Yvonne De Carlo
German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, no. 1363. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for Fort Algiers (Lesley Selander, 1953).
Yvonne De Carlo (1922–2007) was a Canadian American actress, singer, and dancer whose career in film, television, and musical theatre spanned six decades.
Yvonne De Carlo was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton in 1922 in West Point Grey (now part of Vancouver), British Columbia. In 1940, she was first runner-up to Miss Venice Beach, and she also came fifth 1940s Miss California competition. A year later, she landed a role as a bathing beauty in Harvard, Here I Come (1941). All kind of film work followed, including the three-minute Soundies musical, The Lamp of Memory (1942), shown in coin-operated movie jukeboxes. She got her big break in the Technicolor spectacle Salome, Where She Danced (1945), produced by Walter Wanger, who described her as "the most beautiful girl in the world." Though not a critical success, it was a box office favourite, and the heavily-promoted De Carlo was hailed as an up-and-coming star. More success followed in films such as the Film Noir Criss Cross (1949) opposite Burt Lancaster, and The Captain's Paradise (1953). Her film career reached its peak when director Cecil B. DeMille cast her as Sephora, the wife of Moses (Charlton Heston) in his biblical epic The Ten Commandments (1956). It was to be her most prominent role, according to Wikipedia. However, after her lead performance in Band of Angels (1957) and supporting role in McLintock! (1963), she played our favourite role: as Lily Munster, the wife of Herman Munster, in the legendary sitcom The Munsters (1964-1966). Wikipedia: "When De Carlo was asked how a glamorous actress could succeed as a ghoulish matriarch of a haunted house, she replied simply, 'I follow the directions I received on the first day of shooting: 'Play her just like Donna Reed.''"
Source: Wikipedia.
Yvonne De Carlo
German postcard by Kolibri-Verlag, no. 1363. Photo: United Artists. Publicity still for Fort Algiers (Lesley Selander, 1953).
Yvonne De Carlo (1922–2007) was a Canadian American actress, singer, and dancer whose career in film, television, and musical theatre spanned six decades.
Yvonne De Carlo was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton in 1922 in West Point Grey (now part of Vancouver), British Columbia. In 1940, she was first runner-up to Miss Venice Beach, and she also came fifth 1940s Miss California competition. A year later, she landed a role as a bathing beauty in Harvard, Here I Come (1941). All kind of film work followed, including the three-minute Soundies musical, The Lamp of Memory (1942), shown in coin-operated movie jukeboxes. She got her big break in the Technicolor spectacle Salome, Where She Danced (1945), produced by Walter Wanger, who described her as "the most beautiful girl in the world." Though not a critical success, it was a box office favourite, and the heavily-promoted De Carlo was hailed as an up-and-coming star. More success followed in films such as the Film Noir Criss Cross (1949) opposite Burt Lancaster, and The Captain's Paradise (1953). Her film career reached its peak when director Cecil B. DeMille cast her as Sephora, the wife of Moses (Charlton Heston) in his biblical epic The Ten Commandments (1956). It was to be her most prominent role, according to Wikipedia. However, after her lead performance in Band of Angels (1957) and supporting role in McLintock! (1963), she played our favourite role: as Lily Munster, the wife of Herman Munster, in the legendary sitcom The Munsters (1964-1966). Wikipedia: "When De Carlo was asked how a glamorous actress could succeed as a ghoulish matriarch of a haunted house, she replied simply, 'I follow the directions I received on the first day of shooting: 'Play her just like Donna Reed.''"
Source: Wikipedia.