Butch Patrick

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Butch Patrick
Patrick at the July 2014 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born
Patrick Alan Lilley

(1953-08-02) August 2, 1953 (age 70)
Occupations
  • Actor
  • musician
Years active
  • 1961–1975
  • 1991–present
Spouse
Leila Murray
(m. 2016)

Butch Patrick (born Patrick Alan Lilley; August 2, 1953)[1] is an American actor and musician. Beginning his professional acting career at the age of seven, Patrick is perhaps best known for his role as child werewolf Eddie Munster on the CBS comedy television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966 and in the 1966 feature film Munster, Go Home!, and as Mark on the ABC Saturday morning series Lidsville from 1971 to 1973.

Life and career[edit]

Patrick Alan Lilley was born on August 2, 1953,[2][3][1] in Inglewood, California. He was spotted by a talent agent at the age of seven, which led to a series of appearances in television commercials and guest appearances on TV shows. In 1961 he made his feature-film debut[3] in the 20th Century Fox comedy–fantasy The Two Little Bears, in which he co-starred with Eddie Albert and Jane Wyatt.[3][4]

Over the next two years, Patrick went on to appear in guest-starring roles on numerous television series, including Ben Casey, Alcoa Premiere, Bonanza, My Favorite Martian, Gunsmoke, Mister Ed, and Rawhide and recurring roles on The Real McCoys and General Hospital.[5][6][7][8] These roles would have him appear opposite headliners including Judy Garland, Burt Lancaster, and Sidney Poitier.[3]

When recounting how he began his acting career, Patrick explained "I owe my career to my sister. She was the one who got me started and gave me all the encouragement. She always wanted to be an actress and was on the casting call sheet one day. She was asked if there were any other children at home. She told them about me, and I got some small roles, then some bigger ones..."[5]

In 1964 while living in Geneseo, Illinois, just east of the Quad Cities, Patrick landed the role of child werewolf Eddie Munster, starring alongside Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster and Al Lewis as Grandpa, on the CBS television series The Munsters, a fantasy situation comedy loosely based on Universal's movie monsters.[5][8][9] The role of Eddie was originally portrayed by child actor Happy Derman in the pilot episode before Patrick was ultimately selected out of hundreds of boys for the role.[9]

When asked how he landed the role of Eddie, Patrick recalled "I had a lot of experience. But maybe it was because my fangs were my own teeth. My teeth were so bad, that even when I closed my mouth they stuck out. I was about a head smaller than the other kids, and they liked that because it played off Herman's height."[8] Living on the East Coast at the time, Patrick commuted to Los Angeles every week during filming of the series, appearing in 70 episodes during The Munsters' two-season run from 1964 to 1966.[6][10]

In an April 2017 interview, when asked if he recalled his TV mother (Yvonne De Carlo) hiding tiny portions of dialogue around the set, attaching them to props to help jog her memory, so the dialogue could be added to her performance: "No, not in The Munsters she wasn't doing that. Maybe later in life. Because sometimes your memory starts slipping on you. But that's a great idea, actually! I'll have to remember that!".[11]

He also was asked if he had kept in touch with his on-screen family after The Munsters was canceled, especially De Carlo, who died on January 8, 2007. He replied, "No, after the show ended, everyone went their own ways. But in the early '80s, I contacted Al Lewis and we became friends and I started attaching myself to the Munster name and brand. And then 10 years after that I started talking to Yvonne. I was actually a guest on The Vicki Lawrence Show where I was this surprise guest brought out for Yvonne and after that we became friends. I started visiting her and she was somewhat of a recluse, living in North Los Angeles and I introduced her to this guy in Hollywood who would send her care packages, movies to watch and sort of get her back in the loop of Hollywood."[11]

After The Munsters ended, Patrick continued to appear in guest-starring roles on various popular television series of the 1960s, including I Dream of Jeannie, Death Valley Days, Gunsmoke , The Monkees, Daniel Boone, and Adam-12, as well as a recurring role as Gordon Dearing on the CBS family comedy series My Three Sons.[5][8] During this time, Patrick also appeared in several Disney films, including Way Down Cellar, The Young Loner and The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band. He also portrayed the role of Milo in the MGM live-action/animated film The Phantom Tollbooth, [5][8] which had been filmed in 1967 and completed in 1968, but was held up from release until late 1970 due to internal studio problems.

Patrick as Mark with the hats in Lidsville, 1971

In 1971, Patrick landed the starring role on Sid and Marty Krofft's Saturday morning children's program Lidsville, broadcast on ABC.[10][12] In the psychedelic fantasy series, Patrick portrayed Mark, a boy lost in a strange land of walking, talking, singing hats, opposite veteran character actors Charles Nelson Reilly and Billie Hayes.[9][13] The show was in production from 1971 to 1973.[13]

In 1975, Patrick left acting to work for his father and began to learn to play the bass guitar.[9][14] In 1983, he recorded the song, "Whatever Happened to Eddie?" (b/w "Little Monsters"), with several instrumentalists and backup singers under the group name "Eddie and the Monsters."[6][8][14] Set to the tune of the Munsters theme, the song details his life as a Munster. ("You might wonder why I have a dragon for a pet—well, he's just there to keep me company on the set.")[6][8][14] The single was released by Rocshire Records.[15][16] In 2007 Patrick recorded a song "It's Only Halloween" that was released on Park Lane Drive Records.[17]

In addition to his music, Patrick returned to occasional film and television work, including making cameo appearances as "Himself" on episodes of the Fox animated television series The Simpsons and the 2003 comedy film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, as well as appearing as a grown-up Eddie Munster in a Little Caesars Pizza commercial.[1][9][10]

In 2002, Patrick co-hosted Macabre Theatre with Natalie Popovich aka "Ivonna Cadaver". That same year he also appeared in the first episode of the E! Network celebrity dating reality television show Star Dates.

Patrick made a cameo appearance in the 2005 retro-horror film Frankenstein vs. the Creature from Blood Cove, directed by William Winckler, playing a man who had become a werewolf, speaking a line of dialogue in comical reference to The Munsters.[18]

Personal life[edit]

On September 11, 2016, Patrick married his long-term girlfriend Leila Murray.[19][20][21]

Filmography[edit]

Film[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1961 The Two Little Bears Billy Davis
1962 Hand of Death Davey
1962 Pressure Point Imaginary Playmate Uncredited
1963 A Child Is Waiting Boy Playing Football Uncredited
1963 Showdown Kid Uncredited
1964 One Man's Way John Peale
1966 Munster, Go Home! Eddie Munster
1970 The Phantom Tollbooth Milo Filmed in 1967 and completed in 1968.
1971 The Sandpit Generals No Legs
1991 Scary Movie Eddie
2003 Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star Himself
2005 Spaced Out Bartender Direct-to-video
2009 Kitaro's Graveyard Gang Wolfman (voice) English dub
2009 It Came from Trafalgar Roy Autry
2010 Soupernatural Man with a Knife
2010 Eat me Flipper Short film
2011 Kitaro's Graveyard Gang 2 Wolfman (voice) English dub
2012 Young Blood: Evil Intentions Principal
2014 Zombie Dream Butch
2015 Bite School Butch
2019 He Drives at Night Atty General Edward Talmadge
2022 Horrortales.666 Part 3 Detective Mike Post-production
2022 Quakeasaurus Mayor Myers
2022 Old Man Jackson Priest Edwin Mumsford
2022 The Munsters The Tin Can Man Voice[22]

Television[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1961 The Detectives Bobby Episode: "The Legend of Jim Riva"
1962 Ben Casey Billy Episode: "A Pleasant Thing for the Eyes"
1962 Alcoa Premiere Wesley, Tommy 2 episodes
1962 The Untouchables Charlie Episode: "The Night They Shot Santa Claus"
1962–1971 My Three Sons Gordon Dearing, Elmore Crocker, Little Boy 9 episodes
1963 General Hospital Johnny Mercer 1 episode
1963 The Real McCoys Greg Howard 7 episodes
1963 Death Valley Days Tommy Episode: "A Kingdom for a Horse"
1963 My Favorite Martian Stevie Episode: "How to Be a Hero Without Really Trying"
1963 Bonanza Jody Fletcher Episode: "The Prime of Life"
1963–1966 Mister Ed Stevie, Tommy Slater 2 episodes
1964 Rawhide Danny Episode: " Incident of the Pied Piper"
1964–1966 The Munsters Eddie Munster 70 episodes
1964–1967 Gunsmoke Tom John, Runt 2 episodes
1966 Pistols 'n' Petticoats Chad Turner Episode: "A Crooked Line"
1966–1967 I Dream of Jeannie Richard 2 episodes
1967 The Monkees Melvin S2:E15, "The Christmas Show"
1968 The Young Loner Bumper Television film
1968 The Magical World of Disney Bumper, Frank Wilson 4 episodes
1968 Family Affair Frankie Episode: "By a Whisker"
1969 Daniel Boone Black Cat Jack Episode: "Copperhead Izzy"
1969 Marcus Welby, M.D. Sailor Ballinger Episode: "All Flags Flying"
1969–1970 Adam-12 Paul Foster, Tony Niccola 2 episodes
1970 Headmaster Ritchie Episode: "May I Turn On?"
1971–1972 Lidsville Mark 17 episodes
1971–1972 The Smith Family Freddie, Jerry, Gray, Hank 5 episodes
1974 Shazam! Jack Episode: "The Athlete"
1974 Lucas Tanner Jack Episode: "By the Numbers"
1974 Ironside Barney Parkos Episode: "Act of Vengeance"
1995 Here Come the Munsters Restaurant Guest Television film
1999 The Simpsons Butch Patrick (voice) Episode: "Eight Misbehavin'"
2002 Macabre Theatre Eddie Munster 5 episodes
2009 Life's a Butch Himself

Music videos[edit]

Year Title Role Notes
2019 "I Am John 5" Himself

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c "Munster actor involved in crash". Portsmouth Daily Times. July 4, 1996. p. B5.
  2. ^ "Today's birthdays". Youngstown Vindicator. August 2, 2008. Archived from the original on February 25, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
  3. ^ a b c d "Butch Patrick". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved April 28, 2018.
  4. ^ "Sunday Matinee – The Two Little Bears". The Hinton News. December 21, 1961. p. 2.
  5. ^ a b c d e Pearson, Howard (February 24, 1968). "Butch Patrick Owes Career To Sister". The Deseret News.
  6. ^ a b c d Naab, Kathy (February 26, 1989). "You Asked… Tell Me…". The Milwaukee Journal.
  7. ^ "Janice Rule stars with Butch Patrick". The Evening Independent. March 28, 1963.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g Resler, Jerry (October 28, 1983). "Being a little 'Munster' wasn't so horrible". The Milwaukee Sentinel.
  9. ^ a b c d e Rahner, Mark (August 31, 2004). ""Eddie Munster" looks back". The Seattle Times. Archived from the original on 2007-12-24.
  10. ^ a b c "Eddie cashes in on the Munsters". The Calgary Herald. July 5, 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-06-08.
  11. ^ a b "Interview: Butch Patrick Remembers The Munsters". ComingSoon.net. April 21, 2017. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  12. ^ "Was With Spooks – Butch Patrick". Lewiston Morning Tribune. September 19, 1971.
  13. ^ a b Itzkoff, Dave (February 27, 2005). "How Do You Top 'H.R. Pufnstuf?'". The New York Times.
  14. ^ a b c Infusino, Divina (October 28, 1983). "A Munster turns to rock". The Milwaukee Journal.
  15. ^ "Butch Patrick, Eddie & The Monsters - What Ever Happened To Eddie". Discogs.com. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  16. ^ "45cat - Butch Patrick - What Ever Happened to Eddie? / Little Monsters". 45cat.com. Retrieved May 27, 2023.
  17. ^ "Butch Patrick - It's Only Halloween Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  18. ^ "House of Horrors - Horror News Now!!!!". www.houseofhorrors.com.
  19. ^ "Butch Patrick Marries Leila Murray".
  20. ^ "The Munsters Butch Patrick Marries Leila Murray".
  21. ^ "Butch Patrick gets married in Macon". 12 September 2016.
  22. ^ Long, Brandon (22 July 2021). "Interview with Butch Patrick: Eddie Talks 'Munsters' & Rob Zombie's Upcoming Remake". SCIFI.radio. Retrieved 19 April 2022.

External links[edit]