1942)
This Gun for Hire (1942)
Road to Morocco (1942)
True to Life (1943)
So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
Salute for Three (1943)
Rhythm Parade (1943)
Let’s Face It (1943)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Deerslayer (1943)
The Crystal Ball (1943)
Standing Room Only (1944)
Rainbow Island (1944)
Here Come the Waves (1944)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Practically Yours (1944)
Salome Where She Danced (1945)
Bring on the Girls (1945)
Frontier Girl (1945)
Song of Scheherazade (1947)
Brute Force (1947)
Slave Girl (1947)
River Lady (1948)
Casbah (1948)
Black Bart (1948)
The Gal Who Took the West (1949)
Criss Cross (1949)
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)

The Desert Hawk (1950)
Buccaneer’s Girl (1950)
Silver City (1951)
Tomahawk (1951)
Hotel Sahara (1951)
Scarlet Angel (1952)
The San Francisco Story (1952)
Sea Devils (1952)
Sombrero (1953)
The Captain’s Paradise (1953)
Fort Algiers (1953)
Happy Ever After (1954)
The Contessa’s Secret (1954)
Border River (1954)
Passion (1954)
Shotgun (1955)
Flame of the Islands (1955)
Raw Edge (1956)
Magic Fire (1956)
Death of a Scoundrel (1956)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Band of Angels (1957)
The Sword and the Cross (aka La Spada e la croce – 1958)
Timbuktu (1959)

McLintock (1963)
Law of the Lawless (1964)
A Global Affair (1964)
Munster, Go Home (1966)
Hostile Guns (1967)
The Power (1968)
Arizona Bushwhackers (1968)

The Seven Minutes (1971)
The Delta Factor (1971)
Blazing Stewardesses (1974)
The Girl on the Late Late Show (TV-1974)
The Mark of Zorro (TV-1974)
It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975)
Won Ton Ton, The Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
La casa de las sombras (1976)
Satan’s Cheerleaders (1977)
Nocturna (1979)

Silent Scream (1980)
The Man with Bogart’s Face (1980)
Guyana Cult of the Damned (1980)
Play Dead (1981)
Liar’s Moon (1981)
The Munster’s Revenge (1981)
National Lampoon’s Class Reunion (1982)
Vultures (1983)
Flesh and Bullets (1985)
A Masterpiece of Murder (TV-1986)
American Gothic (1988)
Cellar Dweller (1988)

Mirror, Mirror (1990)
Oscar (1991)
The Naked Truth (1992)
Desert Kickboxer (1992)
The Sorority House Murders (1993)
Seasons of the Heart (1993)
Here Come the Munsters (TV-1995)
The Barefoot Executive (1995)

TV Series – Cast:
The Munsters (1964-1965)

Rest in Peace.