Rant #2,319: Scary Munsters (And Super Creeps)

Wow, since I got back in the saddle here, several Baby Boomer icons have passed away, and another one did the other day.

Add to the list of Pedro Morales and Peter Tork the very comely Beverley Owen, who died at age 81.

I listed her above as an icon, but really, she wasn't the icon herself--her role was the icon, if that is even possible.

Owen was the original Marilyn Munster on "The Munsters," the short-lived but oh-so-clever sitcom that ran on CBS for two seasons in the mid-1960s, but has lived on in reruns seemingly forever.

You remember the Munster family. There was Herman, played by Fred Gwynne, the numbskull-ish breadwinner of the family; Lily, played by the beautiful Yvonne DeCarlo, the mother of the clan; Grandpa, played by Al Lewis, the mad scientist; and Eddie, played by Butch Patrick, the wolf boy.

And then there was Marilyn.

Marilyn came from Lily's side of the family, and lived with the Munsters for some never-determined reason.

She was the outcast of the family, because she ... well ... let's just say she didn't have the looks that the rest of the family had.

But the way she looked opened up numerous comic possibilities for the show, because she was the one who often opened the door to the rest of the world when she opened the family's door at 1313 Mockingbird Lane--and once those at the door got past Marilyn--certainly named after Marilyn Monroe--well, were they in for a shock!

Owen--who in reality was a brunette and who wore a blond wig in the role--played Marilyn for all of 13 episodes during the show's first season, and abruptly left the series. The word at the time was that the actress--who had done other episodic television prior to her role on "The Munsters"--was uncomfortable with her role, and decided to leave.

But the real reason, which came out later, was that she was getting married, and wanted to be a full-time wife and later, mother.

The show almost seamlessly replaced her with luscious Pat Priest, and the rest is history.

Owen married, had two daughters, divorced her husband in the mid-1970s, went back to school and earned a degree, and pretty much stayed out of the limelight for the past 50 years or so.

Butch Patrick, in his tribute to her, admitted that in the early days of the series that he had had a crush on her, and I think most seven and eight year old boys like me must have had some type of feeling for the character--even though we certainly did not know what it was--whether the role was played by Owen or Priest.

Now in death, Owen joins Gwynne, DeCarlo and Lewis, and what a mad monster party they must be having now!