Celebrity Nooz: Yvonne DeCarlo

Yvonne DeCarlo (Actress) as Lily - The Munsters

Updated: 1/11/2007

Name: Yvonne DeCarlo

Birth Name: Margaret Yvonne Middleton

Born: September 1, 1922 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Date of Death: January 10, 2007

Claim To Fame: Most people know her as Lily Munster from the TV series "The Munsters".

Probably her other most notable role and one that still is seen by millions every year was in "The Ten Commandments". She played Moses' (Charlton Heston) wife, Sephora.

Family Life: Bob Morgan (1955 - 1968) (divorced)

Sons, Bob Morgan and Michael Morgan and step-daughter Bari Morgan.

Info: Yvonne was three when her father abandoned the family. Her mother turned to waitressing in a restaurant to help make ends meet. A rough beginning for an actress who would, one day, be one of Hollywood's elite. Her mother wanted her to be in the entertainment field and enrolled her daughter in a local dance school and also studied dramatics.

Yvonne was an actress of the 1940s & 1950s and actually "retired" in the late 1950s to devote herself to her marriage and children. Her "comeback" in the 1960s catapulted her to cult-fame status following her role as Lily Munster on the popular TV series "The Munsters."

Yvonne actually enjoyed a career renewal portraying motherly roles in horror films throughout the 1970s & 1980s.

Trivia: Her birth name was Margaret, but she was known by Peggy growing up.

She was Miss Venice Beach 1938

Took the part of "Lily" on "The Munsters" to help pay husband Bob Morgan's medical bills. Morgan, an actor/stuntman, had suffered near-fatal injuries while filming "How the West Was Won." By her own admission, Ms. De Carlo never imagined, at the time, that "Lily Munster" would become her most famous role.

Was a Tony Award nominee for her performance as "Carlotta Campion" in Stephen Sondheim's 1971 Broadway musical "Follies."

Where Are They Now: Yvonne enjoyed fame and celebrity in horror movies and "Munster" reunions into the 1990s. Suffering a stroke Yvonne finally retired from the limelight and settled into a quiet life in California...

UPDATE: Munsters star Yvonne De Carlo dies, at 84

Actress Yvonne De Carlo, best known for her role as Lily Munster in the television series 'The Munsters', has died at the age of 84.

Her son Bruce Morgan confirmed the news, saying that she died of natural causes at Motion Picture & Television Fund's Retirement Home in the Los Angeles on Monday.

"She passed away in my arms on Monday," Morgan said, adding that his mother has been in poor health for several years.

She stopped making films in 1959 in order to spend time raising her family, later returning to work in television, taking up a part in 'The Munsters'.

During her career De Carlo made over 100 films, as well as working on numerous television shows and starring on Broadway.

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