Episode 86

Louise Palanker (00:05):

Welcome to Media Path. I am Louise Palanker.

Fritz Coleman  (00:07):

And I'm Fritz Coleman.

Louise Palanker (00:08):

Today on the show, we've got some powerful suggestions for you, and we are about to explore the career of a man who brought so many iconic characters to your childhood TV screen. He played Mark on Lidsville and Eddie Munster on the Munsters. He's Butch Patrick, and he will be joining us shortly. But first, Fritz, what are you recommending for us?

Fritz Coleman  (00:26):

Alright, well, you've never done this before, but I'm doing it because I took your suggestion last week, which you publicly, uh, noted that you had not seen yourself. So I took it upon myself to watch it, and I'm so glad I did. It's called Winter On Fire. You Ukraine's Fight For Freedom. This is a documentary. It's an amazing piece, and it's a great primer. It's a great preliminary understanding for the, what we're watching play out in Ukraine right now. It's a documentary made by Evgeni Aki, who just happens to be a resident of Studio City, California, two miles from where we are right now. He was president in the Ukraine during what was called the Maan Revolution of 2013, of 2014. Maan Square sits in the middle of Kiev, which is the capital of Ukraine, as you've seen sitting in the North central part of the country.

(01:14):

It started with a student demonstration supporting Ukraine being a free and democratic state among other European countries. And they wanted the ouster of pro-Russian president at the time, Victor Yana Kovich. This revolution prompted Putin to seize Crimea in 2014 and foment revolt in provinces of Eastern Ukraine, which became the pro-Russian area called the Donbass, which Putin just last week recognized as an official part of Russia. In this film, you'll see the astonishing resilience of the Ukrainian people that we're watching. Now, they will fight to the Death for Freedom. Director of Jenny recently told Deadline website. This is all happening right now because Putin was never held responsible for sending Russian bombers to Syria and never held responsible for an enacting Crimea. He thinks he can get away with this incursion in Ukraine, and he further goes on to say the Ukrainians got a taste of freedom. They became part of European society, and they will not go back. They will not put their weapons down. They will fight until their last drop of blood, and we're seeing it. This is reality.

Louise Palanker (02:30):

I have seen this movie now too, Fritz. I, I did my own homework that I signed to myself, and it, it's just astounding. And I, I think that it it for Americans. You know, we, we think of Ukraine and Russia as being kind of over there, and they're sorting through whatever they're sorting through. And it didn't mean a ton to us until recent events. And now I think it's incumbent upon us to learn more about the Ukrainian people, their history. And when you, when you talk about Russian speaking, there's Rush. There's in, in Switzerland, there's German speaking, Italian speaking, and French speaking people. It's, they're still Swiss. So the language that you speak isn't an excuse for Putin to roll in and say, Hey, you guys, we speak the same

Fritz Coleman  (03:10):

Language. No, he, he's, he's delusional. He's denied them, uh, their, um, their awareness of their country, of their language, of their humanity. And it's just crazy. And these people are so inspirational, and their president is beyond heroic. He went from a guy who was almost left at sort of a snickered at, because he's a television comedian in Ukraine.

Louise Palanker (03:35):

He was left at, that was the intention. He's Yeah,

Fritz Coleman  (03:37):

But, but, but I mean, as a political leader, yeah. And now he is the hero of the world. And if, if, if Putin does something to kill him or kill his family, they're gonna have the largest, um, um, um, martyr in, in the history of the, uh, world on their hands. It, they're very, very inspirational. I'm, I'm praying that this ends well, but anyway, if you wanna learn about this, it's a great primer to sort of understand the energy that goes through the Ukrainian population and what gives them their drive. They're really a hearty people.

Louise Palanker (04:12):

They are, they consider themselves all soldiers at this. Yeah. Yeah. And they are. Uh, so I think you should watch that Winter on fire. It's excellent. And I'm gonna pick, uh, on Apple plus Lincoln's dilemma. It is a four-part series on Apple Plus based on acclaimed historian David S. Reynolds award-winning book Abe Abraham Lincoln. In his times, the series features insights from a diverse range of journalists, educators, and Lincoln Scholars, as well as rare archival materials that offer a more nuanced look at the man dubbed the Great Emancipator, an overly indulgent moniker, considering how actively enslaved people participated in the procurement of their own freedom, formerly enslaved people fighting for the union provided the turning point needed to win the war set against the backdrop of the Civil War. Lincoln's dilemma also gives voice to the narratives of enslaved people, shaping a more complete view of an America divided over issues, including economy, race, and humanity.

(05:10):

And underscoring Lincoln's initial battle to save the country. Lincoln was a Republican. It was then a brand new progressive party. The ideologies of Republicans and Democrats have swapped over the last 160 years. Lincoln's views and leanings adjusted and evolved as he learned and grew. For example, his friendship with Frederick Douglass was important in illuminating, much like Biden, he was actually more progressive than the politics of his time would realistically support. And he was a wise and tactical politician. He understood timing and priorities, and that to get something done, you often had to first get something else done that seemed like less of a priority, but was essential in advancing the ultimate agenda. Like any great fictional hero, Lincoln begins his journey with one goal in Lincoln's case to preserve the union. And along the way, he discovers that his true goal is abolishing slavery and honoring the humanity of African-American people. His genius is recognizing that in his journey, his goals are not mutually exclusive. They are in fact, complimentary. Lincoln's dilemma is on Apple Plus.

Fritz Coleman  (06:16):

Yeah. And there was an arc in his learning. There was a learning curve that he did because at the beginning of his political career, he was one of those people who thought maybe the, uh, African Americans should have their own country. Liberia, send 'em all back there because he never foresaw a future in which we could all get along and they could meld in with a white population. Didn't think it was possible. So, at the beginning of his political career, he was exactly the opposite of where he ended up.

Louise Palanker (06:44):

Not exactly the opposite. I mean, I think he was always like a humane person. He, he could not stand the concept of people being enslaved, but he didn't know how to solve the problem. Yeah. So he was, he was kind of like spitballing ideas, like, Hey, we could try this. And then Frederick Douglass was like, no, <laugh>, we built this country. We're staying here. Yeah. With you guys. Um, I would like to welcome Butch Patrick to the show. Hello Butch. How are you?

Butch Patrick (07:11):

<laugh>? I now know how Frank Goon must have felt following the Beatles on its Sullivan <laugh>.

Louise Palanker (07:16):

That's a great line.

Butch Patrick (07:18):

Butch Patrick. Oh my goodness. Uh, I'm very happy to be here. And I was very intently listening to everything you had to say. Very informative. And, and like I say, it's what's going on in Ukraine is just beyond belief. And God bless him all.

Louise Palanker (07:31):

God bless him all. I'm gonna introduce you a little bit here. Butch. Butch Patrick, okay. Is an American actor who began his professional career at the age of seven. And by the time he was nine was the go-to kid actor appearing in Ben Casey Bonanza, my favorite Martian, Mr. Ed Rawhide, the real McCoys. And the list goes on and on. Butch is best known for his roles as boy werewolf Eddie Munster on the Monsters. And as Mark a teenager who falls into a giant top happen and finds himself in a magical land of hats, terrorized by a villainist Charles Nelson Riley on a b ABC Saturday morning series called Lidsville. Like, you know, that's a premise that could easily happen. So be forewarned. Welcome, Butch. Um, I wanted to open by asking you this critical question. Herman is a Frankenstein monster. Lil is a vampire, Eddie is a werewolf. Do you think that Herman and Lily are Eddie's birth parents?

Butch Patrick (08:24):

Uh, perhaps he was adopted, but then again, we're in television world, so it's called Creative License.

Louise Palanker (08:30):

Ah,

Fritz Coleman  (08:31):

<laugh>. Oh, that

Louise Palanker (08:33):

<laugh>. Yeah. That, well, that makes everything make sense on your YouTube channel. And I, I wanna plug it for a second. It's called

Butch Patrick (08:40):

Coach to Coast.

Louise Palanker (08:41):

Yeah, you do a great job. You're very hosty. You're very good at hosting. Okay. And one of my favorite episodes was the one where you tell the amazing story of being on The Monkeys. You were the envy of every kid in your neighborhood, I'm sure.

Butch Patrick (08:52):

Yeah. That was a, it was a great time for a 14 year old kid to, uh, to go back to junior high school, having spent a week with the hottest guys in the, in the world at the moment, you know, at the time.

Louise Palanker (09:02):

Pretty, pretty cool.

Fritz Coleman  (09:03):

Hey, Butch. Uh, uh, one, one of the things that made the Monsters a phenomenon was the show was only on for two years, 64 to 66. Yet it has taken its place in the pantheon of great television shows that people will never forget, particularly baby boomers like us. What do you think it was that sort of kept that thing in the consciousness of people over the last 50 years?

Butch Patrick (09:26):

Well, a a couple things. Number one, it was very well produced. Uh, the quality of the writing and the talent and the guest stars and the makeup and the special effects was top-notch. They, they kind of got lightning in a bottle because the producers of Leave It To Beaver, who was out at Universal Studios, had done very, very well with a sitcom from a child's point of view, kinda like the kids were the stars in the forefront, and the family was behind them. So what they did is they took the Universal Studio Monster franchises, which Universal was the monster studio, and they, they did the best. Frankensteins and Draculas and all of the great monster movies of the forties and fifties came outta Universal. And they kind of mushed them together into this family friendly characters who were a typical American family except for their looks. And then they threw in a beautiful blonde that we found to be the oddball. They did a role reversal on who was right, you know, who was beautiful and who was this. And they touched upon, um, a social commentary of the sixties of, um, I guess, I guess we would, you would have to just call it, you know, um, there was like, there was, there was, there was interracial stuff going on, being

Fritz Coleman  (10:34):

Different blended families. That's exactly right. I was

Butch Patrick (10:37):

Gonna say a lot of upheaval in the sixties. So what they did is they very softly kind of worked that into the scripts about, you don't wanna live next door to the Munsters or The Munsters are scary, but, and, but during the storylines, they very much always came up at the end of the thing with a moral, it was learned by the, by Eddie or someone at the family dinner table. We always sat down to dinner. And at the end of the day, uh, they were, they were likable people and don't judge them by their appearance.

Louise Palanker (11:00):

Oh, wow. It's interesting, like, as a kid, you know, watching it as a kid, I never saw it from that point of view. We just always thought it was funny that they thought that Marilyn was the one who wasn't cute. But, uh, but, but your dad, Herman, he had a lot of the similar wisdom of Ward Cleaver. He was a, he was, they were good parents.

Butch Patrick (11:19):

They were gr they were great parents. In fact, one of the, um, episodes where Eddie grew Rose A. Beard because he is being called shorty. And at the dinner table, the beard comes off and, you know, Hermann, it's got a hundred million up, you know, downloads of Hermann giving me this little speech about, did you learn anything? Uh, yes, I'll never make fun of Mom's Soup again. He goes, no, it's, it doesn't matter what you look like. It doesn't matter if you're taller or thin or fat or ugly or, or ugly or handsome or what color your skin is. It matters the strength of your character and the size of your heart. And that's one of the best speeches ever given by a father to anybody. Wow. And it just happens to have been on the monsters

Fritz Coleman  (11:53):

<laugh>. Most definitely. That's amazing. And, and now the Adams family was out at a similar time, and you made a very interesting comment about, um, you were asked if, if, if the Munsters were competitive with the Adams family, and you said no, quite the opposite. Uh, the Munsters drafted on the fame of the Adams family, and the reverse of that, that you both fed into the enthusiasm of the other show.

Butch Patrick (12:16):

Yeah. And I said, had we been head-to-head, it would've been a problem because you would've had to choose. But because we were different nights and different networks, you, you may have preferred one, but I guarantee most people watched them both and just happened to have a favorite. So we sort of, uh, were inspirational for each other.

Louise Palanker (12:32):

Something that's that's interesting about your career, Butch, is that, you know, you, you, you had an iconic role as a child actor, but you only spent two years playing that role, which gave you a lot of time to appear on other things and to have all of the experiences with all of the people that us kids were watching mm-hmm. <affirmative> on tv, you know them cuz you were on the set with them at someplace or another. So we're gonna do a little thing that I'm gonna call, um, guest star roulette. And I'm gonna go through the list of people that you've worked with and maybe you could tell a story about one of them. So I'm just gonna name some of them and then, and then pick one, and then Fritz is gonna pick one. Is that sound okay, Butch? Sure. Okay. So Butch Patrick has worked with Judy Garland, Burt Lancaster, Eddie Albert, Jane Wyatt, Bobby Darin, Walter Brennan, buddy Epson, Kurt Russell, Goldie Hahn, Vincent Price, Edward G. Robinson, Robert Taylor, Henry Fonda, Sidney Poitier, John Carradine, Andy Griffith, Richard Crenna, bill Bixby, Ray Walston, Larry Hagman, Fred McMurray, Dick Clark, Wally Cox, Wayne Newton. I'm gonna go back to the beginning and pick Judy Garland. <laugh>

Butch Patrick (13:40):

Judy Garland. Yeah. Um, yes, that was a movie called A Child Is Waiting. And it happened to be directed by the very famous and artistically, um, you know, very good director, John Cassavetes. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, he directed that. And, um, Judy was on there with Burt Lancaster was also in that movie. And at that time, you know, I didn't really have a lot of scenes with her, but she was on the set. And a lot of times you get to know someone a lot better behind the scenes mm-hmm. <affirmative> than you do on the scenes. And she was very pleasant, very, I I mean, I was enamored with her because I knew her that she was in The Wizard of Oz, and that's kind of how I related to her. Yeah. But Burt Lancaster was the one that really, I was, you know, I was in awe of because I just thought he was like the coolest guy. I remember his, his, uh, pirate movies. He was a gymnast. He was a man's man. He was just handsome and just, you know, he was just a cool guy that, that I thought that I looked up to. So between the two of them, it was a really good experience.

Fritz Coleman  (14:36):

One, one of the shows that was appointment television in our house was the real McCoys. I, I remember the opening of that show. I remember the picture of the Mailbox <laugh>. And I, and I remember Walter Brennan somehow, although my grandfather didn't have a limp, seemed like a surrogate grandfather to me for some reason. I just love that show. So talk about Walter Brennan and doing that, and Richard Crenna and that group.

Butch Patrick (15:01):

That's, that's a very good one. Because what happened was the, uh, the real McCoys had got off the air and they resurrected it on another network for one final season. And what they did is they didn't have, um, the fam, they, all they had was Luke Pina and Amos. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. They didn't have, uh, sugar Babe. They didn't have Little Luke and they didn't have Cassie. So the, um, the year that I did it, I played the neighbor child next door who, my mom was a, uh, a widower or widow, and she inherited the farm. And I would ride my pony over and visit them a lot. And I kind of worked myself into being kinda like an adopted son to Luke. And he, you know, he would always come to the rescue and this and that. But the big thing about that, and I love Richard Credit because I knew him on Arm, Ms. Brooks, you know, that's how far back I go watching television.

(15:47):

Wow. Pardon? But my mom was the one that turned me on to Walter Brennan and his Academy Awards and how great of an actor he was. And, you know, he won three, uh, supporting actor awards in a row back in the, uh, in the thirties and early forties. I mean, he was a, you know, he was a bonafide major player in, in Hollywood, but he was such a wonderful guy and the character that he had, you know, with his little hitch in his giddy up, it was really a great experience because number one, I got to ride horses. I spent a lot of time outside, got to know Richard Crenna. And, um, it was right before the Monsters. And that, that part actually probably got me the, uh, the character Eddie because of what they saw on the real McCoys.

Fritz Coleman  (16:25):

So, um, I don't, do you know a director, uh, by the name of Bruce Bilson?

Butch Patrick (16:32):

I know the name.

Fritz Coleman  (16:33):

Bruce started out as an ad on the Andy Griffith Show and then directed a couple of episodes of the Rio McCoys. And he told a great story about Walter Brennan. He said Walter raised turkeys or something at a Turkey farm, and he would take orders, uh, for, uh, turkeys for people around Thanksgiving. And the first time he did it, everybody thought he was just making a gift of the turkeys to everybody. But as it turns out, he plunked the, the Turkey down in their dressing room or something. Say, you owe me $33 or something. He decided to charge you

Butch Patrick (17:04):

For the Turkey. He was a businessman. Yeah.

Louise Palanker (17:06):

He was selling turkeys. Yeah. Wow. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, that's industrious. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, did, was that during the time period when he had a hit record?

Butch Patrick (17:15):

Uh, you know, and that's a good question. It was around that time. It was, it was definitely in the period piece. Yes. I believe it was.

Louise Palanker (17:21):

Yeah. Because it, I'm sure you can find the record. I'm not sure the title of it. It has to, it, it, it will make you cry no matter when you listen to it, no matter what time of day, no matter what else you're doing. Yes. If you listen to Walter Brennan's hit record, you will cry.

Butch Patrick (17:35):

Mm-hmm. <affirmative>.

Louise Palanker (17:36):

So let's talk about Andy Griffith. As long as we're on Andy Griffiths.

Butch Patrick (17:39):

Sure.

Louise Palanker (17:41):

Tell us what you did with him.

Butch Patrick (17:43):

Well, Andy Griffith, uh, had a X-ray. He had a series that didn't, that didn't succeed, was called Headmaster. Ah. And I did, I think I did the pilot for it, actually, I think it was the first episode. It was a very, he ran a, uh, a school and I played, um, a kid who at the time it was a Bible. I think I was 18 years old, 17, 18 years old. The, um, the episode was called, um, tune in or Dropout or something like La Timothy Leary thing. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But I played a troubled youth who overdosed on drugs and dies, but it was called Headmaster. And we worked together for three or four days. I thought he was great. He was wonderful. Uh, super duper guy. And, uh, you know, I enjoyed his company very much and, and I was a big Andy Griffith fan all the way back to, uh, no time for Sergeants, you know. Wow.

Louise Palanker (18:33):

Yeah. Same.

Fritz Coleman  (18:35):

So let's do a little, your backstory. You were born right here, Englewood, California. So you probably watched the Super Bowl in that beautiful new stadium with great pride. Look at, look what they did to Englewood.

Butch Patrick (18:45):

Yeah. You know, it's funny, my grandmother had a house over in Inglewood at the time, back in the early fifties, late forties. And, um, she, uh, my uncle was a jockey at the Hollywood Park. Wow. So we lived pretty close to Hollywood Park mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, he came up through the ranks, uh, as a bug, uh, bug boy with, uh, Willie Shoemaker. My uncle grew one summer, grew out of being a jockey. Obviously you have to keep a weight. And once he grew up to being five, seven and 130, his jockeying days were over, but he still hung around the track. And my grandmother enjoyed the track. And my other uncle from my, from my dad's side, um, supplied horses to the studio. So I was always around horses and the race track, and I enjoyed it very much. But, um, back then, um, we moved out of Inglewood over to Gardena when I was about in the first grade. And that's pretty much where I grew up as a city called Garino, where they used to have these poker rooms mm-hmm. <affirmative> and Poker Clubs back when there were no, there was no gambling in the LA area in California.

Fritz Coleman  (19:39):

The Bicycles Club, they're still open down there. Not that I know anything

Butch Patrick (19:42):

About Club opened. That was the first club to open when Garina lost the monopoly that they had for about 30 years. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So we lived in Gardena. My dad was a general partner in the Rainbow and the Monterey Club, and I actually worked in the gaming industry off and on. Um, but yeah, that's, that's where I grew up, was Inglewood because of, literally because of Hollywood Park.

Fritz Coleman  (20:03):

Awesome. And, and talk about your discovery and, and the support that your sister gave you. The sort of gave you a gentle loving nudge into the business thinking you had chops.

Butch Patrick (20:14):

You mean when I started working?

Fritz Coleman  (20:15):

Yes. When you, you weren you, you were discovered by somebody from the business as you were walking around town, and then your sister kind of urged you into it.

Butch Patrick (20:25):

Yes. But they, what was going on at the time, uh, a gentleman had that had, uh, his sights on being mayor of Gardena wanted to get an endorsement from my dad or Michelle's dad. And they thought it would be a good idea to maybe put Michelle into some print modeling or get her in the movies, which would make Dave happy. And, you know, this, everybody would be, everybody would, you know, be good. So what happened was, is Mary Grady, who was the first child agency in Hollywood, had just opened the doors and Michelle went up for her photograph for her photo shoot. And I went along with her, and the gentleman's name was Amos Carr. And at the time, Amos Carr was the go-to photographer in Hollywood for all young child actors. He, that was his, that was his strength. So after he was done with Michelle, he said, I like the look of, uh, is it Butch?

(21:09):

And, and my mom goes, yeah, his name is Butch. And she goes, I would like to take a couple photos for him, just for my own files and stuff. And she said that that would be fine. And he took a picture of me with this hat, this kind of this expression that he liked, and he put it in the window of his studio on Hollywood Boulevard. And lo and behold, um, not too long later, uh, not too, not not too much later, a director named, uh, Randy Hood and George w Georgia producer were walking by and still looking to cast the youngest son of this new movie, um, of Eddie Albert and Jane Wyatt called the Two Little Bears. What? Brenda Lee was a 15 year old older sister, uh, SU Sails was the com comic, uh, comic relief cop, and so on in this, I went, I got an interview, they hired me with no experience, and, uh, by the time the six week shoot was up, I had picked up a Calex Cornflakes commercial, and I had picked up a general hospital.

Fritz Coleman  (21:56):

And How old were you at the time?

Butch Patrick (21:58):

Uh, seven. That's

Louise Palanker (22:00):

Just crazy. And how do you remember how it was explained to you, what you were doing and what was expected of you? Because it must have seemed very different from just watching TV where it looks one way and then you go on a set and suddenly it's expected that you're going to perform. Like how was it explained to you?

Butch Patrick (22:17):

I got a very funny story about that. So I'll tell you what happened was, is, uh, when I went back home, Mary called and says they would like to hire Butch. My mom said, you wanna do a movie? And I said, well, you know, um, you know, I make money. And they go, yeah, I get this. You know, I had aspirations of being a race car driver someday. And then I said, do I have to go back to second grade over here? And she goes, no. I go, let's do it.

Louise Palanker (22:37):

<laugh>.

Butch Patrick (22:37):

So I, uh, the funny part about it was, is as I was working on the set, my older brother, who was an experienced kid actor, was kind of picking on me a little bit. And one day he pushed me and I stumbled and I fell into the banister of the, um, of the, of the, of the, of the railing, of the, of the steps. And I knocked my tooth out and I got up and I'm crying, and there's blood and they stop. And I go, actually, I quit. And, and they go, what? And they go, I don't wanna do this anymore. I quit. And they go, well, you can't quit. I go, well, I quit <laugh>. I didn't have a concept of the show must go on. It was like, I'm done. This is not for me <laugh>. So time. So they literally took me out for ice cream and talked me off the ledge and <laugh> took, took Donnie aside and said, if you ever touched that kid again, we'll fire you. <laugh>.

Louise Palanker (23:22):

Who was it? Who was the kid that push you? He's

Fritz Coleman  (23:24):

Your brother. His

Butch Patrick (23:25):

His brother. His, his name was Donnie Carter was his name.

Louise Palanker (23:27):

He played your brother on the, in the movie he

Butch Patrick (23:29):

Played my older brother. Yeah. Yeah,

Louise Palanker (23:30):

Man. All right. We're gonna do a little bit of, uh, TV show roulette, if that's okay. Okay. So some of the shows that Butch has appeared on include General Hospital, the Real McCoy's, my three sons, my favorite Martian, the Munsters, Mr. Ed Gun Smoke Bonanza Raw Hyde, Daniel Boone, the Wonderful World of Disney, the Monkeys Adam 12 Family Affair, the dating game I dream of. Jeanie Lidsville, American Bandstand, the Rose Parade, and Ironside Fritz Hug Go first.

Fritz Coleman  (23:58):

Well, that's what I said earlier. I mean, all these shows that you did guests appearances on The Real McCoy, my three Sons My Favorite Markson, these were all iconic shows of the time period, gun Smoke Bore, a lot of news stars. Uh, uh, Bert Reynolds, I just noticed was on several episodes. Now talk about that experience. That was, I mean, that was like the longest running episodic in the history of television or something.

Butch Patrick (24:23):

Well, I enjoyed doing Western, so I was very happy to Do you know, the Gun Smokes? I did. I did like seven different westerns. But the Gun Smoke was, I was very happy to do, I was a big fan of the show. Uh, at the time I did it, Festus had taken over for Dennis Weaver. Yeah. He was the sidekick or the, or the, uh, the, the deputy. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I remember Ken Curtis from an old series called Ripcord. Oh yeah. There was a thirties that guys would parachute in and, you know, save the Day. And I was really enamored with that. So I was impressed with him being from Rip Court, Uhhuh <affirmative>. Now little did I know, I mean, not to jump too far forward, but little did I know last year I did a appearance at the Roy Rogers Museum and Festival, and the Sons of the Pioneers were performing. Oh, my. Now I had heard of them, but I had no idea that Ken Curtis was once a member of the Sons of the Pioneers. Wow. As a singer. Ken Curtis is their fine, fine singer. Wow. Now I did not know that they're

Fritz Coleman  (25:15):

One of the great harmony groups of all time in the thirties. They had, they and Roy Rogers was, I don't He was their high tenor or something. Yeah. They, they,

Butch Patrick (25:21):

They had hit there and changed his name. Yep, exactly. So Dusty Rogers was there and Doty Rogers was there. But the, the thing with the Ken Curtis connection was I remembered him from something totally different than Festus. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But I did enjoy the show. And, and the one thing I remember the most was Jim Garner. I knew him from the thing. I knew that he was the, the monster in the movie, the thing <laugh>. So it's this six degrees of separation in Hollywood where you really get a chance to see people in another, you know, in another, uh, window or, or, or, or another, uh, look. But the thing about James Garner, he was so darn tall. And I was so short, it was like before Herman Munster. Well, Jim Garner was like the biggest guy I ever worked with. And they had this giant rocking chair for him that I thought was like one of those things maybe you would take photos at when you're a little kid and you plop you up in it.

Louise Palanker (26:06):

It's a lily Tomlin rocking chair. <laugh>.

Butch Patrick (26:08):

Yes, exactly, exactly. Edith Edith's chair.

Louise Palanker (26:12):

Yeah, <laugh>. Wow. That's so cool. I mean, they, they show, they show gun smoke on me tv and if you catch it, I, I didn't appreciate this as a kid. The scripts were really good. It's a well thought out show.

Fritz Coleman  (26:24):

Great morality tales. Yes. Each one. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yep. And Ms. Kitty didn't seem at all like, she seemed like an executive assistant. She didn't seem like the madam of brothel or whatever.

Louise Palanker (26:34):

She had it gone on,

Fritz Coleman  (26:34):

But, but you were talking about height, um, your height and in comparison to Hermann Munster had something to do with you being cast. Am I correct? Because you were so much shorter and he was so much taller and that, and that, that that, uh, the difference made a difference. Also, there's a funny story about, uh, your teeth were sort of canine at the time. <laugh>. So you didn't need prosthetic teeth cuz you actually looked like you had werewolf's teeth.

Butch Patrick (27:02):

No, though my eye teeth stuck straight out and it didn't hurt because I couldn't, you know, like pure, uh, grip, uh, what's the word I'm looking for anyway, I could pinch my mouth and my teeth would still stick out. <laugh> uh, pursed my lips, I guess was the word. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But anyway, uh, yeah, the, the, the height factor with Fred, what happened with the Munsters is like a lot of times kids in a series are more, they're not really considered to be a main character at times. They sort of set up a scene, they come in, situation arises, they leave and the, and the adults then move on with the scene and the kids are sort of seen and at various stages of, uh, importance. But what happened was, for me, they found that I could handle dialogue and they started writing more and more scripts featuring father and son shows mm-hmm. <affirmative>, because Fred was such a great TV dad. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And then they found that it was interesting and fun with the student teacher dynamic to where the seven foot tall, lovable Herman becomes the student and the short younger Eddie becomes the teacher. And they have these conversations to where they allow me to be using big words and spelling things and doing this and doing that where Herman was never considered to be dumb, he was considered to be childlike. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and sweet and, and, and, and, um, naive,

Louise Palanker (28:14):

I guess.

Butch Patrick (28:15):

Yeah, naive would be

Louise Palanker (28:16):

A good word. He was kind of like for Gump where he was e entirely moral, but he wasn't the brightest dad on the block.

Butch Patrick (28:24):

I lucked out because, you know, going back to the, to the question about being short and, and it worked out well because I was small for my age, which is great in Hollywood, but I was also mentally a, a little bit ahead of my time. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So it worked out well that I would, they used to call me a 39 year old, well, today, you're not supposed to say the word, but they called me a 39 year old midget today it would be a little person mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And because they go, there's no way this kid's 11 years old, he's way too wise for his, for his size and his age. So it worked out well. And the fact that I could handle dialogue and do things, I didn't make too many mistakes, which is important in TV production because it's, it's time and it's money. And, and if you do your job well and you're, you know, you know your lives and hit your mark and do your thing, it makes the, uh, the adults respect even more.

Louise Palanker (29:06):

Yeah. Yeah. There, it it's a business. They're running a business. Are you ready to It is to play. Are you ready to play some monster's trivia?

Butch Patrick (29:13):

Oh boy. I hope boy <laugh>. Yeah. I am. But I hope, I hope

Louise Palanker (29:16):

I, uh, and it's okay if you get it wrong cuz I have the answers written down here on my iPad <laugh>. Okay. Um, Marilyn lives with her Uncle Herman and Aunt Lily, who is actually her blood relative. Which one?

Butch Patrick (29:29):

Well li her, her Lily is her

Louise Palanker (29:32):

Aunt. Right. Herman mentions that Marilyn is Lily's sister's child afterwards saying, no one on my side ever looked like <laugh>. That's correct. Marilyn is one of the show's great mysteries. We are never told who her parents are, where they are or why she's normal. I guess it was just like a, you know, kind of a rogue gene that, you know, she inherited. Um, do you wanna ask one Fritz? Do you have these?

Fritz Coleman  (29:59):

Yeah. Um, let's ask one about who played and became a cast member in a, or rather actually starred in a Stephen King movie.

Butch Patrick (30:12):

Well, that would be Fred Gwen in Pet Cemetery.

Fritz Coleman  (30:15):

Got it. Exactly. Got it. The character's name was Judd Crandall.

Louise Palanker (30:18):

Two year two for you're two for,

Butch Patrick (30:20):

Oh. And he buried his pet spot out in the cemetery across the street,

Louise Palanker (30:25):

<laugh>.

Butch Patrick (30:25):

Oh wow. Which was the name of our dragon.

Louise Palanker (30:27):

Yeah, yeah, exactly. <laugh>. Um, when the Rock Group, the Sandels Sought Refuge in the Munsters House, what song did they perform?

Butch Patrick (30:36):

They sang two. They, they did one song called Do the Ringo, and then they sang the Beatles song. I wanna Hold Your Hand

Louise Palanker (30:43):

Absolutely correct The Stand. Well you have a great memory. Yeah. The Sandels were trying to escape from their screaming fans and couldn't find a better place than the Monster's House <laugh>. Do you have one Fritz?

Fritz Coleman  (30:52):

Where was the Munster's home telephone physically located?

Butch Patrick (30:56):

Oh, that's an easy one. That's the upright coffin. But in the, uh, in the hidden panel on the wall by the stairway.

Louise Palanker (31:02):

Right. You pulled a rope and the doors of a coffin would open to make a call. I wonder if it would now be an iPhone that you'd get if you pulled the rope

Fritz Coleman  (31:08):

When grandpa made a potion to help Eddie grow. What did he do instead?

Butch Patrick (31:14):

That's the one where I grew a beard. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>

Louise Palanker (31:16):

<laugh> and a mustache.

Butch Patrick (31:19):

Yeah. Looked like U Ulysses. That's great. <laugh>

Louise Palanker (31:24):

Who played Eddie's favorite television Monster Zobo

Butch Patrick (31:28):

The one and only Louie nine.

Louise Palanker (31:31):

What was that like?

Butch Patrick (31:32):

Wow. Oh, he was great. And you know, it's funny cuz the, uh, the 

Beverly Hillbillys were on a year or two prior to The Monsters and I I I I I knew him as Sunny Drysdale

Louise Palanker (31:44):

<laugh>. That's right. Wow. <laugh> Sunny Drysdale.

Fritz Coleman  (31:48):

I just remember hearing on the Steve Allen show and he didn't even have to say anything and he made me laugh. He was such a funny man.

Butch Patrick (31:54):

So cool. He was, he was, we had, we had a lot of talent come through that guest starred early in their careers. You know, when you look Frank, I mean, to Frank Gors mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, we had Don Rickles, we had Harvey Corman. We, you know, we, we just, we had a ton of people. We were very, very lucky to have a quality laden, uh, guest star list.

Louise Palanker (32:13):

That's so that's what like what a treat for a kid because it, it sounds like you were the type of kid who was appreciative of all the show business history that you were getting to physically, personally enjoy.

Butch Patrick (32:25):

Well, I, I tell people, I go, I was the luckiest kid on the planet because two things were occurring. Number one, it was a great show. And, you know, I got the ride around in the coolest hot Rods <laugh>. And I, I told you earlier, I loved cars and I developed a lifelong friendship with George Baris. But when I had free time, what do kids like to do? They like to go explore. At least I did. And instead of walking down the street looking for a construction site to go climb on, I had the back lot of Universal Studios and every sound stage at my disposal. And I took full advantage of it. And I was very appreciative of the fact that I could go do this because I knew it was special. And I knew when we drove in the front gate, we were going into some, you know, something like a Disneyland of sorts where not everybody was privy to behind the scenes stuff.

Louise Palanker (33:06):

Yeah.

Fritz Coleman  (33:07):

You mentioned George Baris, Baris George, uh, built the Monster Cars mm-hmm. And the Batman cars. And he's at an office right into Luca Lake, like three blocks from my house. And I knew George and just looking in the window of his studio was so much fun. But you continued the tradition with the Monsters cars and don't you own those or did it one time and sort of toured them around the United States?

Butch Patrick (33:30):

I don't own a Baris car. I do own a Monster coach and a Dracula. Um, the Baris cars, the number one is in a museum. Number two is, is still with the family. Number three is in my car club. But the one that I have is a Chevy powered. But it's a very nice car. And I actually enjoy doing a lot of traveling around the country doing automotive events with my cars. And, uh, it's turned out to be something really, really cool. I never became the race car driver I wanted to be, but I haven't had a chance to do a lot of fun stuff of the automotive world.

Louise Palanker (34:01):

Wow. That's really, that's spectacular. I mean it's, it's interesting how all of our gifts and talents and experiences can come together and create these opportunities for us. That's really, that's really wonderful. Now, if, when one research is Butch Patrick on the internet, which I'm sure you've seen, one, one finds an episode of Christina's court within which you are attempting to reclaim your website, monsters.com. Would you like to talk about that?

Butch Patrick (34:29):

Yes. Uh, I was basically introduced to a, a person and we became friends and he was in an IP guy. Um, I'm not, or I wasn't very computer savvy. And unfortunately, uh, once you bring in someone to handle your IP address, you're pretty much beholden to them and they control you and they own it. And it's very difficult to recover it back if they choose to not wanna give it back. And that's what happened. And we obviously, the friendship went out the window and, uh, he, I had pretty much to resigned myself that I was never gonna get it. And I guess these court shows look for interesting cases to bring on camera that, that would be entertaining to their fan base and their audience. So I was contacted and they said, if you come on courtroom with us, we'll, um, you know, we'll F foot the bill and we'll make sure you get it back.

(35:17):

And whether you're the plaintiff or the defendant, you know, this or that. And the, the guy that took it, Mr. Mickey Keets flip-flopped twice of whether he wanted to be the defendant or the plaintiff. And I said, I don't really care. I can play both sides. I I'm just gonna go up and tell the truth and get my, get my website back. Which we did. Yeah. And it was, uh, it was an interesting little, uh, they actually had us fly on the same plane together too, which was kind of a weird <laugh>. Wow. You know, they didn't think that one through. So I was like two rows behind him. I couldn't believe he was on the plane with me. It was like, oh my God. But it all worked out for the best

Louise Palanker (35:48):

When you got your website back. So when we go on Monsters monsters.com, what do we find there? Oh

Butch Patrick (35:53):

Yeah, it's just, it's just basically, uh, it, it has my schedule, my store, um, stories about the cast. It's just everything that you would like to know about monsters if you really wanna do get into it more. Cause I have a official Monsters fan group that now has 51,000 members.

Louise Palanker (36:08):

Wow.

Butch Patrick (36:09):

Yeah. It's growing. It grows exponential. And then now also Rob Zombie is making the new Monster movie, as you may know. And that's causing a lot of excitement to a lot of people. I actually know Rob very well. And, um, it's, I think it's gonna be really good. And I'm really happy that, uh, when it comes out, I think people are gonna be really pleasantly surprised. Cause I know they're, they're wondering how it's going to be seen and received because of Rob's, you know, the style of his movies. But I can tell you that this is, this is gonna be fine. It's gonna be very good.

Fritz Coleman  (36:39):

Have you shot it yet?

Butch Patrick (36:41):

Uh, I'm not involved in the movie. I'm not, I'm not in it, but, but I have seen, um, a little bit of the trailers and stuff. Yeah. Oh,

Louise Palanker (36:49):

So what's the tone? What can you tell us?

Butch Patrick (36:51):

I can't tell you.

Louise Palanker (36:52):

Okay, got it. I'm gonna talk a little bit about your book. You have, you have a few books. You have a, uh, it, it's not a coffee table book. It's a coffin table book. Tell us about that.

Butch Patrick (37:03):

Um, in, in 2013, uh, the, the Munsters was coming up on a 50th anniversary of September 24th, 2014. So I decided, as I sat at tables at conventions and I met people, I always was inspired by how much the show had meant to so many people. And they watched tv. They were, they were you, you had this extended family around the country that I never was aware of. And they always had these very heartwarming stories about what the show meant to them watching it with a favorite uncle or a, or a mom or a grandmother. That style passed. And I just decided that if I just take these stories and put 'em into a book form, it would make an interesting book. And then hence the name Munster Memories. But I also then sought out people that were involved with the show that were still alive. Um, got stories from them, put in my own 2 cents here and there.

(37:51):

And then I also got the Munster Super Collectors because the toys and the memorabilia, um, market is so big and the Munsters is one of the more, um, collectible groups of, of, uh, of me of TV merchandise and memorabilia up there with Star Trek. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> and for a movie, star Wars. But for tv, it's Star Trek and the Munsters. Wow. And I kind of mushed them all together into a book form. And it came out September 24th, 2014 to the day, 50 years to the day of the, of the Premier of the year. And I only made a hundred of 'em. And they're very hardcover rectangular. And I made a hundred of 'em for the, for the hardcore collectors, which everybody loved it. And then I made a paperback version that I've been selling ever since. Now

Fritz Coleman  (38:28):

Here's a really personal and inappropriate question for you, Butch. Do you still participate in the sale of Monster's memorabilia as a character,

Butch Patrick (38:38):

What I do is when I go on con, when I go out on conventions or I take my cars on the road, I, uh, a friend of mine with Rock Rebel Shop has the licensing of the Munsters t-shirts and this and that. So what I do is I buy Munster memorabilia and merchandise from them, and then I will resell it at my table autographed and not autographed and this and that. And I do have, I have a line of coffee. I have, uh, the book, I have the D v d oh Rob Zombie and I did commentary on the Munster Go Home, Blu-Ray recently. So at my table, I've got about 12 or 14 different items when I go out as opposed to just eight by 10 photos. Oh, cool.

Louise Palanker (39:14):

That's good. And do you have your book too? You have, uh, your book is called Eddie Munster, aka a Butch Patrick. The Untold Story of his Early Hollywood, A Coulda, shoulda Years,

Butch Patrick (39:23):

That book I do not, uh, participate in anymore. Right. That was written by a Helen Darris, who at the time, back in the 2005 2006 region, she offered to write a book, which she did. And we went around the country occasionally, we have since Parted Ways back in 2000, I think about eight. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, she has the book. I occasionally see it come across my table with her signature. I sign it. But I'm no, uh, that's, that's something that I'm not associated with.

Louise Palanker (39:50):

Okay. Would, would you wanna tell your story in a way that that felt kind of organic to you in, in some sort of book form?

Butch Patrick (39:58):

Well, I'm going to some time. Uh, it takes a lot. There's a lot of work involved in doing a book. Oh yeah. I was really not aware of, of what really went, went into it. And Kevin Burns, who recently passed away, who was a very dear friend, but he was also a major monster collector and a producer with Prometheus films and Prometheus production, excuse me. And he passed away a couple years ago. But he told me, he goes, you need to do a real book about you now. He goes, because you may or may not know I I survived cancer, I'm 11 years sober. I had a 41 year run with alcohol and drugs through the sixties, seventies, eighties. And he says now, he goes, you've come so far and you've done so well that I think people would be, you know, you, it could be beneficial. Your life story, uh, could help a lot of people. So I may wind up doing it, but right now, um, it's not in the cards cuz it just requires so much work.

Louise Palanker (40:46):

Got it. Got it. Got

Fritz Coleman  (40:47):

It. Uh, I, I wanna talk about that Butch, I and, and I want to connect your sobriety, congratulations mm-hmm. On that mm-hmm. <affirmative> with the whole universe of being a child star. And I, I know you must have some recommendations for the parents of children who might be launching on a Hollywood career and things, a cautionary items to look out for. And, uh, you made a really interesting comment. Uh, uh, you know, you, you had stopped some of your major acting by the time you were still a young person and ibid in drugs and alcohol, but there was not only the Hollywood syndrome that got you into that, it was the time and that behavior was accepted. So it made it harder not to do it.

Butch Patrick (41:32):

Well, Paul Peterson, uh, who formed a minor consideration mm-hmm. <affirmative> was a child actor, musketeer and, uh, dear friend, but he, um, saw when Rusty Hamer, his dear friend, died from the Danny Thomas show, he decided to open a minor consideration to help other kid actors, ex kid actors current and passed who might be in trouble. Um, so what happened was, I actually toured around with a, a woman named Julie Matthews, who had a company called How to Get in the Show Business the Right Way. And a lot of it had to do with, because I was a child actor, and now I was an adult directing these screen tests, I met a lot of kids with their parents and, you know, and the, the, the dynamic of the, the child parent relationship, and I guess I was qualified to speak to both of them. And what I told them was, I go, the hardest part was to see a ch a kid that really didn't have the talent, but had the desire, but they didn't have the talent.

(42:27):

It wasn't gonna happen for 'em. And it's, and you don't wanna break their heart and you don't wanna crush their dreams, but at the same time, you don't wanna instill a social sense of false hope and, and have them just be, it's a, it can be difficult to be rejected over and over and over and over. And if they're not gonna make it. So I came up with this thing that seemed to work, and what I did was, I said, as long as you're getting into acting and you're doing it for the right reasons, for its enjoyment and everything, and you know, it'll help you in whatever walk of life you decide to go into, your communication skills and your social skills will all benefit from what you're doing right now. But like a football player or a high school star, there's a good chance you may not make it.

(43:04):

There's probably a very good chance you're not gonna make it to the, uh, chelon, but as long as you're happy doing it for the right reasons, it's a great thing to do. But if you're determined to be in the movie industry, if that's what you, if that's what you wanna do, my recommendation is find out what you're good at. Go to a movie and look at all those thousands of names at the end of the credits. Yeah. And find one of those things and pursue that because you'll get two things. You'll be in the movie industry, you'll be making a paycheck, you'll be getting good benefits, and you'll have job security. And as long as you don't have to be in front of the camera, that's what I would recommend you do. I love that. And do it for the right

Louise Palanker (43:40):

Reasons. That's amazing because it that that there's no exposure. There's no representation that, you know, kids watch all kinds of media and now kids are not only watching media, they're all in front of the camera because everyone has a television studio in their pocket. So, you know, you've got kids who are who, who are longing for that attention because all humans long to be, to notice or to be appreciated and to be of value.

Butch Patrick (44:05):

So. Well, and there's also, there's also one other thing that I don't, I've never played video games in my life. I was a pinball guy, a pool, you know, pool table that darts, but I never was a video gamer. But now the video game industry has surpassed the revenues for studios of the movies. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. So there's also that world, that whole world for kids that they wanna get into something that would be entertaining and fun and edgy and, and good. There's another horizon that I don't even know anything about, but I do know this, the, the downside of the industry wasn't really the industry because the industry's pretty much the same. It's the rules of engagement are still there. I noticed most, it's not for everybody, it's a case by case situation, but I noticed most of the difficulties that kids had could come from the home life because a lot of people aren't prepared to know.

(44:49):

They just see the kid going to work. Well, one of the, one of the parents has to take the kid to work that separates somebody at home. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, the other kids at home can possibly get jealous and envious. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, it can cause problems with money. It can cause problems with someone's, you know, away from the house or they're not doing what they used to do, and then they gotta bring in a third party. There's a lot of contributing factors that's not all rosy to one kid becoming a movie star. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, the rest of the family has to adjust to it, and sometimes it doesn't work that well. And then there's a lot of stage moms or stage aunts or stage cousins who are trying to give advice to a kid who's trying to appease them while still trying to appease the director. Oh. And he gets caught in the crossfire.

Louise Palanker (45:29):

Right. And then there's that whole power dynamic shift where the mom could say, you're not going to that party. And the kid could say, I, I'm, I'm wondering who just paid the mortgage because I think it was me.

Butch Patrick (45:39):

Well, and then, and then add also to the period of the sixties, you know, you gotta understand, Paul Peterson said it best. He says, you know, everybody wanted to be your friend. Nobody told Elvis snow, nobody told Michael Jackson. No. Nobody told any movie star. No. Because they wanted to be their friend mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And they didn't want to possibly say something that would alienate them and, and, and make them not be privy to it, unfortunately. But growing up in the sixties in Hollywood, if you wanted to go out and ha I mean, I would've partied whether it was, uh, whether I was an actor or not. Mm-hmm. I, I couldn't wait to go to Woodstock and I couldn't wait to smoke a joint. I mean, that was mo that was my calling. I happened to be alive in the sixties and I happened to have access to this stuff because of Hollywood. But I would've found it out. So I would've found it somewhere else. I just happened to enjoy that and I did it well. And for me, I wanted to be accepted by my peers. And for me to do that was to have a cool car and throw parties and invite people over to my house. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> because I wanted to be accepted. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> as a regular guy.

Louise Palanker (46:34):

Who was it that you knew you could depend on to speak to and tell you the truth?

Butch Patrick (46:39):

Who did I, who did I go to to tell me the truth?

Louise Palanker (46:41):

Yeah. Was there anyone?

Butch Patrick (46:44):

I didn't really ha I mean, I was, I would, I'm kind of naive. I was pretty much thinking everybody was telling me the truth. I was just not, not very, uh, worldly. I had grown up in a, you know, I was on my own. Um, when I was 16 years old, I went up for an interview for a friend. I drove a friend to an interview. When he came out, the producer spotted me and I went in for the interview and they went, I wound up getting the part mm-hmm. <affirmative>. But what happened was, three days later, I'm in Brazil with no teacher. Wow. No, no teacher, no parent. All I had to do was show up for work. I'm there for three months. And, um, that was when my sister likes to stay at my trip meetings. He left as Richie Cunningham and he came back as John Lennon

Louise Palanker (47:20):

<laugh>

Butch Patrick (47:22):

Because in Brazil, if you have money and, and you're professional and you're working, you can do whatever you want. And, you know, within two months, I three different businesses going in the hotel, I would go in the American naval ships, I'd come off with cigarettes beneath all my candy, and I'm selling cigarettes on the black market. I'm doing a currency exchange in the bar at night because I got all these American money and I got all this Brazilian contos. And then I also found a, a cab that was giving me marijuana. So I had a marijuana thing going in the hotel, and I'm saw you

Fritz Coleman  (47:49):

Were an entrepreneur.

Louise Palanker (47:50):

There's nothing wrong. He was doing everything but selling turkeys for Walter Brennan.

Butch Patrick (47:53):

Yeah, exactly. Exactly.

Fritz Coleman  (47:55):

Yeah. And speaking of Walter Brennan, and speaking of him winning three supporting actor awards, you worked with another bonafide star who had a sort of a sad conclusion to her life, and that's Yvon DeCarlo. Talk about Herb. She was a bonafide star before she ever did the monsters.

Butch Patrick (48:12):

Yvonne was a huge star. She actually brought a lot of star power to the, to the, to the show. She dropped into television before it was fashionable, you know, before Elizabeth Taylor did General Hospital. So Yvonne, um, her husband, uh, at the time had been seriously, seriously hurt in a stunt gone wrong. He was a stunt man, and his insurance didn't cover it. So she basically spent all of her money and savings for his medical bills and took the role of Lil Munster to, uh, have a paycheck. Mm-hmm. Fred and Al Herman and grandpa thought it was a bad choice. They thought she couldn't do comedy. And, uh, as it turned out, it was a wonderful choice. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And she brought not only star power, she brought comedy and she brought a presence to, uh, the household as Lily Munster, you know, was the matriarch of the Munster Mansion. And, uh, later, and there

Fritz Coleman  (48:55):

Was a dark section about

Butch Patrick (48:56):

Her. It was later in her years, later in her years, she, she had, uh, she was kind of a lived by herself up in, uh, up in, uh, above Santa Maria and o a Po. A Palm, a Palma, I think it was called. And, um, I became friends with her. We met at the Vicky, we met again on the Vicky Lawrence show. I was a surprise guest for her. Oh. And once we met, we connected and we started talking and chatting. And, um, during the rest, the later years of her life, Kevin Burns, who I spoke of earlier, got her into the motion picture home where she lived out her life in very, very good comfort amongst, uh, her fans and friends. Oh,

Fritz Coleman  (49:30):

That's, so I'm glad to hear that because, you know, the, the conventional wisdom online is that she was a total recluse and separated from most people. I'm glad to hear that.

Louise Palanker (49:40):

And you also re, you know, you were able to renew your relationship with Al Lewis as well, weren't you?

Butch Patrick (49:45):

Well, Al Lewis, yes. What happened was, is, uh, when they did the Munsters Revenge, I was like 28 years old, and they were filming in Culver City. I hadn't spoken to anybody from the show in 15 years. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And a friend of mine had a business. He goes, Butch, they're filming the Munsters right across the street. I go, get outta here. And they go, no, I'm seriously. So I drove down there and I look over, I go, well, I'll be damned. There they are. So I snuck over and went right up in front of Fred and Allen caught him by surprise. Fred never op Fred never opened his eyes. He, he, he knew my voice and Al was all excited to meet me again. So we reconnected when I did Eddie and The Monsters, uh, which was the band that I had, when M T V came on the air, I recruited Al to help me do some marketing and promotion, which he obliged me. And that was right when conventions were starting to happen and comic Cons were starting to fire up. And Al and I started doing personal appearances. And then we recruited Pat Priest, Marilyn Munster mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And, um, we became buddies and saw each other several times a year.

Louise Palanker (50:41):

That's cool. Now, I don't know if you wanna talk about this or not, but according to the internet, you were recently testifying at a murder trial.

Butch Patrick (50:50):

Yeah, it was, it was basically, uh, a place called Monster Hall that I had been visiting, and there was a murder. I wasn't there, but the person who was accused of doing it was trying to deflect blame. I went up, I appeared that was, they never thought I was doing it, that I went through the formalities and, uh, yeah, I went up and they were convicted, and I was, um, I don't know. I wasn't really charged. So it's not being acquitted, it was just, I was a witness that mm-hmm. <affirmative>, um, TE testified,

Louise Palanker (51:15):

I think what they did, what did defense attorneys tried to do is just throw a bunch of like, dust up in the air to confuse the jury. Yeah,

Butch Patrick (51:21):

Yeah,

Fritz Coleman  (51:21):

Exactly. And, you know, uh, that was one of those examples of criminal trials where even though, uh, that could have been disaster for your career and your character, you can't sue <laugh> when, when any of that stuff comes up at a criminal trial is against the law to sue. But I thought, man, I mean, you were somebody with public notoriety that could have been really damaging your career. But was it

Butch Patrick (51:42):

Actually did I was, it was in, in, uh, it was a 16 year old case and eight years ago I was two hours away from a business meeting to lock up an entire month in Long Island at a theme park to do a Halloween special, take the park over a big paycheck too. Two hours before they call me, they go, have you seen The Enquirer? I go, no. And I looked it up and it said, murder monster, monster Murder, bombshell, uh, monster Hall, Butch Patrick accused the murder. And it was like, oh my God, you know? And, um, they said, we, you know, we don't have any problem with you, but we can't move forward with this. It's a public park, and unfortunately it's bad press. And that old, that old adage all, all, you know, there's no such bad press. Well, there is bad press. And that was a part

Louise Palanker (52:23):

Of it. There is. Wow. Okay. What would Eddie Mun be doing today?

Butch Patrick (52:29):

It's, I'm glad you asked that. I, uh, last year I had a really good time touring the country with my monster coach. And I went to, uh, did some great stuff in Detroit and I was on my way to Myrtle Beach. And in the middle there is a wonderful 96 year old theme park called Indiana Beach on Lake Schaffer above Indianapolis. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, uh, the gentleman had come to see me, who, uh, runs Park Promotions and hired me to come through to bring my monster coach and do meet and greets and meet people at Halloween. So I showed up at the park, I fell in love with it there in the po in the process, it was going to be demolished. And a local businessman came in at the last minute, in the 11th hour and saved it. So this was the first year they were open since the pandemic, and they, it was gonna be demolished.

(53:15):

So I became friends with the, uh, the powers that be the owner and the marketing people. And I'm now going to reside there and take up and do park promotions, specialty promotions in the ballroom that used to have big bands, and it had rock stars, and it had, I mean, the who played there and, and, uh, and Alice Cooper and the Beach Boys and Harry James and all this musical ballroom for the last 50 years is a zu of music. So we're going to recreate a nostalgic feel to this park with musical acts in the ballroom. I'm putting my Munster cars on display, my Munster Museum and collectibles, and we're going to, uh, bring in other celebrities like myself to do conventions. And I'm going to be in charge of all specialty, uh, park promotions featuring celebrities.

Louise Palanker (54:00):

That's real. That really suits you because you're, it does, you're a social guy, but you're very, very good at hosting. You have a great demeanor. You're very calm and relaxed in, in front of a camera, in front of people, you know, and it's, it's engaging and people warm to that and that that's exactly what you should be doing.

Butch Patrick (54:17):

I am so, I'm so excited. It's like, it's like the perfect job. I've been marketing all my life because people have been hiring me to do stuff, and I've been used as a tool in marketing, and now I have a chance to basically, um, use all my talents and all my connections and all my friends to come to this wonderful, family friendly, affordable theme park. It's, I couldn't be happier.

Louise Palanker (54:35):

Congratulations. That sounds wonderful. Do you have any follow up questions?

Fritz Coleman  (54:40):

I don't, for our witness, I'm just, uh, I love to meet childhood heroes and it just makes me feel older than I am.

Louise Palanker (54:47):

No,

Butch Patrick (54:47):

You're, well, you know, Fritz, I feel I like I know you cuz I've been, you know, getting my weather from you forever.

Fritz Coleman  (54:52):

I know it well, I appreciate that very much. It's a mutual admiration society, and I just, uh, I I have so much respect for, you know, there there are nightmare stories of child stars that don't come out the other end of the tunnel as successfully as you did. You got sober, you've got a great attitude. Your personality is, uh, unfazed. And I, uh, it's just a pleasure to get to know you.

Butch Patrick (55:18):

Yeah. Well, thank you. This has been a wonderful interview and you know, I'm sorry it's taking place under such tumultuous world issues, but I'm, you know, I'm happy to have been here and I really appreciate it. Thank you. Nice.

Louise Palanker (55:29):

All right. Tell us where we can find you online. Remind us about the groups that people can join and where they can find you on Twitter. And we're gonna include links in our show notes for everybody, in case they don't wanna pull over to the side of the road and write these things down.

Butch Patrick (55:40):

Yes. Um, I, I, well, I thought I had sent it to you, but if not, it's BP Munster on Twitter. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, it's lower slash the lower slash real lower slash butch, lower slash patrick lower slash uh, on Instagram and Facebook. You'll have to sort of look for the, the picture with me at the Daytona Beach start finish line with all my cars. And then the other one is a Manhattan Beach Sunset, because there's about five of 'em that I'm not. And, uh, and then the official Monsters Fan group, but you can always find me on Gmail just through monsters.com, which is make it so simple.

Louise Palanker (56:13):

Yeah, it really does. And we're gonna have all the links in our show notes, and we just wanna thank you so much for joining us. Come in person next time, and we, we can, uh, you can bring us a, a lunchbox or I'll send away for one on the eBay and you can sign it for us, and that would be awesome. I'll

Butch Patrick (56:26):

Send you a little, I'll send you a little, uh, live park video from when I get to Indiana Beach to say hello.

Louise Palanker (56:31):

Please. Nice. And we'll come visit you there.

Butch Patrick (56:34):

That would be awesome.

Louise Palanker (56:35):

That sounds wonderful. You're always welcome. All right. Here comes, Fritz is gonna tell people how they can help us by reviewing our wonderful podcast.

Fritz Coleman  (56:40):

We're trying to spread the word. I mean, come on. We, we have iconic television guests, like books Patrick on here. And we have what I think 88 episodes to

Louise Palanker (56:50):

Choose from. This is 85, 85. No, this is 86 86

Fritz Coleman  (56:53):

Episodes to choose from. If you go to media path podcast.com, you'll find us, and it's important for you to watch a couple of episodes and become part of the family and then send a review out, because we need to spread the word about this. We're very proud of our shows. We have an eclectic group of guests, we have authors, we have TV stars, we have movie stars, we have Nair Do Wells, we have indigent people, we have all kinds of people. But we need to get your review to spread the word.

Louise Palanker (57:18):

Yes. And we would love for you to join us online on Instagram and Twitter, where we are at Media Path Pod and on Facebook where our show page is, media Path Podcasts. And our Facebook group is Media Path with Fritz and Weezy podcast community. You can find full episodes with all kinds of bonus visual content on our YouTube channel Media Path Podcasts. We would love to know what media you have been enjoying. You can contact us at our social media or email us at Media Path podcast@gmail.com. We want to thank our wonderfully entertaining guest, Butch Patrick. Our team includes Dina Friedman, Francesco Desmond, John Maddox, Sharon Beo, bill Fiac, Thomas Hubble, Mason Brown, and you. Our theme music is by me and John Maddox. I am Louise Planer here with Fritz Coleman and Butch Patrick. And we will see you along the media path.