Lily Munster got on well. De Carlo approached the role with Donna Reed as her primary inspiration. Lily Munster Lily Munster is a fictional character in the CBS sitcom, "The Munsters", originally played by Yvonne De Carlo. The matriarch of the Munster household, Lily is a vampire. The role was later played by Lee Meriwether in "The Munsters Today" and by Portia de Rossi in the unsold 2012 pilot "Mockingbird Lane". Lily was first introduced in the 2nd pilot episode and is the only family member to not appear in the original pilot episode. In the original pilot Herman was married to
Yvonne De Carlo was in debt by 1964 when she signed a contract with Universal Studios to perform the female lead role in "The Munsters" opposite Fred Gwynne. She was also the producers' choice to play Lily Munster when Joan Marshall, who played the character (originally called "Phoebe"), was dropped from consideration for the role. When De Carlo was asked how a glamorous actress could succeed as a ghoulish matriarch of a haunted house, she replied simply, "I follow the directions I received on the first day of shooting: 'Play her just like "Donna Reed".'" She sang and played the harp in at