Patricia Ann Priest (born August 15, 1936) is an American actress known for portraying the second

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" ...

on the television show ''

The Munsters ''The Munsters'' is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monsterEpisodes referring to the fact that Herman is Frankenstein's monster include #55, "Just Anoth ...

'' (1964–1966) after the original actress,

Beverley Owen Beverley Owen (née Ogg; May 13, 1937 – February 21, 2019) was an American television actress, best known for having played the original role of Marilyn Munster on the sitcom ''The Munsters'' before the role was taken over by Pat Priest. Ear ...

, left after 13 episodes.

Early life

Priest was born and raised in

Bountiful, Utah Bountiful is Davis city. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 42,552, a three percent increase over the 2000 figure of 41,301. The city grew rapidly during the suburb growth of the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s and was Davis County's l ...

.Pat Priest Interview
by Joe Krein at Elvis2001.net Her father was Roy Priest and her mother,

Ivy Baker Priest ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to western, central and southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern Africa and ...

, was the

United States Treasurer The treasurer of the United States is an officer in the United States Department of the Treasury who serves as custodian and trustee of the federal government's collateral assets and the supervisor of the department's currency and coinage produc ...

from January 28, 1953, to January 29, 1961. American paper currency printed during Ivy Baker Priest's tenure bore her signature. Priest resided in Washington, D.C., with her mother. She graduated in 1954 from

Washington-Lee High School Washington-Liberty High School, formerly known as Washington-Lee High School, is a public high school in the Arlington Public Schools district in Arlington, Virginia, covering grades 9–12. Its attendance area serves the central third of A ...

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The county is situated in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from the District of Columbia, of which it was once a part. The county ...

. She is also a graduate of Marjorie Webster Junior College. Priest served as a page girl at the

1952 Republican National Convention The 1952 Republican National Convention was held at the International Amphitheatre in Chicago, Illinois from July 7 to 11, 1952, and nominated the popular general and war hero Dwight D. Eisenhower of New York, nicknamed "Ike," for president an ...

. She was crowned as the first International Azalea Festival Queen in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia B ...

, in 1954.

Career

Show business

Early in her career, Priest worked as a singer and actress on local television stations, including

WTTG WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., airing programming from the Fox network. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV outlet WDCA (channel 20). WTTG and WDCA sh ...

in Washington, D.C. In the late 1950s, she acted in stage productions, including ''Bus Stop'' and ''The Tender Trap''. Priest replaced actress

on the television

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

''; Owen departed the series after the first 13 episodes in order to get married. Marilyn's character was a running gag, as she was a beautiful blonde treated as the ugly member of a family composed of a

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compar ...

for an uncle, a

vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...

for an aunt, a

for a grandfather, and a

werewolf In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely ...

for a cousin. The studio replaced Priest with Debbie Watson (12 years Priest's junior) in the role of Marilyn Munster in the 1966 feature ''

Munster, Go Home! ''Munster, Go Home!'' is a 1966 American comedy film based on the 1960s family sitcom ''The Munsters''. It was directed by Earl Bellamy, who also directed a number of episodes in the series. The film was produced immediately after the television ...

'' (1966) instead of Priest, as Watson was under contract to the studio, which had plans to make her a film star. After the series ended, Priest appeared on episodes of television programs such as ''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typ ...

'', ''

Perry Mason Perry Mason is a fictional character, an American criminal defense lawyer who is the main character in works of detective fiction written by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason features in 82 novels and 4 short stories, all of which involve a c ...

'', ''

Death Valley Days ''Death Valley Days'' is an American old-time radio and television anthology series featuring true accounts of the American Old West, particularly the Death Valley country of southeastern California. Created in 1930 by Ruth Woodman, the program ...

'' and ''

The Mary Tyler Moore Show ''The Mary Tyler Moore Show'' (also known simply as ''Mary Tyler Moore'') is an American television sitcom created by James L. Brooks and Allan Burns and starring actress Mary Tyler Moore. The show originally aired on CBS from 1970 to 1977. Moo ...

'', in which she played

Sue Ann Nivens Sue Ann Nivens is a fictional character portrayed by Betty White on situation comedy '' The Mary Tyler Moore Show''. Casting The role of Sue Ann Nivens was not specifically written for White, but script #73 of the series (" The Lars Affair", aire ...

's unappreciated younger sister. Priest's film roles included '' Looking for Love'' (1964) with

Connie Francis Concetta Rosa Maria Franconero (born December 12, 1937), known professionally as Connie Francis, is an American pop singer, actress, and top-charting female vocalist of the late 1950s and early 1960s. Called the “First Lady of Rock & Roll” ...

, '' Easy Come, Easy Go'' (1967) with

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, the horror film '' The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant'' (1971) with

Bruce Dern Bruce MacLeish Dern (born June 4, 1936) is an American actor. He has often played supporting villainous characters of unstable natures. He has received several accolades, including the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Actor and the Silver ...

and ''

Some Call It Loving ''Some Call It Loving'', also known as ''Sleeping Beauty'' is a 1973 romantic mystery erotic drama film written, produced, and directed by James B. Harris and starring Zalman King, Carol White, Tisa Farrow, and Richard Pryor. It is based on a s ...

'' (1973) starring

Zalman King Zalman King (born Zalman King Lefkowitz; May 23, 1941 – February 3, 2012) was an American film director, writer, actor and producer. His films are known for incorporating sexuality, and are often categorized as erotica. Early life Zalman Kin ...

After acting

Priest retired from acting in the 1980s, but continues to attend some of the nostalgia conventions and ''Munsters'' revivals around the country. She had previously restored and sold homes in

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Monta ...

, where she has lived for over two decades, before retiring.

Personal life

Priest has been married twice and has two sons. In 2001, Priest was diagnosed with

non-Hodgkin's lymphoma Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), also known as non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, is a group of hematological malignancy, blood cancers that includes all types of lymphomas except Hodgkin lymphomas. Symptoms include lymphadenopathy, enlarged lymph nodes, fever ...

. She finished maintenance treatments at St. Luke's Mountain States Tumor Institute and was later determined to be in

remission Remission often refers to: *Forgiveness Remission may also refer to: Healthcare and science *Remission (medicine), the state of absence of disease activity in patients with a chronic illness, with the possibility of return of disease activity *R ...

Selected filmography

References

External links

*
Glamour Girls of the Silverscreen

''Meet Actress Pat Priest of “The Munsters!”'' video on Vimeo.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Priest, Patricia Ann 1936 births Living people American film actresses American television actresses American Latter Day Saints Debutantes of the International Debutante Ball People from Bountiful, Utah Actresses from Washington, D.C. Actresses from Utah 20th-century American actresses Washington-Liberty High School alumni