The Munsters The Munsters The Munsters is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters starring Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monster-type head-of-the-household Herman Munster, Yvonne De Carlo as his vampire wife, Lily Munster, Al Lewis as Grandpa, the over-the-hill vampire who relishes in talking about the "good old days", Beverly Owen (later replaced by Pat Priest) as their teenage niece Marilyn Munster, whose all-American beauty made her the family outcast, and Butch Patrick as their half-vampire, half-werewolf son Eddie Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and the wholesome family fare of the
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