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.