by Carlhole » Thu 11 Jan 2007, 01:09:06
Actress Yvonne De Carlo Passes On
Actress Yvonne De Carlo Dies At Age 84$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('source', 'W')OODLAND HILLS, Calif. -- Yvonne De Carlo, the stunning Paramount starlet who won acclaim as Moses' wife in "The Ten Commandments" but is best remembered as TV's Lily Munster, has died. She was 84.
De Carlo, born Peggy Yvonne Middleton in Vancouver, British Columbia, died last night at the Motion Picture & Television Fund's Retirement Home in Woodland Hills, where a source confirmed news of her death.
As the elegant vamp in the CBS show "The Munsters" (1964-1966), De Carlo starred opposite Fred Gwynne as the matriarch of a decidedly offbeat but well-meaning family. The characters were modeled on classic monsters except for ugly duckling daughter "Marilyn," the only actress who did not appear in heavy makeup.
You know, it's always kind of bothered me - about that Munster's character, 'Marilyn' - she was the only one that wasn't a ghoul of some kind. In fact, she was just the opposite - your typical drop-dead gorgeous blonde bombshell from early sixties.
But she actually could have been the TV shows MOST ghoulish character when you think about it. I mean, 'Marilyn' had those sort of beautiful-but-dead looks that sort hover in everyone's Hollywood lore-consciousness.
Like, she could have easily been riding in that Spider sportscar when James Dean cracked it up on Deadman's Curve or Mulholland Drive or wherever it was. Or she could have been that famous young woman's ghost that haunts that cemetery near Chicago and who occasionally hitchikes rides from young men. You know what I mean? She looks like a ghost - like the ghost of a young beautiful woman who has died unrequited.
Now, why on Earth didn't the producers of the Munsters recognize this obvious ghostly aspect of 'Marilyn' and make her character actually BE a ghost?!! Why!! It was staring them in the face! She could have fit right in with all of the other Munsters characters!
They could have used all sorts of double-exposure tricks and fade shots with the camera to create a ghostly aspect and to have 'Marilyn' just dematerialize in front of people or walk through walls or even, YES, hitchhike alongside a graveyard! Wow! When guys came to pick her to go dancing, they could have all remarked at how "cold" her hands felt and little things like that. 'Marilyn the Unrequited Ghost' might have even been able to be a little risque - for example, putting the outrageous scenario in front of viewers of some slick playboy getting lucky with a dead chick - and then realizing it as she fades away afterwards or something.
But, it doesn't seem like the idea ever even occured to the producers and it seems like the whole 'Munsters' TV show was never quite as good as it could have been. Next time your watching the Munsters, check out the character 'Marilyn' and you'll see what I mean. She only functions like a timid straight-man to the others' comedy. Mailyn just never seemed to fit in. It seemed to sad.
And the whole thing seemed really unfair to the actress who played 'Marilyn' - didn't she think of the 'Gorgeous Ghost' idea herself? The idea just seems so impossible to NOT think of in the context of all those others - a Frankenstein's Monster (Herman), A little Werewolf (Eddie), A Count Dracula character (Granpa) and... hey what was Yvonne De Carlo's character supposed to be anyway?
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