Although the spoof horror comedy The Munsters only ran for the two years of 1964-1966, it had a long life afterwards showing as repeat broadcasts and two films were inspired by it.
"It meant security. It gave me a new, young audience I wouldn't have had otherwise," Yvonne De Carlo said when it ended.
Born Peggy Yvonne Middleton in Vancouver, Canada, Yvonne De Carlo was raised in poverty and dropped out of high school but after winning a beauty contest, she landed bit parts in Hollywood and then went on to leading lady status and was signed by Paramount.
Yvonne De Carlo married stuntman Bob Morgan in 1955 and had the couple had two sons, Bruce and Michael, as well as several highly publicised separations and reconciliations and in her 1987 autobiography, she claimed to have had 22 lovers, including Howard Hughes, Burt Lancaster, Billy Wilder and an Iranian prince.
In her later years, Yvonne De Carlo lived in semi-retirement in California. Her son Michael died in 1997 and she suffered a stroke the year after.
Yvonne De Carlo died on Monday at the Motion Picture & Television Fund's Retirement Home in the Los Angeles suburb of Woodland Hills.
