Yvonne DeCarlo's Pre-Munsters Makeover

Showgirl Yvonne DeCarlo—before The Munsters

Long before being cast as Lily Munster on The Munsters, Yvonne DeCarlo was given a Hollywood makeover and trained how to dress, walk, and make an entrance. To launch the new and improved Yvonne, image consultants staged an appearance for her at a posh New York cocktail party. Elegantly draped in black, she did exactly as instructed by striking a dramatic pose in the doorway, stopping to scan the room for her press agent. “Dahling!” she called out and slinked her way to him. But then near-sighted Yvonne realized she didn’t know this man. Embarrassed, she headed for the nearest door—mistaking it for the ladies’ room—and she stepped into a closet. The actress paused for a moment in the darkness among the clanging coat hangers and then remerged as if nothing had happened. Fortunately, no one had noticed—except for the press agent, of course. 

From: Yvonne DeCarlo with Doug Warren, Yvonne: An Autobiography (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1987), p. 99.

Downton Abbey's Final Chapter

Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery) finally buries the hatchet

(Courtesy of Nick Briggs/Carnival Film & Television Ltd. Copyright 2015)

    The last episode of Downton Abbey’s sixth season airs Sunday night, March 6, on PBS at 8 p.m. (ET).

    The Golden Globe-winning British series unfolded with Lord Grantham and his family reacting to the news of the sinking of the Titanic, and the story ends 13 years later with Grantham, his family, and their servants reflecting on changing times during the final hours of 1925. As the number of the abbey’s servants dwindles, Daisy takes a second look at her options, Barrow settles into a new job that bores him, and Mr. Molesley contemplates a new offer. Spratt and Denger, the butler and maid who work for the Dowager Countess of Grantham, continue to sling barbs at each other while their predictably unpredictable employer reacts to Spratt’s secret.

The hapless Lady Edith finally finds happiness—thanks to her sister and longtime nemesis, Lady Mary. “You’re such a paradox,” Edith says to her. “You’ve made me miserable for years, and then you give me my life back.” Yet Edith finds a new rival who calls her “damaged goods.” Meanwhile, Mary’s new husband, Henry, sits around Downton with little to do and becomes restless.

The visuals are stunning as always—including scenes filmed at a sprawling castle that makes the abbey look rather modest. It’s a busy send-off, with many stories to tie-up in 90 minutes. And maybe that’s why some of the conflicts introduced in this last episode are resolved faster than you can pop popcorn. Still, writer-creator Julian Fellowes knows what the show’s fans want and does not disappoint. There’s a birth (with another one the way), a wedding (with another one on the way), and hints of other matches being made.

(Left to right): Brendan Coyle as Bates, Hugh Bonneville as Lord 

Grantham, Allen Leech as Tom, and Kevin Doyle as Molesley

(Courtesy of  Nick Briggs/Carnival Film & Television Ltd. Copyright 2015)

High-Profile Murders and Shocking Deaths in Hollywood Are Told in E! Special

Hollywood Death Trip, a revealing look at some of Tinseltown’s best known tragedies, airs on E! on Thursday, October 24, at 10 p.m. (ET/PT). Scott Michaels of Dearly Departed Tours takes movie scream queen Danielle Harris of Halloween, Halloween II and Hallows’ Eve on a special tour of Hollywood’s most shocking scenes of death while offering rare behind-the-scenes details.

Scott Michaels (left) during filming of Hollywood Death Trap
(Photo: Courtesy of Scott Michaels)

“I think this show will be a compelling, truthful account of some very bizarre stories,” host Scott Michaels tells me. He and Harris explore the tragedy surrounding actor Johnny Lewis of Sons of Anarchy with a first-hand account from a neighbor who narrowly escaped becoming a victim herself. 

Other stories unfold with the strange deaths of Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten and her estranged husband, told through a revealing chat with the model’s roommate who discovered their bodies; the father of actress Brittany Murphy tells what he believes is the shocking truth about his daughter’s 2009 death; an investigative journalists talks about his research into the shooting death of powerful publicist Ronni Chasen; and an interview with the best friend and roommate of aspiring actress Ashley Ellerin, a possible victim of the “Hollywood Ripper” on the night of what would have been her first date with Ashton Kutcher.

I asked host Scott Michaels what he found most interesting during the special’s filming. “Working on Hollywood Death Trip was both fascinating and frightening. Fascinating because the research taught us so much about these people and the incidents, frightening because we get first horrific first-hand accounts by people who were there. The people we interview are their friends, their parents and their loved ones. They opened up and trusted us with their very personal stories.” 

Scott Michaels takes movie scream queen Danielle Harris on a tour of
Tinseltown's most shocking scenes of death (Courtesy of Scott Michaels)

Ruth Buzzi on Comedy, "Laugh-In," and Gladys

Ruth Buzzi enjoys life on her Texas
ranch. (Photo: James Pylant)

Ruth Buzzi, Golden Globe winner and five-time Emmy nominee, appeared in hundreds of television shows, dozens of movies, and is now retired on a Texas ranch in northern Erath County where she and her husband raise cattle and horses.

James Pylant: You learned to perform in front of crowds as a high school cheerleader. When did you realize you wanted to get into acting? What sparked that interest?

Ruth Buzzi: I knew that my father was serious about furthering my education after high school. I really wanted to just be a housewife but that would have disappointed him, so I was forced to choose another career involving higher education, and acting seemed like the most interesting thing I could pursue.  I had the lead in a high school play, The Heiress, and was in all the school variety shows we put on.  I always played a funny part of some kind. They considered me the gooney one.  I was head cheerleader, and that was performing, too, and that showed me how much I enjoyed performing in front of a crowd.  There were 14 of us, all girls, and we had to do flips, cartwheels and gymnastics—all that sort of thing.  I loved the rehearsals, the training, everything about it.  Somewhere along the way I realized acting and performing was what I really enjoyed the most.  So I decided to go to the Pasadena Playhouse College of Theater Arts.

JP: Where did you discover your talent for comedy? How did you come to realize you had this gift?

RB: I always enjoyed making people laugh, from as early as I can remember. I had fun with talent shows in school, and comedy came rather naturally to me.  My mother was a very funny person, and I must’ve picked up some of her sense of humor.  I had a little talent for sketching and painting, too—my father was a really great artist and sculptor—and because I usually drew “funny” pictures, Dad suggested I might end up a cartoonist.  But performing for people was more appealing to me than working all day at a desk, drawing pictures.

JP: By the time Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In came along, you had already appeared in TV shows such as The Garry Moore Show, Your Show of Shows, and The Steve Allen Comedy Hour. At what point did you realize that you had “arrived”? 

Ruth with husband Kent Perkins
(Courtesy of Kent and Ruth Buzzi Perkins)

RB: I realized when Laugh-In was a number one hit show that I was probably destined to make a decent living at acting. I never sat back and thought, “I’ve arrived!” but our hit show on NBC gave me the confidence to buy a house in the Hollywood Hills and to pursue my career with a little less anxiety. Really, though, most actors never get over the insecurity that comes from living job to job, and always wondering whether the offers would continue to come in. That may be why I enjoy retirement so much—not having to think about it! I am grateful for the success I had, which I never took for granted, but equally grateful for the opportunity to have a “life after show-biz.” 

JP: We have to talk about Gladys Ormphby. You played several characters on Laugh-In, but none were as popular as Gladys. How did that character come about? 

RB: I created the costume for a character in the show Auntie Mame. I played the dorky secretary, Agnes Gooch. Gladys Ormphby is a name I made up, trying to give my ugliest character a name to match her looks. It worked! 

JP: Is it true you have a horse named Gladys? What prompted that?

RB: The horse was born with markings on her forehead that looked just like Gladys Ormphby’s hair, and even had a dot in the middle of the forehead like the knot on Gladys’s hair net, so calling the horse Gladys was totally natural!

 

Ruth with Gladys
(Courtesy of Kent and Ruth Buzzi Perkins)

JP: Tell me about being honored on This is Your Life. Was this a complete surprise? 

RB: Unbeknownst to me, it had all been set up for them to come when the cast was doing the last number of a Monday night Laugh-In show taping.  They came onto the stage, which was lit for the last number, and Ralph Edwards walked up and said, “Ruth Buzzi, this is your life!” It was a wonderful, emotional experience.  They put me into a limo and took me to their studios to finish doing the show. I was shocked at the amount of research they’d done into my background and life. I was amazed at the level of detail! And it became very emotional to be reunited with so many people who had contributed to my being where I was in life—friends and relatives, teachers—it was unforgettable.

JP: Of all your roles, which was your favorite?

RB: The French ones that arrive at the dinner table very hot, with lots of garlic butter.

"Walking Dead" fans are dying to visit The Woodbury Shoppe

A zombie piggy bank, one of the
items at The Woodbury Shoppe.

“Welcome to Woodbury, a Walker-Free Community” boasts a T-shirt.  It’s one of the many zombie collectibles found at The Woodbury Shoppe in Senoia, Georgia, where AMC Television films scenes for The Walking Dead.

Carrie and Randall Cottrill opened the store, which specializes in licensed Walking Dead merchandise, in May. “We knew it was going to be good, but the response has been ten times what we could ever imagined,” Carrie tells me. She reports visitors from across the U.S. as well as Canada, Scotland, Germany, Australia, and New Guinea.

The hottest selling items are T-shirts and mugs, but the store also offers posters, masks, bobble heads, comic books, hats, and busts. The Cottrills have an exclusive arrangement with Robert Kirkman, creator of The Walking Dead graphic novels. “We also have just recently branded our products that have more to do with the Woodbury experience,” says Carrie. “You name it Walking Dead, we've got it.”

Daryl (Norman Reedus), Glenn (Steven Yeun), Maggie (Lauren Cohan) and Hershel (Scott Wilson) have been spotted by the show’s fans at The Woodbury Shoppe. “We've had everybody from the cast come except for Michonne,” Carrie says. “They say she’s going to come.”

Norman Reedus (Daryl) with Carrie Cottrill
at The Woodbury Shoppe in Senoia, Ga.

The store owner said fans often divert vacations with treks to the shop in Senoia, hoping to get a glimpse of the actors. “The stars do come by our store, and they are frequently sighted, but we don’t have any direct ties to the cast,” she explains.  “When they stop by it has all been at random. Unfortunately people come to town and think that we have some type of agreement or way of getting the stars into the shop.”

The Cottrills are feeling the impact of star power. “We ordered a trucker hat and I didn't know if anyone would buy it, but Norman Reedus came in, bought it, tweeted himself wearing it, and immediately people rushed in and the hat was gone in two hours,” Carrie said. “We've also had a lot of behind-the-scenes people come that really have their own unique following. Greg Nicotero, who does the makeup for the zombies, has a huge following.”

Many of the businesses stay open during filming by directing customers through back doors. Most of the scenes for the upcoming fourth season are being filmed at the studio. “They did some locations in Griffin and some surrounding areas,” says Carrie. “Rumor is they will be in the town of Senoia for about four days in July, but so far they haven’t covered our windows or done any of the normal things that they do during the filming.  We don’t have a back entrance; however, we are located right on the corner so I’m interested to see how it will affect us.”

Visit The Woodbury Shoppe's Facebook page

"The Walking Dead" Stagger Back to Woodbury

Scenes for the barricaded town of "Woodbury" are filmed in 

Senoia, Georgia. (Courtesy of Coweta County Convention 

and Visitors Bureau)

AMC’s The Walking Dead, basic cable’s most-watched dramatic series, scored 12.4 million viewers in its third season finale, “Welcome to the Tombs,” on March 31. Much of the third season’s episodes took place in fortified Woodbury, a town under the control of “The Governor” (David Morrissey).

If you think fans have seen the last of the barricaded town, think again. For the fourth season, the cast and crew returns to the streets of Senoia, Georgia, where scenes for Woodbury are filmed. Senoia (pronounced SEH-noy), with a population of 3,300, is an hour’s drive south of Atlanta.

“When you see The Walking Dead in Woodbury, that’s actually the main street of Senoia, which is totally blocked off for a day or two or three for filming,” says Tray Baggarly, the camera ready liaison. A couple of old school buses are hauled from storage on a vacant lot to make the barricade that keeps Woodbury zombie-free. “They pull those in there and pile everything all around—truck tires, just all sort of stuff,” says Baggarly. “Then through the early stages of filming they have a lot of trash and debris everywhere.”

Businesses manage to stay open during filming. “Everything is designed where they can open in the back. People come in off the backstreets,” Baggarly explains. Senoia has also been used for interior shots, including an old building off of Main Street used for the torture scenes involving Glenn (Steven Yeun). While fans of the cable series may stroll the streets of “Woodbury,” one place not open to visitors is the prison set. “The prison was constructed at our studio,” explains Scott Tigchelaar, President of Raleigh Studios Atlanta. “It is strictly off limits to the public.”

As fans of The Walking Dead discover Senoia is the real Woodbury, the town enjoys a booming tourism. “It’s been unbelievable,” says Tray Baggarly. “We get calls every day from all over the world. People want to know where the filming’s going on, when it’s going on. We’ve had people showing up who are making it their family vacation. It’s definitely bringing people in. When they’re filming it looks like a festival, the cars are everywhere.” Senoia residents are often used for extras, including a city councilman.

Meanwhile, zombies are on standby when filming for the first of sixteen episodes of The Walking Dead’s fourth season begins this week. “They’re having hundreds of extras in the first scenes,” Baggarly says.

Robert Englund Talks about Carolyn Jones and “Eaten Alive”

Robert Englund at premiere of Freddy vs. 

Jason . Photo: Featureflash/Shutterstock

Before he gained fame as Freddy Krueger in Nightmare on Elm Street, Robert Englund made a low-budget thriller called Eaten Alive (originally titled Death Trap). The film, released in 1977, gave him the opportunity to meet and work with one of his favorite actresses, Carolyn Jones, among other stars. “It was just a strange moment in time, and I cannot reiterate enough to you; it was magical,” Robert tells me. “It was one of the most wonderful sets, to this day, that I’ve ever walked on to.”

Englund played Buck, a patron at a brothel run by Miss Hattie, played by Carolyn Jones. I interviewed Robert about what it was like on the set of that cult classic. Because England’s parents were fans of Carolyn Jones, he was aware of her when he was quite young. He developed what he calls a “weird, strange, beatnik, bohemian crush” on her ever since he saw her starring role in A Hole in the Head.

Robert Englund: The first kind of connection that I have to Carolyn Jones is that my parents were huge fans, especially my mother. So I was aware of Carolyn as an actress when I was quite young. And then I kind of have this weird, strange, bohemian crush on her from A Hole in the Head.

The reason is strange. It was not only her bangs and her sort of surfer girl, beatnik, Goth persona but it was also that I was a young surfer, and if my memory is right one of the props she had was a blue or turquoise surf board. It was the first time I’d ever seen that unique look, sexuality, and the surfboard, all of those things sort of bundled together. She really took up a crease in the gray matter of my brain. And so that’s sort of the set-up with my fascination with Carolyn Jones. Now obviously I saw her in other movies after that, and she’s this wonderful, accomplished actress, and again my parents are huge fans of hers. She was right up there in their pantheon of favorite women actress of the time.

So now it comes to happen years later that I star in a couple of movies for “A” directors in Hollywood, and I’m at a bit of a lull in my career. I’ve done a couple of small roles for “A” listers. I had just finished starring in a Daniel Petrie film called Buster and Billie, then for Bob Rafelson I starred in a movie with Jeff Bridges, Sally Field, Scatman Crothers and Arnold Schwarzenegger called Stay Hungry, based on an award-winning novel. This is sort of where I am, and I do some smaller parts for the great Robert Aldrich. I killed Burt Reynolds in a movie and a couple of other people, I’m on the Paramount lot, and they’re going to put me under contract at Warner Brothers. In the middle of all of this, I get offered—and this is what’s fun for you, James—my first horror movie. It’s Tobe Hooper who’s done Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

I go to work across the street from Paramount in the old Raleigh Studios, and I walk onto the soundstage. It is the most miraculous thing I‘ve ever seen at this stage in my life. It’s a Texas Victorian farmhouse in forced perspective with monkeys chained in antique cages and Gila monsters and tumbleweeds and a gravel driveway with a ’67 El Dorado Cadillac in perspective cactus and Mesquite going into a cyclorama in the background. I go to work on this movie, and I’m having lunch now with Mel Ferrer, the husband of Audrey Hepburn. I’m hanging out with Stuart Whitman, and I’m with William Finley, and the fabulous Carolyn Jones!

Here’s Carolyn Jones, and I’ve got lots of scenes with her, because Buck goes to the whorehouse that she runs and she’s playing the madam. Because I love Hollywood—old movies and new movies and all of kinds and theatre—I know so much about all of these people—William Finley, Mel Ferrer, Stuart Whitman, Marilyn Burns, Carolyn Jones, Neville Brand.

I’m working on this movie and everything’s going fine. Apparently there’s a problem, and I’m sort of sheltered from this. It’s a question you must ask of Tobe Hooper. Tobe is either fired or let go or terminated, so now I don’t know any of the details. And we’re all left there. By this time we all love Tobe. He’s articulate, he’s intellectual, he’s funny, he’s smoking his Sherman cigarettes. We all feel like we’re in really good hands with Tobe Hooper. He’s just a wonderful, iconoclastic talent. We all want to be around him. But he’s gone. And I have a lot of stuff left to shoot with Carolyn Jones and the whorehouse—the Texas brothel—and I remember one break night when we’re working hard, and we’re working without Tobe. And none of us know what’s happened here. We’re trying to finish this movie. We think it might be a nasty, ugly, terrific little horror movie because of the talent involved, we kind of liked the script, and the set where we’re all working on is phenomenal; it’s wonderful. So now I’m working and I’ve done a marathon day, and here’s my Carolyn Jones punch line for you:

 I’m working with Carolyn and some of the girls playing the prostitutes. It’s midnight, and none of us are in a good mood. Carolyn turns to everybody and she goes, “Darlings, I’ve been Cinderella until now. At midnight, kids, I turn into a pumpkin.” I remember that was her warning. She was no longer going to be nice or easy or malleable or even professional, because we had all gone beyond the call of duty. It was such a perfect moment, and she said it with such gusto. It wasn’t diva; it was actually her reminding all of these young people that had taken or fallen into the position of finishing the movie, that they’d better respect the talent. They need to take care of us because we were the ones in front of the camera. And it was this great, wonderful moment that I can close my eyes as I’m talking to you and remember her standing there and saying it.

JP: This movie was the first one she had done in six years. Did you sense her enthusiasm?

RE: Well, here’s the thing you have to understand: before Tobe Hooper left the set and after. When Tobe was working on the movie, even though we were working on a giant killer chronicle, psycho horror movie, it was a great experience. Everybody got along, everybody was welcoming. We all knew what we were making, but when we walked through these giant sound stage doors we were in a magical place. It might have been a low budget movie, but we knew it was going to be a great little low budget movie. It was not joyous but everyone was kind of happy; nobody was begrudging the fact that they were in a horror movie. People were nice to each other and Carolyn was not unhappy. She only got testy after Tobe Hooper was removed.

JP:  Eaten Alive reunited Carolyn with Stuart Whitman. They had made a movie together, Johnny Trouble, in 1957. Do you remember anything about their interaction?

RE: You know, I’ll tell you why I don’t. They didn’t have a lot of scenes together that I was part of. I saw them on the set together and I saw them talking. She seemed to be fine. I was a little intimated by Stuart because I had seen a film of his called Sands of the Kalahari, which I really loved. But I do remember seeing Stuart and Carolyn talking and joshing together on the set.

When I was out in the coffee shops after we worked, I was mostly with Marilyn Burns and Neville Brand, but I do remember having lunch with Carolyn Jones. It made me feel so cool, that in her company, that other people from Paramount were walking by and saw me with the Carolyn Jones! I’m not sure if she wore a wig or her own hair, but she had this great hairdo. She was wearing slacks and a nice blouse. And with that wig on she looked young and beautiful still. It just made me feel great to be with Carolyn Jones! I just hung on to every word. I would like limit myself to one or two questions about films of hers that I like, and I tried not to be like a gushing fan. For a young actor in the ‘70s it was very intimidating.

JP: I understand that Carolyn was very accepting of younger actors.

RE: Carolyn was welcoming, and would answer questions. We were having lunch, we were having coffee together, and it was just a wonderful, great experience. I remember it so well.