Butch Patrick

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Birthday:

2 August 1953, Los Angeles, California, USA

Birth Name:

Patrick Alan Lilley

Height:

170 cm

In 1960, a young 7-year-old named Patrick Lilley went on an Amos Carr photo shoot with his little sister. She was the subject but it was "Butch's" head shot that would wind up in the Hollywood Blvd. window! Utilizing his nickname and real first name, his agent Mary Grady and his mom Patti created the stage name, Butch Patrick, which he still uses 50 plus years later. Butch started out, quick, with landing his first three auditions. First was a very cool B movie, starring Eddie Albert and Jane Wyatt, called The Two Little Bears (1961). Also starring Soupy Sales and a 15-year-old Brenda Lee! A series came next in the form of GH. That's right, General Hospital (1963)'s first year had Butch mixing with John Beradino. To round out the group, a Kellogg's award-winning Corn Flakes commercial. Butch continually worked in the early 60s on the most popular TV programs of the time: Mister Ed (1958), My Favorite Martian (1963), The Untouchables (1959), The Detectives (1959), Ben Casey (1961), Rawhide (1959), Gunsmoke (1955), Bonanza (1959) and many, many more. A second series came his way with the reboot of the classic The Real McCoys (1957). Working with Oscar winner Walter Brennan and Richard Crenna was a huge treat for Butch. All this time, he was working in over 20 commercials and a dozen movies. Starring the likes of Burt Lancaster, Judy Garland, Mickey Rooney, Jo Van Fleet, Sal Mineo, Don Murray, Edward G. Robinson, to name a few. Now, we enter to 1964. The Beatles are all the rage and Butch gets a call to fly from Illinois and go to CBS Studio Center for a screen test. Very hush hush as they have a part in mind for him. It will become a life-changing day for sure!! His screen test is with the famous movie star Yvonne De Carlo and his character is "Edward Wolfgang Munster". From that day on, Butch would always be known, worldwide, as the iconic TV character, "Eddie Munster". The third series for Butch was the charm for sure. The Munsters (1964) are still one of the most popular series in history. Merchandised still and a huge family favorite, 50 years later! His character's hairline is the most recognizable, ever, and the Munster address is the most famous on TV, bar none. "1313 Mockingbird Lane" still is a favorite trivia question for the masses, worldwide. After a two-year stint, Butch set off to Disney for a few "World of Colors". The Young Loner (1968), with Edward Andrews and Kim Hunter, was a gem. Way Down Cellar another two part special was shot the same summer. A few features followed and then he became a semi-regular on My Three Sons (1960), doing 10 episodes. In between, Butch was busy with Adam 12's, the pilot episode of Marcus Welby M.D. Ironside, more westerns and movies too. In the summer of 1969, Butch left the country to film in Brazil for three months. A feature based on an award-winning novel, The Sandpit Generals (1971). Then, in 1971, Sid Krofft took Butch to lunch and convinced him to star in their new show for Sid and Marty's World Lidsville. He worked with Charles Nelson Reilly and Billie Hayes of Puf n Stuff fame. What a trip that summer turned out to be. Afterwards, Metromedia Records signed Butch to a contract and American Bandstand and the Dating Game were the new high-profile shows Butch was seen on. Not to mention the teen heartthrob tears from 1971 to 1973. After Butch turned 19, he decided this career really wasn't he yearned for and left Hollywood to drive fast cars and catch up on his surfing. In 1983, with MTV on the air, Butch formed a band, "Eddie and the Monsters", on Rocshire records and aired a video on the upstart cable powerhouse. They were actually the first unsigned act ever to be seen. This led to the show the basement tapes that led to the discovery of many new unsigned bands with videos. So there you have his older accomplishments. Today, Butch receives scripts and works the indie movie circuit, giving back to the industry that served him well. He's a cancer survivor and works with people with addiction issues, as well. He had his own issues with his life and, after 40 years of alcohol and drug abuse, he's been clean and sober nearly 3 1/2 years. Show less «

I straightened my own life out in my own time. Maybe I should have gone to rehab, but I didn't. A little man inside me said it was time to g...Show more »

I straightened my own life out in my own time. Maybe I should have gone to rehab, but I didn't. A little man inside me said it was time to get my life in order. Show less «

[on making $600 a year at Universal Studios] They put makeup on me, and that was the character. I used the back lot as my private little ent...Show more »

[on making $600 a year at Universal Studios] They put makeup on me, and that was the character. I used the back lot as my private little entertainment center. Show less «

[on working on the Donna Douglas project] Believe it or not. I've had a hard time developing financing.

Most of my memories weren't really while filming, but running around the back lot, going to the laboratory, where they were making all of th...Show more »

Most of my memories weren't really while filming, but running around the back lot, going to the laboratory, where they were making all of the monsters for the other movies, in the makeup department, and the special effects department. That's what I enjoyed. Show less «

[When Yvonne De Carlo was the last-minute replacement to play Lily Munster] I have to interject something here. I never really thought about...Show more »

[When Yvonne De Carlo was the last-minute replacement to play Lily Munster] I have to interject something here. I never really thought about this, but can you imagine the difference of The Munsters (1964) opening clip with Fred Gwynne as "Herman Munster" and then Joan Marshall as "Phoebe"? It doesn't have the same impact as Yvonne De Carlo as "Lily". I mean, they really got a good punch with Yvonne De Carlo. I was just sort of substituting for the other kid and I did a pretty good job, but I think that the real slip in the last-minute crew was getting Yvonne De Carlo, major screen star, to play television. Show less «

[on his on- and off-screen chemistry with Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo, who played both Herman and Lily Munster respectively] While they ...Show more »

[on his on- and off-screen chemistry with Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo, who played both Herman and Lily Munster respectively] While they were alive, we saw each other and it was always fun. We certainly had a good time when we worked together. Show less «

[Of Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo] They aren't just wonderful people, but they were really good actors and actresses, but they were nice p...Show more »

[Of Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo] They aren't just wonderful people, but they were really good actors and actresses, but they were nice people, as well, they made it fun to go to work with. And being the only kid, having the producers from Leave It to Beaver (1957), prior to that. It was a kid-friendly show. Show less «

[Of Yvonne De Carlo]: Yvonne De Carlo had a husband, who was a stuntman, who was hurt, very, very badly, in the stunt, in the movie, 'How Th...Show more »

[Of Yvonne De Carlo]: Yvonne De Carlo had a husband, who was a stuntman, who was hurt, very, very badly, in the stunt, in the movie, 'How The West Was Won.' His name was: Bob Morgan. When that happened, Lily dropped into television, cause she did 'The Ten Commandments,' she was before with Cecil B. DeMille, and when she did 'The Munsters,' it was really a step down for her; because she was a moviestar. The moviestars didn't do television, back then, so, she had to become the breadwinner for her household, because her husband was hurt; and I thought, she was a very strong woman to do that and she had her handsful of these 2 guys from New York, as they were practical jokers and pranksters. I think the fact that she was a moviestar, they took great fun in trying to annoy her. But, she held her own and it became a strong matriarch of the family; and I think the fact that she was up, against the 7 ft. tall Frankenstein - 6'3", Jewish, drafted in cigars and held her own, so there was a lot about her character. Show less «

[on his on- and off-screen chemistry with Yvonne De Carlo, who played Lily Munster]: Yvonne would be a maternal influence. She'd be a mom be...Show more »

[on his on- and off-screen chemistry with Yvonne De Carlo, who played Lily Munster]: Yvonne would be a maternal influence. She'd be a mom because my mom wasn't around, so she'd be a matriarch, not only on the show, but when I'd see her outside of the makeup on Mondays and Tuesdays. Once in a while, she'd bring her kids down to the set. Show less «

[Who talked about Yvonne De Carlo's popularity in The Munsters (1964)]: Yvonne was great, she was a very strong woman... I mean, she was a m...Show more »

[Who talked about Yvonne De Carlo's popularity in The Munsters (1964)]: Yvonne was great, she was a very strong woman... I mean, she was a major moviestar, she had literally been dating Howard Hughes and Prince Faruke and Ali Khan and Chabi Ran and was gorgeous. By today's standards, she was considered to be a strong broad; and she was a tough chick; the thing was she held her own on that show and she was a very strong, maternal influence, who held everything together and it was a tough role for her; because, back then, moviestars weren't doing television. She stepped down into TV and made it her own and made it work and held her own, against 2 bonafide New York TV actors, who tortured her, who really took great joy in tormenting this 'poor woman,' for a while, and then, they respected her, after they found out that she wasn't going anywhere and she was actually an asset, cause they didn't think she could do comedy, and she did very well, her looks, and once she established herself, everything was great. Show less «