YVONNE DE CARLO BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Yvonne De Carlo was born on September 1st, 1922 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada with the birth name Margaret Yvonne Middleton to parents, Marie De Carlo and William Middleton.  At the age of three, her father left the family and her mother was left to raise Yvonne on her own.  She worked as a waitress to support her family. 
 
Yvonne was never a shy little girl and her mother saw a spark in her daughter and knew she had a special talent.  Her mother enrolled her in a local dance school and also had her introduced to the study of dramatic arts.  She was also trained in Opera and was a former chorister at St. Paul Angelica Church in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
 
At the age of fifteen she dropped out of King Edward High School and De Carlo's mother moved her daughter to Hollywood to try her chances at a career in the entertainment industry.  Sadly, their first try was unsuccessful and they moved back to Canada. 

In 1940, they tried again and relocated to Hollywood.  This time, De Carlo worked as a chorus line dancer at night and during the day she would go from studio to studio searching for employment.
 
At times she received bit parts in small films and after her third film, she finally got her break in a feature film, "Harvard, Here I Come" (1941). Roles that followed were small film roles, but nothing of great significance.

She continued to at least get small parts here and there playing secretaries, office clerks or someone's girlfriend and at least it was income, but by no means was it a major break into the industry.  However, she did not give up on her dream and continued to pursue any opportunity that crossed her path.
 
Finally, in 1945, De Carlo was given the title role on, "Salome Where She Danced" under Universal Pictures.  Critics were not to fond of the film, but her performance was well received and the film was a success for Universal.

Her career was now finally heading in the right direction with her next role being on the film, "Frontier Gal" (1945).  She was off the screen for a full year before obtaining another role in the film, "Song of Scheherazade" (1947), again the film was not well received by critics, but her performance was. 
 
The highly regarded Burt Lancaster film, "Brute Force" (1947) cast De Carlo and both the film and her performance was another success.  Lead roles followed over and over again in such films as, "Slave Girl" (1947), "Black Bart" (1948), "Casbah" (1948) and "River Lady" (1948).  

Entering into the 1950's, De Carlo continued to obtain lead roles in feature films such as, "The Desert Hawk" (1950), "Silver City" (1951) and "Scarlet Angel" (1952). Her last film in 1952 was "Hurricane Smith" (1952), but this film was one most would agree was not one of her best. 

Her most memorable role was in the film, "The Ten Commandments" (1956) where she played Sephora, the wife of Moses played by Charlton Heston.  This role gave her the chance at another role for a feature film titled, "Band of Angels" (1957) which was also a huge success. 

Not only was her film career at an all time high, De Carlo was also involved in working on television.  She appeared on, "Bonanza" (1959) and "The Virginian" (1962).  As she entered the 60's, film roles were becoming less available to her and she was beginning to suffer financially.  However, soon  a door opened to what would turn out to be her most well known and memorable role for a television series called, "The Munsters" (1964) playing Lily Munster.  She actually only agreed to take on this role to help assist in paying her husband's medical bills, but it turned out to be the smartest move in her career.

From starting out as what was a lost cause for a young girl to aspire to her dreams, her career was highly successful.  She mostly remained working on television but did have a couple final film roles such as, "McLintock!" (1963) starring John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara, "The Power" (1968) and "Seven Minutes" (1971).

De Carlo married only one time during her lifetime to Bob Morgan on November 21st, 1955 and they were together until 1968.  The couple had two children together, Bruce and Michael and she never did marry again. 

In 1998 De Carlo suffered a stroke and spent the remainder of her life living at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital until she passed away on January 8th, 2007 at the age of eighty four. 
 
 
Filmography

1995   The Barefoot Executive
1995   Here Come the Munsters
1993   Tales from the Crypt
1993   The Naked Truth 
1993   Seasons of the Heart  
1992   Desert Kickboxer 
1991   Dream On
1991   Oscar  
1990   The New Adventures of the Black Stallion
1990   Mirror Mirror  
1988   Cellar Dweller  
1988   American Gothic  
1987   Vultures  
1986   A Masterpiece of Murder  
1986   Play Dead
1985   Murder, She Wrote
1985   Flesh and Bullets 
1982   Liar's Moon
1981   The Munsters' Revenge
1980   Sam Marlow, Private Eye
1980   The Silent Scream
1978-1979  Fantasy Island 
1979   Guyana: Cult of the Damned  
1979   Fuego negro  
1979   Nocturna  
1977   Satan's Cheerleaders  
1977   Roots
1976   Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood  
1976   La casa de las sombras  
1975   It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time  
1975   Blazing Stewardesses 
1975   Black Fire 
1974   The Mark of Zorro 
1974   The Girl on the Late, Late Show
1971   The Seven Minutes  
1970   The Delta Factor 
1970   The Name of the Game 
1963-1969  The Virginian 
1968   Arizona Bushwhackers
1968   The Power  
1967   Custer  
1967   Hostile Guns
1967   The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. 
1966   Munster, Go Home!
1964-1966  The Munsters 
1964   The Greatest Show on Earth
1964   Law of the Lawless  
1964   A Global Affair 
1963   Burke's Law
1963   McLintock!  
1962   Death Valley Days 
1961-1962  Follow the Sun
1960   Adventures in Paradise 
1959   Bonanza
1959   Timbuktu  
1958   La spada e la croce  
1958   Playhouse 90 
1957   Band of Angels  
1957   Schlitz Playhouse 
1957   Shower of Stars
1956   Death of a Scoundrel
1956   The Ten Commandments
1956   Star Stage 
1956   Raw Edge  
1956   Flame of the Islands
1956   Screen Directors Playhouse 
1955   Magic Fire
1955   Shotgun  
1954   Passion
1954   The Contessa's Secret  
1954   Tonight's the Night  
1954   Border River  
1953   The Backbone of America
1953   Fort Algiers  
1953   The Captain's Paradise  
1953   Sea Devils  
1953   Sombrero
1953   The Ford Television Theatre 
1952   Hurricane Smith  
1952   Scarlet Angel  
1952   The San Francisco Story  
1952   Lights Out
1951   Silver City
1951   Hotel Sahara  
1951   Tomahawk 
1950   The Desert Hawk 
1950   Buccaneer's Girl 
1949   The Gal Who Took the West  
1949   Calamity Jane and Sam Bass  
1949   Criss Cross  
1948   River Lady  
1948   Casbah  
1948   Black Bart  
1947   Slave Girl  
1947   Brute Force  
1947   Song of Scheherazade  
1945   Frontier Gal  
1945   Salome Where She Danced  
1945   Bring on the Girls  
1944   Practically Yours 
1944   Here Come the Waves  
1944   Rainbow Island 
1944   Kismet  
1944   Fun Time
1944   The Story of Dr. Wassell  
1944   Standing Room Only  
1943   True to Life 
1943   The Deerslayer  
1943   So Proudly We Hail!  
1943   Let's Face It  
1943   For Whom the Bell Tolls  
1943   Salute for Three  
1943   The Crystal Ball  
1942   Rhythm Parade 
1942   Lucky Jordan  
1942   Road to Morocco  
1942   Youth on Parade
1942   This Gun for Hire  
1941   The Kink of the Campus  
1941   Harvard, Here I Come! 
1941   I Look at You