Quotes

[asked what accomplishment he is proudest of] My three sons.

[on working with Robert Zemeckis on Used Cars (1980)] That kid couldn't direct traffic.

[on his most famous role, Grandpa Munster] The role of Grandpa is not complicated because you're wearing odd makeup or bizarre costumes. That's not what complicates a role. What makes Grandpa a little odd is the fact that he had no prototype. When I approached this role, I knew that whatever I was doing was original. So no director could say to me, "Listen, remember how he did it, this is how I want it done." I worked very hard creating that character. I made those lines work. The walk and the posture all fit the character. As to the character itself, you might say that Grandpa was a kind of Dracula-type Major Hoople.

[asked about being typecast as Grandpa Munster] Why would I mind? It pays my mortgage.

[about why The Munsters was a success] I've thought about it. I never saw the show, of course I've done it, I never saw it. It didn't date itself in the sense of topical humor. It was about a family, although obviously an off-the-wall family, it was perfectly cast.

[about the success of The Munsters] It's never been out of syndication in the United States, as you and I here are sitting, it's running in 41 countries of the world in their respective language.

In New York, when we heard Yvonne DeCarlo was going to play Lily Munster, I guess from some reverse snobbery, 'What? Movie star, she can't do that, blah blah blah blah'. We went out to California, we both had a meeting, and the line producer, the most successful line producer Universal had, Joe Connelly and Bob Moshe, Leave it to Beaver, Amos n' Andy, a whole career, they built Universal. 'How can you hire Yvonne DeCarlo? Blah blah blah'. We were wrong, she was wonderful, she really was.