Celebrity Nooz: Butch Patrick

Butch Patrick (Actor) - The Munsters

Updated: 10/31/22

Name: Butch Patrick

Birth Name: Patrick Alan Lilley

Born: August 2, 1953 in Los Angeles, California, USA

Claim To Fame: Butch Patrick is an American actor and musician best known for his role as child werewolf Eddie Munster on the CBS comedy television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966, and in the feature film Munster, Go Home! (1966).

Family Life: In 2016, Patrick married his longtime girlfriend Leila Murray.

Info: The son of Ken Hunt and Patty Hunt.

His stepfather is former pro baseball player Ken Hunt.

Has a half-sister named Kerry Lynn Sprick (formerly Kerry Lynn Hunt).

His acting mentors were the late Yvonne De Carlo and Charles Nelson Reilly, respectively.

In 2010, he suffered a near-fatal drug overdose days after walking out of a rehabilitation center in New Jersey. He had checked in to overcome his cocaine addiction and recover from the break-up with his then fiancée, Donna McCall, a former NFL cheerleader.

Trivia: Patrick was spotted by a talent agent at the age of seven, which led to a series of television commercials and many TV show guest appearances.

In 1961, Patrick made his feature-film debut in the 20th Century Fox comedy-fantasy The Two Little Bears, in which he co-starred with Eddie Albert and Jane Wyatt.

In 1964, Patrick landed the role of child werewolf Eddie Munster, starring alongside Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster and Al Lewis as Grandpa, on the CBS television series The Munsters, a fantasy situation comedy loosely based on Universal's movie monsters.

The role of Eddie was originally portrayed by child actor Happy Derman in the pilot episode before Patrick was ultimately selected out of hundreds of boys for the role.

Living on the East Coast at the time, Patrick commuted to Los Angeles every week during filming of the series, appearing in 71 episodes during The Munsters' two-season run from 1964 to 1966.

Ranked #45 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid Stars".

Had a recurring role as Gordon Dearing on the CBS family comedy series My Three Sons.

Patrick returned to occasional film and television work, including making cameo appearances as "Himself" on episodes of the Fox animated television series The Simpsons and the 2003 comedy film Dickie Roberts: Former Child Star, as well as appearing as a grown-up Eddie Munster in a Little Caesars Pizza commercial.

In 1971, Patrick landed the starring role on Sid and Marty Krofft's Saturday morning children's program Lidsville, broadcast on ABC from 1971 to 1973. In the psychedelic fantasy series, Patrick portrayed Mark, a boy lost in a strange land of walking, talking, singing hats, opposite veteran character actors Charles Nelson Reilly and Billie Hayes.

In 1975, Patrick left acting to work for his father and began to learn to play the bass guitar.

Formed a band called "Eddie and the Monsters" in 1983 and got a mild hit off the novelty song "What Ever Happened to Eddie?".

In 2002, Patrick co-hosted Macabre Theatre with Natalie Popovich aka "Ivonna Cadaver".

In 2007, Patrick recorded a song "It's Only Halloween" that was released on Park Lane Drive Records.

In 2008, he completed a biography with writer Helen Darras. The book details his first 25 years in Hollywood, is titled "Eddie Munster AKA Butch Patrick".

Where Are They Now: Patrick has a few projects in the works, 4 actually! Two are currently in post-production: Old Man Jackson, a comedy, and Quakeasaurus, a horror flick. The other two projects, which are filming now, River Beauty, a thriller, and Cadillac Respect, a short crime film. Hey, did you know that he was the voice of the Tin Can Man in Rob Zombie's The Munsters?

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