Try to not scream with excitement at this news! Pat Priest, the actress who played Marilyn Munster in the original The Munsters series, will be joining the cast of Rob Zombie’s The Munsters film! As always, the news came straight from the director’s mouth — er, Instagram — where he’s been sharing updates as production on the project rolls along in Budapest. In his post, the master of gore horror addressed those who’ve been asking about the family’s cousin, Marilyn, before announcing that Priest would be a part of the feature reimagining. Rounding out his post, Zombie wrote, “For once the rumors are true.”
For a while now, fans have been clamoring to find out who cousin Marilyn and son, Eddie, will be played by. Zombie has been rather forthcoming with revealing the other castings for his take on the classic 1960s sitcom, but these final two still haven’t fallen into place. Until now, maybe? In the series, Marilyn was played by Priest, who was 28 at the time that she stepped into the character’s shoes after the original actress, Beverley Owen, departed the series to get married. Because Marilyn has always been depicted by a younger woman, we’re thinking that Priest’s involvement is going to be as a different character, but anything is possible when Zombie is at the head of production! He could be doing a completely new twist on the friendly family of monsters, afterall, this film landed itself a PG rating which is quite the change from Zombie’s usual R and NR films.
No matter what the case, it will be a wave of nostalgia to have Priest back in action alongside the crew at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, both for us and for her! After her time on The Munsters, Priest would go on to hold minor roles on shows including Bewitched, Perry Mason, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She also nabbed several parts in films, including a role in the Elvis Presley led Easy Come, Easy Go, Looking for Love, The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant, and Some Call It Loving. After having enough of the glitzy lights of Hollywood, Priest retired from her career in the 1980s. Never one to let the fans down, she continues to travel the country and make appearances at The Munsters themed events. With this in mind, it probably didn’t take much arm twisting on Zombie’s part to get Priest involved in the upcoming feature.
While the call sheet for The Munsters continues to expand, we wonder who will be the next performer tagged on. There’s still the role of Eddie Munster and possibly Marilyn, if Zombie is using Priest for a different part. With all the excitement surrounding Priest’s return, we’re wondering if the original Eddie, Butch Patrick, will be making his way back to the town of Trannsylvania. Only time — and Zombie — will tell! Check out Zombie’s official announcement surrounding the return of Priest below.