Marilyn Munster is one of the main characters from The Munsters. She is the daughter of Lily Munster’s sister, with Herman alluding to her “plain” looks coming from Lily’s side of the family. 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 herself is all too aware of her “homeliness” and bemoans that she keeps scaring off potential boyfriends, having no clue that the young men are in fact frightened away by her monstrous family.
Background[]
Marilyn lives with the Munsters throughout the series run. It is never 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 is always referred to as “Marilyn Munster” (while the character was being developed, her name was Marilyn Mundane). Marilyn also attends Westbury College in Mockingbird Heights, the city where the Munsters live. Like the rest of her family, she believes that the Munsters' appearance and lifestyle are normal, although Marilyn is actually the only family member whose appearance does not shock or disturb people outside the family. Despite being a “normal” beauty by society standards, the Munsters’ strange subculture of vampires, werewolves, zombies, sorcerers, mad scientists, et al., have made her a ghoul at-heart (she regularly assists Lily in cooking rodents, & festooning the house with cobwebs). Marilyn was originally played by Beverley Owen, who was 27 years old at the time and had to wear a blonde wig to resemble Marilyn Monroe. Convinced that the show would never succeed, she accepted the role of Marilyn, but her problems started when she had to move out of New York. On occasions, she was seen depressed and even crying 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 was let go by the studio. According to Michael Davis’s book, Street Gang: The Complete History of Sesame Street, Owen’s problems on the set were acts, formulated by both her and Stone to get her released from the series, so she could relocate to New York permanently. Despite standing out amongst 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.
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