Yvonne DeCarlo

Yvonne De Carlo died on January 8, 2007 at the age of 84 in Los Angeles. A heart failure ended the life of Lily Munster, the mother in the popular comedy television series about the terrifying characters of a lifetime. Thanks to this vamp, Yvonne became part of the collective imagination with half her hair black and the other half white, excessive makeup and almost oriental-inspired clothing, which made the way she opened the door unforgettable. She sounded with the funeral march and Lily walked the gloomy hall planning to receive her Frankenstein-husband, Herman. But it wasn’t all hits before the Monster Family years .

Peggy Ivonne Middleton was born in Vancouver (Canada) in 1922. Her father abandoned her when she was a child. She was left in the care of her mother, who wanted her daughter to be an artist. So she encouraged her to sign up for dance and drama classes. In 1937 mother and daughter traveled to Hollywood looking for a better future. They were unsuccessful and returned to Canada, although three years later they tried again. Peggy changed her name and began to dance at night, while she was looking for work as an actress by day. Her career on the big screen began in 1941. Those were years in which Yvonne alternated her participation in several shorts with her participation in numerous films, such as For Whom the Bell Tolls , in which she did not even appear in the movies. credit titles. Her moment did not come until 1945, when she starred inSalome, the bewitcher . Its director De ella Charles Lamont had her again for La dama de la frontera (1945) and La esclava del desierto (1947). From leading roles he went on to share the bill with actors such as Burt Lancaster in El abrazo de la muerte (1949), Peter Ustinov in Hotel Sahara (1951), Rock Hudson in Captain Panama (1952) and Los hawks of the Strait (1953) –which he directed Raoul Walsh- ; and Alec Guinness in The Captain’s Paradise (1953).

In 1956 Cecil B. DeMille knocked on her door and offered her the role of Zipporah, Moses’ wife in The Ten Commandments (1956) . Yvonne cast Charlton Heston , Yul Brynner , and Edward G. Robinson . The film achieved success and served to consolidate an actress who had already participated in 58 titles, in almost 30 as the lead, and in endless genres. But far from ending her career, Y vonne continued her unstoppable march that has led her to collect more than a hundred titles. Thus, The Free Slave (1957) helped him return to work under the orders of Raoul Walsh , and to shoot with Clark Gable andSydney Poitier .

The cinema did not prevent Yvonne from maintaining contact with television. This increased at the end of the 60s when the actress frequented the series more, such was the case of her intervention in Bonanza (1959). Her film roles declined, although she continued to work in films such as The Great MacLintock (1963), starring John Wayne and Maureen O’Hara , and A Feeding Bottle at the UN (1964), with Bob Hope .. He still didn’t know it, but 1964 was going to become the key year of his career. She was 42 years old and was chosen to be Lily Munster. Mother and daughter of vampires and married to the great Frankenstein, she fought for her family to lead a normal life without losing the ‘customs’. This series of gothic overtones, full of humor in the style of any other family ‘sitcom’, captivated the hearts of the public. Only two seasons of The Monster Family were filmed, which did not prevent the series from going beyond space and time. We must not forget the success he achieved in Spain in the eighties, becoming an icon of that generation. Curiously, Yvonne accepted the role of her to help her husband Bob Morgan – they were married between 1955 and 1968 – to pay medical bills after having suffered an accident. As she herself admitted on several occasions, little did she know then that Lily would make her known worldwide.

After The Monster Family there were still roles for Yvonne, but in more inconsequential titles, while the number of those in which she starred was reduced. He continued between film and television and interested in various genres, although they were years in which his presence in horror films increased such as Play Dead (1986), Hide and tremble (1988), The dweller of darkness (1988), Mirror, Mirror (1990) or a chapter of the series Tales from the Crypt (1993). Perhaps because of her good interpretation of Lily Munster.

He gave his last acting blows on television before retiring in 1995. His long career ended like this, without making much noise, just like when he went to open the door after the funeral bell rang.