Ever look at a black-and-white photo and try to imagine the actual colors? Most people assume Herman Munster was a standard, swampy green. You know, like the Universal Monster he was parodying. But the truth is a lot weirder. If you walked onto the set of The Munsters in 1964, you wouldn’t have seen a green man. You would have seen a giant, 6-foot-9-inch man painted bright, vibrant violet.
It sounds like a prank. It wasn't.
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Television in the mid-sixties was a transition zone. Most families still had chunky monochrome sets, but the industry knew color was coming. However, shooting a sitcom in color was expensive—about $10,000 more per episode, which was a fortune back then. So, CBS kept 1313 Mockingbird Lane in black and white. This decision created a massive headache for the makeup department.
The Purple Problem
Karl Silvera, the makeup artist tasked with transforming Fred Gwynne, had a specific goal. He needed Herman’s skin to look "dead and pasty" on screen. If they used normal flesh tones, Herman just looked like a tall guy with a flat head. If they used green, it didn't always translate to the right shade of grey.
The solution? Violet greasepaint.
Basically, the violet picked up the studio lights in a way that rendered as a ghostly, shimmering pale grey on black-and-white film. It gave him that "reanimated" glow. It also made his eyes look sunken and his features more prominent. Fred Gwynne sat in a chair for three hours every morning to get slathered in this purple gunk. Then he’d put on 40 to 50 pounds of padding and four-inch asphalt-spreader boots.
By lunch, he was usually miserable. The greasepaint didn't breathe. Gwynne lost weight constantly from sweating under the hot lights, and they actually had to install an air compressor to blow cool air under his costume between takes just to keep him from passing out.
Herman Munster in Color: The Technicolor Shock
While the show stayed monochrome, fans finally got to see the "real" Herman in 1966. Munster, Go Home! was the family's first jump to the big screen. It was filmed in Technicolor.
Suddenly, the secret was out. But here’s the kicker: they didn’t keep him purple for the movie.
For the theatrical release, the makeup team shifted gears. Seeing a purple man on a giant cinema screen might have been a bit too much for 1960s audiences to handle. Instead, they leaned into a sickly blue-green palette. If you watch the film today, Herman looks strikingly different than he does in your memory of the TV show. He’s green, yeah, but it’s a weird, dusty teal.
Yvonne De Carlo, who played Lily, famously hated the color transition. She felt the bright greens and reds of the film makeup made the cast look "ugly" compared to the high-contrast glamour of the black-and-white series. She wasn't entirely wrong. Black and white hides a lot of seams. Color reveals everything—the latex lines, the heavy spirit gum, and the thickness of the paint.
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The 1981 Shift
Years later, the original cast reunited for The Munsters' Revenge. By 1981, makeup technology had evolved. They weren't using the same heavy greasepaints from the sixties. Herman’s look in this TV movie is much more "natural," if you can call a Frankenstein monster natural. The green is more subdued, less "radioactive," and fits the softer lighting of 80s television.
It’s a far cry from the unaired 1964 pilot.
Wait—there was a color pilot? Honestly, it’s the "holy grail" for fans. Titled My Fair Munster, it was shot in full color to sell the show to the network. In this version, Herman's makeup is much more primitive. He looks less like the lovable goof we know and more like a rough draft. The skin tone is a muddy greenish-brown. CBS saw it and told the creators to tone down the "scary" and ramp up the "sitcom."
Why the Color Debate Still Matters
You might wonder why people still argue about Herman's "true" color in fan forums. It’s because the color defines the era.
- The B&W Purists: They argue Herman was never meant to be seen in color. The shadows and highlights of the monochrome film created a texture that color destroys.
- The Technicolor Fans: They love the campiness of the 1966 film. To them, the blue-green skin is the definitive "monster" look.
- The Digital Colorizers: Modern artists like Zachary Smothers have spent hundreds of hours digitally colorizing old episodes. They use the "purple" fact as a baseline, trying to recreate what the set actually looked like in 1964.
The Actionable Insight for Fans
If you want to experience Herman Munster in color the right way, don't just look at a random Google Image search. Most of those are modern fan edits that just slap a "Hulk green" filter over him.
Instead, track down a high-definition copy of Munster, Go Home! Pay close attention to the scene where Herman is racing the DRAG-U-LA. You’ll see the way the natural sunlight hits the makeup. It’s not just one flat color. There are layers of blue, yellow, and even some of that original purple hidden in the shadows of his prosthetic forehead.
Next Step: Watch the original 1964 color pilot (it’s available on various DVD collections and some streaming "extras" sections). Compare that muddy, early makeup to the refined "Technicolor" green of the 1966 movie. It’s a masterclass in how Hollywood learned to handle monsters when the lights got brighter and the film got more colorful.