An interview with Butch Patrick of The Munsters ahead of the Rob Zombie remake

When it comes to horror royalty, there are a few names that spring to mind. One of those is Butch Patrick.  He is most well-known for his portrayal of Eddie Munster in the show that ran for 71 episodes between 1965-1966, along with a movie Munster, Go Home! 

Since then, he has still continued to act in smaller roles and is a major draw at comic conventions. This week, we in KC are lucky enough to have not one but two events to come out and meet Butch. 

Today he will be at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Lawrence, KS from 5-8pm. Autographs will be available for $30. Then tomorrow, he will be at the B&B Theater in Shawnee to host a special screening of Munster, Go Home!

Rob Zombie’s reboot of The Munsters is now available to purchase on DVD and streaming on Netflix.

Last night, we were able to chat with Butch via telephone and get all the details.

The Pitch: Talk a little about the event at 1313 Mockingbird Lane and how you got to know [store owner] Terry Taylor and his wife Liz.

Butch Patrick: Terry and Liz reached out to me and they have this wonderful little shop called 1313 Mockingbird Lane which obviously is Munster inspired and got my attention. At the time I had a house in Missouri and friends in Lawrence and I’d spend some time in Kansas City. So I was in the general area and they had me come to the shop. It was before they moved to the bigger shop which before was very tiny,Four or five people at a time could come in. So we just kept in contact. They reached out to me. They knew I was going to be in the area filming a couple scenes for a movie on Wednesday and as long as I was going to be in the area, they offered to have me come into the show which I love to do. I’m not bringing the cars, it’s just me driving up in a rental car. So I’m filming Wednesday then I’m doing the B&B Theaters screening. So it’s a three pronged visit: a signing, a screening and a couple scenes in a movie.

We saw you have a couple projects coming up: River Beauty, Old Man Jackson, and hottotyslrd.666.

These are examples of what I’m doing Wednesday. People reach out to me. They have movies. They have aspirations, you know, low budget films and I enjoy helping people achieve their dreams who were kind enough to write me into their movie. And if I’m free to do it and the subject matter is something that isn’t off-color or derogatory to the Munster Family Values thing. It’s not squeaky clean but at the same time I stay away from certain subject matter. And these are all fine, interesting little things to do and it’s my way…#1 it’s fun and #2 It’s kind of a way to give back to the industry.

You’ve got a lot of random credits from over the years, including General Hospital!

Yeah, I keep a little sheet on my table now so if people ask, instead of me explaining to them…I don’t want to be rude but I don’t want to keep running down the list. I printed it out and I hand it to them to look at and they’re always like, very, you know, “these are some of my favorite shows!”

I wanted to talk to you a little bit about today’s DVD release of Rob Zombie’s The Munsters. Do you voice the character of the Tin Can Man?

Yes, that is correct.

Photo by Anna Perry-Rushton

Did you have to go overseas to film or did they have you do it in a studio?

I did it in Hollywood.

We’re really glad you will be here on release day too because you know, just a reboot in general, people are just like “I don’t know about that” but we know Rob Zombie has poured his heart into this and what a big fan he is. We saw the video you guys made where you took him for a ride in the Munster car and he just looked like a kid in a candy store.

He and I, you know, he responded of course. I saw him about a month ago. I was in Indianapolis doing Days of the Dead and they [Rob Zombie’s band] were playing about half an hour away. Danny Roebuck, who plays Grandpa in the movie, and I went to the show with my girlfriend and his wife Tammy. And we went backstage and Sherri Moon was there.

So the B&B event is going to be a Q&A along with screening the movie, correct?

Yes. Whenever I get in the area we try to maximize it. They were really happy with the movie last year and they asked if I’d be willing to do it again and I said of course. I just didn’t want it to conflict with Terry and Liz so I’m not selling anything at the B&B, just posing for photos. The sales will be at 1313 Mockingbird Lane which gives Terry kind of an exclusive on that.

I was wondering if you had ever seen the Mockingbird Lane TV show that NBC cancelled?

Yeah, I’ll send you a photo of me on set.

I went to the set but I actually introduced it at San Diego Comic-Con with Bryan Fuller and Bryan Singer. Bryan is an X-Men director and Bryan Fuller, who did Dead Like Me and Pushing Daisies, you know, real A-listers, big time. I’m really surprised it didn’t get picked up.