Biografie

Took the role of Lily Munster on Die Munsters (1964) to help pay husband Bob Morgan's medical bills. Morgan, an actor and stuntman, had suffered near-fatal injuries while filming Das war der wilde Westen (1962). By her own admission, De Carlo never imagined, at the time, that the show would become such a hit. She also had mixed feelings about the show; she was grateful it returned her to the spotlight but felt its popularity tended to overshadow the rest of her career.

Regarded Die zehn Gebote (1956) as her best film. She was nominated for the Laurel Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. In her autobiography and in a book about the film, she said that it is a timeless film that her descendants will see.

She was greatly admired by Italian actress Sophia Loren, who grew up watching De Carlo's early films. In 1965, Loren told columnist Dick Kleiner: "Particularly I loved Yvonne De Carlo - she was my favorite [actress]. Others too, like Rita Hayworth, but I used to dream I was Yvonne De Carlo. And I liked that little one - what was her name? - June Allyson, too. But for me there was only one Yvonne De Carlo". At the 1954 Berlin Film Festival, De Carlo and Loren posed for a photograph with Gina Lollobrigida.

Eva Perón, First Lady of Argentina from 1946 to 1952, was a great fan of hers. According to De Carlo's autobiography, Perón told the Hollywood film star that she enjoyed every one of her movies and that her favorite was Die Piratenbraut (1950). Perón also said that she wanted De Carlo to portray her in a biopic. Before De Carlo left Argentina, Perón gave her a copy of her autobiography in which she inscribed: "A remembrance of your passing through Argentina, with my gratitude for your kindness toward me. With my best wishes for your happiness always and a big hug - Eva Perón".

In her final years, she resided at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital.

I was on cloud nine all the time. After I made my hit in Salome, Where She Danced (1945), Universal sent me to New York so I could learn to be a proper movie star. I lived at the Sherry-Netherland for two months and I went to the John Robert Powers school. They taught me things like how to walk off a New York curb and how to enter a room in a manner befitting a big-time movie star.

I was named Margaret Yvonne - Margaret because my mother was very fond of one of the derivatives of the name. She was fascinated at the time by the movie star Baby Peggy, and I suppose she wanted a Baby Peggy of her own.

[on Die Munsters (1964)] It meant security. It gave me a new, young audience I wouldn't have had otherwise. It made me "hot" again, which I wasn't for a while.

[on Howard Hughes] A man came over... he said "Mr. Hughes would like to meet you." Well, I was not too much aware of Mr. Hughes at the time - who he was or anything. So, I said, "Oh, yes, fine." And so I looked and I thought, "Wow, this would be a terrific boyfriend for my aunt."

[on one of her scenes in Salome, Where She Danced (1945)] I came through these beaded curtains, wearing a Japanese kimono and a Japanese headpiece, and then performed a Siamese dance. Nobody seemed to know quite why.