Butch Patrick of ‘The Munsters’ Initially Didn’t Want to Act

Lauren Novak November 25, 4:32 pm

THE MUNSTERS, Butch Patrick, 1964-66. — Everett Collection

Butch Patrick is best known for playing the adorable Eddie in The Munsters, but an acting career wasn’t always his plan. In fact, he never dreamed of becoming a star, and got discovered in Hollywood by accident. In the early ’60s, he accompanied his older sister to a photo shoot. The photographer loved his unique look and snapped a photo that would change his life. It led to him getting cast in The Munsters, as well as other shows including My Three Sons and I Dream of Jeannie.

“It’s interesting the stories that are shared and the memories that are shared with me about how important The Munsters were and TV of that period especially,” Patrick said about being a part of the beloved show. “But for some reason, The Munsters come front and center to a lot of people, and I was an important part of their childhood.”

MUNSTER, GO HOME, from left, Yvonne De Carlo, Butch Patrick, Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, Debbie Watson, 1966

Everett Collection

He added that the characters “were in makeup, and we were monsters and this and that, we were actually a real functioning family unit, it was believable. You know, Herman [Munster] went to work at the parlor and Lily kept the house and Grandpa got up to mischief in the dungeon, but … it was real. It was real stuff.”

While it was unexpected for him to find fame on the show, he said he loved his time with his TV family. “So yeah, that’s my TV family,” he continued. “Actually, I spent more time with them than my real family, and they all had children about my age. It was a kid-friendly set because it was done by the people that created Leave It to Beaver.”

As far as his favorite role, besides The Munsters? His time on The Monkees Christmas episode.

“One of the favorite things about that particular episode, which I think is one of the best, if not the best, was at the end of the show, they sang their number one [hit] “Riu Chiu” a cappella to really show off their talents,” Patrick explained. “Which they had plenty of, but they also then introduced the crew from behind the camera and brought them front and center to share with America what everybody who was on set knew, that they were a great bunch of guys.”