Yvonne De Carlo
Yvonne De Carlo (born
September 1,
1922) is a
Canadian-born
American film and
television actress.
Born
Margaret Yvonne Middleton in
Vancouver, British Columbia, but known from childhood as
Peggy, the daughter of an ambitious but unsuccessful aspiring actress, De Carlo sang in the choir of St Paul's Anglican Church, Vancouver; she was taken to
Hollywood by her mother at the age of fifteen. She was "Miss Venice Beach" (1938). Unable to find work, they returned to Canada until 1940, when they once again traveled to Hollywood. De Carlo supported herself working in a chorus while trying to find film work. She made her first film appearance in 1941, but could only find bit parts for the next few years. She was a
Paramount starlet but the studio apparently signed her mainly for her slight resemblance to
Dorothy Lamour as it was common back then for studios to sign lookalikes to their major stars and have them at the studio lest any star get the idea that they couldn't be replaced.
Her break came in 1945 playing the title role in
Salome, Where She Danced. Though not a critical success it was a box office favorite and De Carlo was hailed as an up and coming star. In 1947 she played her first leading role in
Slave Girl and then in 1949 had her biggest success. As the female lead opposite
Burt Lancaster in
Criss Cross, De Carlo played a
femme fatale, and her career began to ascend. The 1957
Band of Angels featured her opposite
Clark Gable in a civil war story, along with
Sidney Poitier and
Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.For the next several years, she was constantly working although many of the films failed to advance her career.
Cast in
The Ten Commandments (1956) in a leading role (as Moses' wife), De Carlo was part of a major hit. The film was a huge success and De Carlo was among those to be praised for her restrained work.
However, her most famous role that led her to pop culture legacy is of
Lily Munster in the cult
television series The Munsters (
1964 -
1966), which allowed DeCarlo to demonstrate a comic flair that her films had failed to utilize.
DeCarlo performed on
Broadway, notably in the role of
Carlotta Campion, introducing the song "I'm Still Here" in the
Stephen Sondheim musical
Follies, of which show she is the sole lead female performer still living (having been predeceased by
Alexis Smith,
Dorothy Collins,
Fifi D'Orsay, Ethel B. Colt and
Ethel Shutta).
Possessed of a powerful contralto voice, DeCarlo released an LP of standards called Yvonne DeCarlo Sings in 1957. She sang and played the harp on at least one episode of The Munsters.
She also received recognition for her work in various low-budget horror movies, such as
The Power,
The Seven Minutes,
House of Shadows,
Sorority House Murders,
Cellar Dweller,
Mirror, Mirror,
Blazing Stewardesses, and
American Gothic.
De Carlo has worked steadily in both film and television, playing her most recent role in the television production of
The Barefoot Executive (1995).
She was married to the late stuntman, Bob Morgan, from 1955 to 1968 when they divorced; they had 2 sons, and Morgan had a daughter, Bari, from a previous marriage. De Carlo is a
naturalized citizen of the United States.
For her contribution to the motion picture industry, Yvonne De Carlo was honored with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6124 Hollywood Blvd. and a second star at 6715 Hollywood Blvd. for her contribution to television.
The Power (1968) kept her before the eye of the movie going public. Yvonne's last big screen appearance was in 1993.
I Look at You (1941) (short subject)
Harvard, Here I Come! (1941)
The Kink of the Campus (1941) (short subject)
This Gun for Hire (1942)
Road to Morocco (1942)
Youth on Parade (1942)
Lucky Jordan (1942)
Rhythm Parade (1942)
The Crystal Ball (1943)
Salute for Three (1943)
So Proudly We Hail! (1943)
For Whom the Bell Tolls (1943)
Let's Face It (1943)
Deerslayer (1943)
True to Life (1943)
Standing Room Only (1944)
The Story of Dr. Wassell (1944)
Fun Time (1944) (short subject)
Kismet (1944)
Rainbow Island (1944)
Here Come the Waves (1944)
Practically Yours (1944)
Bring on the Girls (1945)
Salome, Where She Danced (1945)
Frontier Gal (1945)
Song of Scheherazade (1947)
Brute Force (1947)
Slave Girl (1947)
Black Bart (1948)
Casbah (1948)
River Lady (1948)
Criss Cross (1949)
Calamity Jane and Sam Bass (1949)
The Gal Who Took the West (1949)
Buccaneer's Gal (1950)
The Desert Hawk (1950)
Tomahawk (1951)
Hotel Sahara (1951)
Silver City (1951)
The San Francisco Story (1952)
Scarlet Angel (1952)
Hurricane Smith (1952)
Sombrero (1953)
Sea Devils (1953)
The Captain's Paradise (1953)
Fort Algiers (1953)
Border River (1954)
Happy Ever After (1954)
Passion (1954)
Shotgun (1955)
The Contessa's Secret (1955)
Flame of the Islands (1956)
Raw Edge (1956)
Magic Fire (1956)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Death of a Scoundrel (1956)
Band of Angels (1957)
The Sword and the Cross (1958)
Timbuktu (1959)
McLintock! (1963)
A Global Affair (1964)
Law of the Lawless (1964)
Forbidden Temptations (1965) (documentary)
Munster, Go Home (1966)
Hostile Guns (1967)
The Power (1968)
Arizona Bushwhackers (1968)
The Delta Factor (1970)
The Seven Minutes (1971)
Black Fire (1975)
Blazing Stewardesses (1975)
It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time (1975)
House of Shadows (1976)
Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (1976)
Satan's Cheerleaders (1977)
Nocturna (1979)
Guyana: Cult of the Damned (1979)
Black Fire (1979) (Spanish version)
The Man with Bogart's Face (1980)
Silent Scream (1980)
Liar's Moon (1981)
National Lampoon's Class Reunion (1982)
Vultures (1983)
Play Dead (1985)
Flesh and Bullets (1985)
American Gothic (1988)
Cellar Dweller (1988)
Mirror, Mirror (1990)
Oscar (1991)
The Naked Truth (1992)
Desert Kickboxer (1992)
The Sorority House Murders (1993)
Seasons of the Heart (1993) (voice only)
The Munsters (1964 - 1966)
The Girl on the Late, Late Show (1974)
The Mark of Zorro (1974)
The Munsters' Revenge (1981)
A Masterpiece of Murder (1986)
Here Come the Munsters (1995) (Cameo)
The Barefoot Executive (1995)
Yvonne De Carlo on Northern Stars - Canadians in the Movies: http://www.northernstars.ca/actorsdef/decarlo.html
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Classic Movies (1939 - 1969): Yvonne de Carlo*
Yvonne De Carlo - A timeline of her life
