R.I.P. Yvonne DeCarlo

Okay. I'll admit it. The first time I read about the death of the late Yvonne DeCarlo, the first thing that came to mind was “Lily Munster's dead.”

Granted, Lily Munster -- the vampirish hausfrau of the TV series The Munsters, was a memorable TV character, but she's not likely to be the type of character Ms. DeCarlo would prefer to be remembered for.

However, I'd like to think that she would be preferred to be remembered for Lily Munster far more than she would prefer to be remembered for, say, the frumpy landlady she played in the 1980 horror film Silent Scream, a film in which she had to play third banana to TV actress Rebecca Balding's scream queen and horror queen Barbara Steele's psycho killer.

But then I could also remember her for her role as the lovely widow woman in the 1963 John Wayne film McLintock!, in which she basically plays fourth or fifth banana to John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Stephanie Powers, and a host of other character actors. And I'd like to think that she would prefer that role over that of Lily Munster. Even if McLintock! is one of the few John Wayne movies film critics don't like to talk about...

Anyway, Ms. DeCarlo will be missed, even by those of us who no longer care for The Munsters.