What Ever Happened to the Cast of ‘The Munsters’? – ryan

The Munsters may have lasted only two seasons, but it still managed to become a 1960s TV classic.

Premiering in on CBS in 1964, the show was a campy mashup of classic Universal Pictures monsters with wholesome family-focused sitcoms. It centered on a family of ghouls and their normie niece living in an average American suburb.

Despite its brief run, The Munsters has spawned numerous spin-offs and reboots in the nearly 60 years since it originally aired. A 1966 film, Munster, Go Home!quickly followed the show’s cancelation, followed by a 1973 animated special, The mini-muters, and a live-action 1981 reunion special, The Munsters’ Revenge. A syndicated revival series, The Munsters Todayaired from 1988. to 1991, followed by a CBS TV movie, Here Come the Munsters, in 1995.

The pilot for a planned reboot, Mockingbird Laneaired as a Halloween special on NBC in 2012, and in 2022, director Rob Zombie’s The Munsters presented an origin story for the show’s characters.

Here, find out what happened to the original denizens of 1313 Mockingbird Lane after The Munsters ended.

Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster

At a towering 6′ 5″, Fred Gwynne was a perfect fit for Herman Munster, the hulking Frankenstein’s monster-esque patriarch of the Munster clan. Having already appeared in numerous TV series in the 1950s, Gwynne had his first starring role as Officer Francis Muldoon in NBC’s cop sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? from 1961 to 1963. After starring in The Munsters from 1964 to 1966, he reprised the role of Herman in the 1966 movie Munster, Go Home!

In the decades that followed, Gwynne continued to make numerous appearances in series and TV movies — including 1981’s The Munsters’ Revenge — while also appearing in films like Fatal Attraction (1987), Pet Sematary (1989) and My Cousin Vinny (1992).

Gwynne married first wife Jean Reynard in 1952. The couple had five children before divorcing in 1980. Gwynne married Deborah Flater in 1988.

The actor died in 1993 of complications from pancreatic cancer at the age of 66.

Yvonne de Carlo as Lily Munster

Prior to taking on the role of vampire bride/homemaker Lily Munster, Yvonne De Carlo appeared in more than 50 movies in the 1940s and 1950s, including starring opposite Charlton Heston as Moses’ wife in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments (1956). But, as pop culture historian Geoffrey Mark told Woman’s World in 2024, De Carlo was often “hired to smolder like a prop rather than (portray) a fully-developed character,” and many of her films were “popular in the moment, but nobody remembers them today.”

With The Munstershowever, De Carlo reached a new level of campy cultural cache, reprising the role of Lily in 1966’s Munster, Go Home! and in 1981’s The Munsters’ Revenge.

Following the show’s cancelation in 1966, she went on to appear in another 27 films, primarily B-movies and a few of them horror flicks playing on her Munsters notoriety. She also found success on the stage, most notably originating the role of Carlotta Campion in the 1971 Broadway production of Stephen Sondheim’s Folliesand made appearances in shows like Fantasy Island, Murder, She Wrote, Dream On and Tales from the Crypt throughout the ’70s, ’80s and ’90s.

De Carlo was married to stuntman Robert Morgan in 1955. Along with Morgan’s daughter from a previous marriage, the couple shared two sons. They divorced in 1973.

De Carlo died of heart failure in 2007 at the age of 84.

Al Lewis as Grandpa Munster

Al Lewis’ zany Count Sam Dracula, a.k.a. Grandpa Munster, may have been hundreds of years old, but he actor himself was only 41 when he took on the role — notably, a year younger than on-screen daughter Yvonne De Carlo.

Prior to The MunstersLewis got his start performing in Vaudeville and on Broadway in the 1950s, before moving into television, most notably starring alongside Fred Gwynne in Car 54, Where Are You?. Along with most of the original cast, Lewis appeared as his Munsters character in 1966’s Munster, Go Home! and 1981’s The Munsters’ Revengeand had a cameo in CBS’s 1995 remake Here Come the Munsters. He also reprised the role in a 1991 episode of ABC’s classic sitcom spoof Hi Honey, I’m Home.

Lewis’s notable film appearances included Sydney Pollack’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They (1969) and Married to the Mob (1988). He also reprised his Car 54 role in the 1994 film based on the show. On TV, he guest-starred in shows like Lost in Space, Green Acres, Love American Style and Taxi.

A life-long left-wing activist, Lewis ran for New York governor as a member of the Green Party in 1998. His bid to be listed on the ballot as “Grandpa Al Lewis” failed, as did his campaign. He did however succeed in getting enough votes to secure a place for his party on the New York ballot for the next four years. In 2000, he campaigned for the Green Party nomination for one of New York’s two U.S. Senate seats, coming in second.

Lewis was married to first wife Marge Domowitz from 1956 until their 1977 divorce. The couple had three sons. He married actress Karen Ingenthron in 1984. They remained married until his death in 2006 at the age of 82.

Butch Patrick as Eddie Munster

While the role of Eddie Munster was originally played by child actor Happy Derman in the unaired pilot for The Munstersthen-11-year-old Butch Patrick was ultimately cast as the pint-size werewolf in the series, co-starring in the show until its cancelation in 1966. Patrick reprised the role alongside Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo and Al Lewis in the 1966 film Munster, Go Home!but did not appear in the 1981 TV reunion movie The Munsters’ Revenge.

After the series ended, Patrick continued to work in film and TV, with roles on shows like I Dream of Jeannie and The Monkees. In 1971, he starred in the short-lived Saturday morning kids’ show Lidsville from H.R. Pufnstuf creators Sid and Marty Krofft.

Patrick’s post-Munsters film credits include the starring role in Chuck Jones’s 1970 adaptation of The Phantom Tollbooth. He quit acting in 1975 to work for his father, but returned to the screen with a role in the 1991 horror flick Scary Movie. In 1995, he had a cameo in CBS’s remake Here Come the Munsters and appeared in a cameo as himself in 2003’s Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star. He’s taken on a number of small roles in the years since, including providing the voice for the Tin Can Man in Rob Zombie’s 2022 film based on The Munsters.

Patrick married wife Leila Murray in 2016 at the age of 63.

Beverley Owen as Marilyn Munster

The first of the two original Marilyn Munsters, Beverley Owen came to the series with roles in shows like As the World Turns and Wagon Train, as well as the film Bullets for a Badman under her belt. As Marilyn, the daughter of Lily Munster’s sister, she played the only “normal” member of the family — though her spooky relatives considered her odd. Owen left the series midway through its first season, after only 13 episodes.

That same year, she married writer, director and producer Jon Stone, who went on to become an original member of the Sesame Street team. The couple had two daughters before divorcing in 1974.

Owen briefly returned to the small screen in 1972, playing Dr. Paula McCrea on Another World. She went on to earn a master’s degree in early American history.

Owen died in February 2019 at the age of 81, from ovarian cancer. Her Munsters costar Butch Patrick marked her passing in a Facebook post, writing: “Beautiful Beverly Owen has left us. What a sweet soul. I had the biggest crush on her. RIP Bev and thanks for your 13 memorable Marilyn Munster episodes.”

Pat Priest as Marilyn Munster

Hot on the heels of small guest roles in shows like Perry Mason and My Favorite MartianPat Priest was tapped to replace Beverley Owen as Marilyn midway through The Munsters’ first season. She continued to play the character until the show’s 1966 cancelation.

Post-MunstersPriest appeared in guest roles on The Lucy Show, Mannix, Bewitched and The Mary Tyler Moore Showand starred alongside Elvis Presley in 1967’s Easy Come, Easy Go and with Bruce Dern in 1971’s The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant. After retiring from acting in the 1980s, she returned for a cameo in CBS’s 1995 TV movie Here Come the Munsters and provided the voice for an airline announcer in Rob Zombie’s 2022 movie The Munsters.

Priest was married to first husband Pierce Jensen Jr. from 1955 to 1967. In 1981, she married Frederick Hansing. She has two sons. According to Remindat age 88, she still occasionally joins Munsters costar Butch Patrick at fan conventions.