Grandpa, Eddie Munster, and Herman Munster, played by Al Lewis, Butch Patrick, and Fred Gwynne, respectively, weren’t what the producers had in mind at the start. As it happened, Bert Lahr, the actor who played the lion in the movie “Wizard of Oz,” was the first choice for the role of Grandpa.
Billy Mumy was the first choice for the role of Eddie Munster, and renowned suspense and Western film actor John Carradine was in the running for Herman Munster. Nevertheless, it’s probably safe to say that everyone is happy with how things transpired in the end. If the producers stuck on their first choices, the show would certainly be different from the one that we have known and grown to love today.
Lily Munster was Older than Grandpa
Al Lewis portrayed the character of Grandpa – Lily Munster’s father, an over-the-hill vampire who enjoyed talking about "good old days" – throughout the show’s run. But don’t allow the role to trick you regarding the actor’s actual age, though because, in reality, Lewis was, in fact, a year younger than Yvonne De Carlo, who played his character’s daughter in the show. Fred Gwynne was even younger than either of the two!
With that being said, it’s truly remarkable how excellent acting and a splash of Hollywood-level makeup work can make such a difference in depicting an older character. But then again, the extent of makeup applied on actors backstage was more than enough to erase any hint of age (and virtually almost anything you can imagine, for that matter!)
The Munsters Release Merchandise
Aside from appearing in television commercials, partaking in parades, and enjoying a made-for-TV film, the Munsters’ popularity went on even further. The friendly monster family that kids have grown to love got their own line of merchandise, including board games, coloring books, t-shirts, trivia card games, dolls, replicas of the Munster’s house, and plenty more.
Nowadays, this Munster merchandise comes at a high price, especially from collectors across the country, as only a limited number of the products were ever manufactured. Aside from the merchandise, ABC also made an animated pilot feature in 1973 titled The Mini-Munsters, which included Al Lewis as the voice of Grandpa one more time.
Before Fred Gwynne was Herman
During his college days, Fred Gwynne studied at the famed Harvard University and worked as a cartoonist and head of the school’s popular Lampoon at the same time. The Lampoon’s writers and staff had a well-known reputation of being rough and rowdy, which comes to no surprise why Gwynne became the leader of the organization.
The writers of Lampoon later began the National Lampoon, which went on to become among the most recognized comedy magazines. The National Lampoon would soon make its way to various platforms, including stand-up comedies, books, TV shows, records, and even films. Some of the most notable comedians in recent times would walk the same path that Gwynne took.
The Raven
On the show, the raven appeared as a cuckoo bird that resided on the Munster's home clock. It was an allusion to a poem from Edgar Allan Poe wherein a bird would regularly say the word “Nevermore.” The raven was voiced by Mel Blanc, who at the time was among the most celebrated voice actors in the history of the industry, successfully creating almost 500 unique voices for a long list of cartoons and animated movies.
From the hilarious Stone Age world of "The Flintstones" to the futuristic universe of "The Jetsons" and iconic cartoon characters like Bugs Bunny, Mel Blanc always had his hands full while working with "The Munsters" and long after it was concluded. Blanc died in 1989, but his voice continued to resonate in the world from various cartoons like the Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show.