Yvonne De Carlo was a beloved Canadian-American actress, dancer, and singer.
She was born on September 1, 1922, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and passed away
on January 8, 2007, in Woodland Hills, California.
She began her career as a dancer and went on to become a popular Hollywood actress in
the 1940s and 1950s.
De Carlo appeared in over 80 films, including the 1956s "The Ten Commandments", 1957s "Band
of Angels", and 1963s "McLintock!".
She was also a regular cast member in the television series "The Munsters" which ran
from 1964 to 1966, where she played Lily Munster.
For that role, she is best remembered by most modern audiences.
In addition to her prolific acting career, De Carlo was also a successful singer and
released several albums.
She was known for her beauty and talent and was considered to be one of the most popular
actresses of her time.
Throughout her career, De Carlo received recognition for her work and was honored with various
awards and nominations.
She remains a beloved figure in the entertainment industry and is remembered for her many contributions
to film and television.
While the public may remember De Carlo fondly, some of her former co-stars didn't quite have
the most glowing opinion of her at first.
While on the set of The Munsters, she managed to ruffle a few feathers, to say the least.
And on top of that, she didn't exactly have the nicest things to share about some of her
experiences with the show either.
Stay tuned to find out why Yvonne De Carlo wasn't initially warmly received by her Munsters'
co-stars and why she couldn't stand having to get into makeup every day.
Facts Verse Presents: Co-Stars Confirm Why Yvonne De Carlo was Hated on Set
The Cast Wasn’t Sure She Was The Right Fit
Although The Munsters only lasted two years before getting the ax, the series has gone
on to be considered a cult classic.
Fans of the series loved the story of a family of off-beat monsters who attempted to fit
in with ordinary people.
Lily Munster, played by Yvonne De Carlo, was the matriarch of the Munster family, and she
often had to deal with the chaos conjured up by her husband Herman Munster, played by
the late Fred Gwynne.
Although De Carlo was beloved by her fans, we've come to learn that she wasn't exactly
welcomed with open arms by her former co-stars
For starters, Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis, the actor who portrayed Grandpa Munster, weren’t
sure about how they felt about De Carlo in the role of Lily Munster.
When casting for The Munsters, the show’s producers chose Gwynne and Lewis as they seemed
to be shoe-ins for their respective roles.
Behind the scenes, Gwynne and Lewis were close friends who had previously worked alongside
each other on the series Car 54, Where Are You?
However, when it came to these two established stars' relationship with De Carlo, they were
far less friendly toward her.
It's been reported that the primary reason for this had to do with De Carlo's status
as a film star.
Gwynne and Lewis firmly believed that she wouldn't be the right fit for a role in a
television comedy.
That being said, De Carlo proved them wrong, and fortunately, all three actors eventually
ended up becoming lifelong friends.
De Carlo’s Film Career Before The Munsters
Throughout the ‘40s and ‘50s, De Carlo was a regular fixture in films put out by
Hollywood.
Her early film work consisted of roles in films such as Hurricane Smith, Calamity Jane,
Hotel Sahara, and Sam Bass.
Her most prominent film credit, however, came when she shared the screen with one of Tinsel
Town's most sought-after leads, Charlton Heston, in the 1956 classic epic biblical flick The
Ten Commandments.
Though De Carlo was a famed and celebrated movie star, like so many other actors of her
day, she ended up falling on hard times.
By the '60s, movie roles had all but dried up, and she was drowning in debt.
In 1964, however, the fates handed her a change of luck when she was offered the role of Lily
Munster.
According to reports, De Carlo was thrilled to portray the now-iconic character.
Her role on The Munsters ended up doing wonders for her once-struggling career, effectively
giving her a second wind.
De Carlo told Fox News a few years before her passing that the role provided her with
a new, younger audience that she wouldn't have had otherwise.
After a long stint of basically falling to the wayside and being forgotten by Hollywood,
it made her 'hot again', which is something that she desperately wanted.
Lily Munster Ended Up Becoming Her Most Famous Role
While De Carlo had oodles of film credits to her name, her role as Lily Munster wound
up becoming her most famous.
De Carlo would spend hours in hair and makeup every day to transform her appearance into
that of the Munster matriarch.
We'll touch on that in a bit more detail in just a moment – so stick with us.
As far as her character’s personality went, De Carlo later admitted that it had been challenging
to get into the groove of things.
Producers instructed her to play Lily as a sort of ‘mixed up’ take on
Donna Reed without overdoing it.
De Carlo ended up playing Lily for two seasons before the show was canceled in 1966.
Later on, she would reprise her role in the spin-off films The Munsters Revenge and Munster,
Go Home!
And thanks to re-runs, millions of younger viewers have been introduced to her performance
as Lily, leading to many longtime fans that otherwise likely wouldn't even know her name.
She Hated Getting Into Makeup
Goth might be a popular aesthetic today, but it wasn't really a thing back in the 60s.
For sure, if you looked hard enough, you could find people that loved the macabre style,
but the subculture as it exists today really didn't end up finding its footing in pop culture
until the 1980s or so.
There is far more appreciation for Yvonne De Carlo's makeup and wardrobe as Lily Munster
with contemporary audiences than when the TV series was first airing.
Because of this, De Carlo naturally felt a little uncomfortable when slipping into character
every day – especially the first time that she saw herself in the mirror after getting
all done up as the dark, seductive vampiress.
The 2017 book You Ain’t Heard Nothin’ Yet, written by former TV columnist for the
Toronto Star, James Bawden, recounts the author's numerous interviews with some of the top stars
of Hollywood's Golden Age.
In 1975, Bawden got a chance to interview De Carlo when he traveled to LA to preview
the fall television season.
According to the book, it didn’t take long for Yvonne to open up about her time on The
Munsters.
When describing her hair and makeup routine, De Carlo said that the very first time that
she was put in her signature green makeup, she ended up bursting into tears.
She couldn’t believe that after spending decades as a respected and established actress,
what she would ultimately end up becoming most famous for was playing a gaudy monster
on a low-brow television series.
After The Munsters ended up becoming a smash hit, De Carlo said that everywhere she went,
children would point at her and ask if she was the real Lily Munster.
De Carlo went on to tell Bawden that in Hollywood, you need to learn how to roll with the punches
if you want to keep working and that, unfortunately, for older women, that often means that they
have to resort to monster movies.
At least in her case, she got to play a funny monster!
Still, she cringed when she saw the first pilot.
It took her nearly two hours every day sitting in makeup to get done up like Lily Munster,
and every moment of that time, she no doubt spent second-guessing herself.
De Carlo told Bawden that she wouldn't have used the word 'ugly' to describe Lily's look,
but even so, at the time there was an established set of beauty standards in Hollywood that
she frankly didn't fit in with.
This became especially obvious when the show went from black and white to color for the
later two Munster films.
At that point, the camera showed off all of the green and red that covered her face and
made her look all the more so like the monstrosity that she was intended to be seen as.
When the show was airing in black and white, the bright green and red makeup enhanced the
intense contouring and contrast.
It really made the clothing and everyone's prosthetics and winged eyebrows pop.
But De Carlo was right on the money when she mentioned that the reds and greens seen in
the Film Munster, Go Home wasn't very flattering.
The makeup choice ultimately made Lily, Grandpa, and Eddie Munster look fairly hideous.
In black and white, red would have shown up as black.
Grease paint and a heavy foundation of green makeup would be used to cover up any reddish
hues on the skin.
Gold lipstick was likewise used to simulate the color of natural lips.
Finally, blue would be used for shadow and contour, getting a liberal spreading across
the actor's faces.
In grayscale, all of this looked just fine, but after making the leap to color, these
decisions made the cast look like a band of clowns.
De Carlo’s Post-Munsters Career
After "The Munsters" ended, Yvonne De Carlo continued to act in television and film.
Some of her notable works include "The Love Boat", "Bonanza", and "McClintock!".
She also continued to perform in theater productions, both on and off Broadway, until her retirement
in the late 1980s.
In 1998, Yvonne suffered a minor stroke.
She later took up residency at the Motion Picture & Television Country House and Hospital
in Woodland Hills, California, where she spent the remainder of her years.
De Carlo passed away on January 8, 2007, at the age of 84.
The cause of her death was reported to be heart failure.
She is survived by her two sons Bruce Ross and Michael.
With that, we’ll go ahead and wrap things up.
But before you move on to watching another one of our facts-packed videos, take a moment
to hop down in the comments and share your thoughts on Yvonne De Carlo’s life and career.
Did you know that she hated getting into makeup when playing Lily Munster and that her Munsters
co-stars were at first uncertain that she was the right fit for the role?
Let us know, and as always, thanks for watching.