The Munsters

Herman Munster was played by Fred Gwynne.

Herman Munster, along with a twin brother named Charlie, was created by Doctor Victor Frankenstein at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. Dr Frankenstein began working on the monsters in 1815 and completed his work sometime around 1850. Herman was 7' 3" tall and weighed 380 pounds.

Herman left Germany a few years later and went to moved to Shroudshire in England where he was adopted by the Munster family. A few years later he moved to Transylvania. In 1865 Herman was married to Lily Dracula. Later Herman and Lily moved to America bringing Lily's father with them. Herman enlisted in the Army and served in WW II. After the war was over Herman got a job for the Gateman, Goodbury and Graves Funeral Parlor.

Herman was a kind hearted man and even though he was extremely old he often acted very childishly and was prone to stomping his feet and throwing temper tantrums when he didn't get his way.

Would you like to learn more about Fred Gwynne? Fred was truly a gifted and multi-talented person. I created a lens dedicated to Fred and his accomplishments:

Fred Gwynne on SquidWho

The part of Lily Munster was played by Yvonne DeCarlo.

Lily Dracula was born in 1827. Her father was Sam Dracula (Al Lewis), her mother was never named, but she was Sam's 16th wife! Lily had a brother and a sister. Her brother was a werewolf, her sister was the mother of Marilyn, whom the Munster family adopted.

The character of Lily Munster did not appear in the first Munsters pilot in which Herman was married to a woman named Phoebe (Joan Marshall). The producers of the show decided that Phoebe looked too much like Morticia Addams from the Addams Family and so the character was changed to Lily and Yvonne DeCarlo was cast for the part.

Gwynne and Lewis actually complained to the producers about their choice of DeCarlo for the role. They felt that since she was already a well established movie star that she wouldn't be able to fit in with the rest of the crew. Fortunately, after several episodes were shot they admitted that they had misjudged her and she was perfect for the part.

Grandpa, Sam Dracula, was born in Transylvania and has been married 16 different times. Although he had so many wives he only had three children; Lily, Lester, and another daughter who was never named in the show. Grandpa was a vampire, magician and mad scientist.

Grandpa Munster was played by Al Lewis. Al had previously worked with Fred Gwynne on the television series Car 54, Where Are You? which aired from 1961 to 1963.

Al Lewis (Al's real name was Albert Meister) had an interesting career in show business. He actually started his acting career as a circus clown! His act included a unicycle and the trapeze bar. He also appeared at numerous carnivals until he eventually started performing on Chicago's WGN radio station. Later he moved to New York City and did some work on various soap opera programs for radio. Al also worked as a school teacher and authored a couple children's books.

Al left us on February 4, 2006, he was 83 years old.

Eddie Munster's full name was Edward Wolfgang Munster and was played by Butch Patrick. However, in the first pilot the part was played by Happy Derman. Eddie Munster was a werewolf as well as part vampire.

Eddie slept in a coffin with his favorite toy, a stuffed werewolf doll he called Woof Woof.

Butch's real name is Patrick Alan Lilley. He was born on August 2, 1953 in California. Patrick also appeared in many other television series including Gunsmoke, Daniel Boone, Mister Ed, The Monkees, I Dream of Jeanie, My Three Sons and My Favorite Martian.

In the first 13 episodes of The Munsters, Marilyn Munster was played by Beverley Owen. Then it was Pat Priest

Marilyn Munster was originally played by Beverley Owen. After 13 episodes Pat Priest was cast for the part.

Marilyn moved to America to live with her Uncle Herman and Aunt Lily so that she could attend college.

Marilyn was the only one in the Munster family who appeared "normal", but to the Munsters she was ugly and they feared she would never find a husband because of her terrible looks. Ironically, whenever she did entertain a male friend he was invariably scared away by the appearance of her family. Naturally, Marilyn and the rest of the Munsters always assumed that it was Marilyn's frightful appearance that drove them away.