Marilyn Munster

Marilyn Munster is a fictional character in the CBS sitcom ''The Munsters'', originally played by Beverley Owen and later by Pat Priest. In the original series, she is the daughter of Lily Munster's sister, with Herman alluding to her "plain" looks coming from Lily's side of the family. She was played by Hilary Van Dyke in the 1988 series ''The Munsters Today''.

Description

Played first by Beverley Owen and then by Pat Priest, Marilyn lives with the Munsters throughout the series run. It never is made clear why Marilyn lives with the Munsters rather than with her parents, who are said to still be in Transylvania. Although she is Lily's niece, she always is referred to as Marilyn Munster. Marilyn states in the first aired episode that she has lived with the Munsters since she was a baby.

Marilyn is a fetching young woman and the only family member who is not ghoulish in appearance; by the Munsters' aesthetic standards, she is distressingly unattractive. The family views Marilyn's appearance as an affliction, but still treat her with kindness and love. Marilyn is all too aware of her "homeliness" and laments that she keeps scaring potential boyfriends, having no clue that the young men are frightened away by her monstrous family.

She attends Westbury College in Mockingbird Heights. She is devoted to her family, and the surest way for a suitor to alienate Marilyn (rather than vice versa) is to disparage them. She considers her Uncle Herman and Grandpa the "two inestmen ho everwalked this earth."

Despite being a “normal” beauty by society standards, the Munsters’ strange subculture of vampires, werewolves, and mad scientists, et al., have made her a ghoul at heart (she regularly assists Lily in cooking oddities and festooning the house with cobwebs). Like the rest of her family, she believes that the Munster lifestyle is normal, and dissenters are out of step. In one episode, Herman temporarily was transformed into a normal, clean-cut man. The family, including Marilyn, was appalled and physically repulsed by the tragic event.

Despite standing out among the cast more than any other character, Marilyn was the least developed character in the series. She usually served as an ear for Lily's expeditions or a subject for Grandpa's foiled potions.

Production

Marilyn originally was played by Beverley Owen, who was 27 years old at the time and had to wear a blonde wig to resemble Marilyn Monroe. As a Universal Studios contract player, Owen was obliged to appear in the pilot, and then the series once it was picked up by CBS. This required her to move from New York to California and, on occasion, she was seen depressed and even cried in the studios. The role was taken over in episode 14 by Pat Priest after Owen left to marry future ''Sesame Street'' writer and director Jon Stone. According to Al Lewis in a 2001 interview with Pittsburgh radio's Doug Hoerth, Beverley Owen was troubled by the separation from her boyfriend, who stayed in New York City, and on petitions from Al Lewis and Fred Gwynne, she was let go by the studio. According to Michael Davis' book ''Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street'', Owen's problems on the set were acts, staged by both her and Stone to get her released from the series, so she could move to New York permanently.

In other media

In the original series, Marilyn attends Westbury College in Mockingbird Heights. Subsequently as explained for the 22-year gap in ''The Munsters Today'', Marilyn, this time played by Hilary Van Dyke, is revealed to be a high school student, with a slight rebellious streak. In the 1966 film '' Munster, Go Home!'', she was played by Debbie Watson. In the 1981 film ''The Munsters' Revenge'', she was portrayed by Jo McDonnell.

In ''Here Come the Munsters'', Marilyn is the daughter of Herman's sister (Elsa). In this version, her name is said to be Marilyn Hyde. The role was played by Christine Taylor.

In NBC's 2012 pilot ''Mockingbird Lane'', a darker reformatting of the series, Marilyn is the daughter of Lily's sister but was raised by her aunt, uncle and grandfather after her mother attempted to eat her.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Munster, Marilyn
Television characters introduced in 1964
Marilyn
Female characters in television