‘Munsters’ star Butch Patrick will meet fans at Strange and Unusual in Kingston on Aug. 1
From a press release:
The Strange and Unusual Oddities Parlor in Kingston seems like the kind of place that the Munsters would shop for basic home goods and decor, so it’s fitting that a member of the classic TV family will visit the store this Thursday, Aug. 1.
Actor Butch Patrick, who played the child werewolf Eddie Munster in “The Munsters,” is coming to The Strange and Unusual (467 Wyoming Ave., Kingston) for a meet and greet from noon-3 p.m. Patrick will be on hand for autographs and photo ops, and “Munsters” memorabilia will also be available to purchase. Grab a beverage from the Harry Potter-themed Steamy Hallows coffee shop inside the store and maybe a bat in a box to go.
“The Munsters” was a family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters that ran from 1964 through 1966. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era, such as “Leave It to Beaver,” and it ran concurrently with “The Addams Family.” Although the Addamses were well-to-do, the Munsters were a more blue-collar family. Soon after the show’s two seasons ended, a spin-off movie called “Munster, Go Home!” was released in theaters in 1966.
The ring Butch Patrick wears on his finger has a large diamond studded “PL” shining boldly. Given to him by his father when he had a kidney removed, it signifies his real name: Patrick Lilley.
Patrick was born on Aug. 2, 1953 in Los Angeles California. He made his acting debut in 1961 at the age of 8 opposite Eddie Albert in the film “The Two Bears.” While living in Illinois with his grandmother, he was flown to Los Angeles to test for the role of Eddie Munster at CBS Studios.
“I went in and an hour later I came out with the job,” he recalls. Although a cute little kid, he could play brat parts easily.
Aside from acting, an underlying interest throughout his life has been baseball. His stepdad incidentally is Ken Hunt, who played for the Yankees and the Washington Senators briefly.
Besides his two-year stint as a wolf boy with pointed ears, he was a regular on TV’s “The Real McCoys,” “General Hospital,” and “My Three Sons.” In between, he appeared in numerous commercials and guest spots on many situation comedies throughout the ’60s.
In 1971, Patrick starred in the Saturday morning children’s series “Lidsville” opposite Charles Nelson Reilly. The show lasted until 1973 and zoomed Patrick into the teen idol phase of his career, with his face gleaming on the covers of several teen magazines in the early 1970s.
After that, little was heard from Butch Patrick. He quit show business “to grow up,” he says, “because my first 20 years were spent working in an adult world. I made up for it by being a hell-raiser for the next 10 years.” Soon after, the money ran short and he was working odd jobs around the country. He even formed his own band, Eddie and the Monsters, and put out a single, “Whatever Happened to Eddie?” which brought him some notoriety because of his role in “The Munsters.” It was because of that single in 1983 that MTV created the “Basement Tapes,” which gave exposure to unsigned bands.
Patrick doesn’t mind talking about being Eddie Munster anymore, but at one time, he was bothered by it. He even boasts that he has saved the original Woof Woof doll after all these years. Around Halloween, he is usually booked solid for events that toast “The Munsters” and proudly welcome little Eddie, now all grown up.
Although Patrick, 65, lives in St. Pete Beach, Florida, he is constantly on the go and often off to Hollywood and then Los Angeles, where his immediate family remains.
