Interviews: TV Stars Paul Michael Glaser, Tracey Gold, Pat Priest

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Star Pat Priest, Marilyn in “The Munsters”

The odd thing about the infamous 1960s sitcom “The Munsters,” was that for all its notoriety and memories it was only on the air for two seasons. Patricia Ann “Pat” Priest was actually the second actress to portray Marilyn, the “normal” looking member of the ghoulish family – she replaced Beverley Owen after 13 episodes. Priest made a couple of cult film classics, starring with Elvis Presley in “Easy Come, Easy Go” (1967) and “The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant” (1971) with Bruce Dern.


Pat Priest at the Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show, Chicago, October 2011
Photo credit: Joe Arce of Starstruck Foto for HollywoodChicago.com

HollywoodChicago.com: I will only ask you one question about ‘The Munsters.’ What is the inside scoop on why you replaced the first Marilyn and why did the studio go with yet another Marilyn in the 1966 movie ‘Munster, Go Home!’?

Pat Priest: Beverley Owen did the first 13 episodes, and I did the remaining 57. She was in love, and her boyfriend was a director in New York, and she went East to marry him. I have never met her, I have never seen her. I started working on a Monday, and she had left the Friday before. I’ve never have even talked to her, though I’d like to.

Then when they got ready to do the movie, they told me I was out, and that broke my heart. They used a contract player on the Universal lot [Debbie Watson]. Number one, they didn’t have to pay her as much because she was under contract and they thought I was too old. Maybe I’d aged in the one month we’d been off the air. [laughs]

HollywoodChicago.com: How did the rest of the cast react to the switch?

Priest: They were shocked, and Fred [Gwynne] and Al [Lewis] went to bat for me, but it didn’t work.

HollywoodChicago.com: Since you worked on a pretty weird show, what is the oddest or strangest piece of fan mail you’ve ever received?

Priest: Believe it or not, I do get quite a bit of fan mail from prisons. [laughs] I had one just recently from a prisoner in Idaho, where I’m from, and he was starting a collection of autographs with his young son, in order for them to bond together. The really touched me, it was lovely.

HollywoodChicago.com: You worked with Elvis Presley very late in his movie career with ‘Easy Come, Easy Go.’ Since this was after the British invasion and before his comeback special, did you detect any insecurity in The King as far as his status on being a star?

Opening Credits, ‘The Munsters’
Opening Credits, ‘The Munsters’
Photo credit: Universal Home Entertainment

Priest: No. I didn’t. When I worked with him, it was before he was married. And he was very shy, very religious and quiet. He had a group of men who traveled with him, who were great guys. It was very nice.

HollywoodChicago.com: You worked with a very early career Bruce Dern in ‘The Incredible Two-Headed Transplant.’ Since the term cult movie wasn’t really invented while you were making the film, how did everybody feel about the subject matter of this very odd film?

Priest: Early on in the ‘60s, a lot of familiar stars either had a soft porn or horror film. [laughs] I wasn’t built correctly for soft porn, so I did a ‘B’ movie. It was funny, because Bruce was just starting out, and he went on to do wonderful things, and I just went on.

HollywoodChicago.com: You stopped working after the 1970s. What was behind your decision to stop doing it and what became your second career?

Priest: I started and still run an antique store. I moved to Idaho 26 years ago, because there is a point where you give up quantity of life for quality of life. That is pretty much why I stopped my career. The antique trade was my hobby, and it had gone beyond want, it was heavy into need.

HollywoodChicago.com: What can you tell us about Fred Gwynne that the rest of the world doesn’t know?

Priest: Fred was a private man, and a genius. He wrote and illustrated children’s books, played the guitar and was a wonderful and serious actor.

The “Hollywood Celebrities & Memorabilia Show” is now “The Hollywood Show” and will be in Chicago on March 24th and 25th, 2012. Click here for details.

HollywoodChicago.com senior staff writer Patrick McDonald

By PATRICK McDONALD
Senior Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
pat@hollywoodchicago.com

© 2012 Patrick McDonald, HollywoodChicago.com

Anonymous's picture

Interview with PM Glaser

Loved the interview with Paul Michael Glaser. Thank you for asking questions I hadn’t heard asked of him before.

However, can you PLEASE spell his name correctly. It is Glaser, whether he is Paul Michael Glaser, PM Glaser or Paul M Glaser. Always with an ‘s’. Your interview has him as “Glazer”. Thank you.

HollywoodChicago.com's picture

Corrected

Anonymous wrote:
Loved the interview with Paul Michael Glaser. Thank you for asking questions I hadn’t heard asked of him before. However, can you PLEASE spell his name correctly. It is Glaser, whether he is Paul Michael Glaser, PM Glaser or Paul M Glaser. Always with an ‘s’. Your interview has him as “Glazer”. Thank you.

Corrected. Thanks for the catch!

PatrickMcD's picture

Thanks!

I had it set up wrong in the html grid. Lame excuse, but thanks for reading.

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