Yvonne De Carlo (September 1, 1922 – January 8, 2007) was a Canadian-born American film and television actress, dancer and singer. In her six-decade career, her most prolific appearances in film came in the 1940s and 1950s and included her best-known film roles, such as Salome Where She Danced and The Ten Commandments, opposite Charlton Heston. In the 1960s, she gained a whole new generation of fans, playing "Lily Munster" on CBS television series The Munsters, opposite Fred Gwynne.

The daughter of an aspiring actress, Marie De Carlo, and a salesman, William Middleton, De Carlo was born Margaret Yvonne Middleton in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. "I was named Margaret Yvonne - Margaret because my mother was very fond of one of the derivatives of the name. She was fascinated at the time by the movie star Baby Peggy, and I suppose she wanted a Baby Peggy of her own." Her maternal grandfather, Michael de Carlo, was Sicilian-born, and her maternal grandmother, Margaret Purvis, was Scottish-born. Margaret's mother ran away from home, when she was 16 to become a ballerina, after a couple of years working as a shop girl, she was finally married in 1924. Little Margaret was just a toddler when her father beat a hasty departure only one step ahead of the law. Her father abandoned her family when she was 3. While her mother was away with her boyfriends, Margaret lived with her grandparents. She found a secure spot with them; however, she wanted some attention, very desperately. The little girl inherited her mother's personality. By the time she entered grade school, she found that her strong singing voice brought her the attention she longed for. Although her mother recognized Margaret's talent for singing, she had decided long ago that any daughter of hers would be a dancer. As a teenager, “Peggy” was taken by her mother to Hollywood where she enrolled her in dancing school, also attending Le Conte Middle School in Hollywood. Margaret also lived in a downtown apartment, with her mother, where Marie took on odd jobs such as a waitress. Margaret was uprooted again when her Visa expired, she would have to make three trips, the first of which is from Los Angeles, California to Vancouver, within a few years, where she and her mother both returned, because she was unable to find work. Despite of all the traveling she went to, her ballet had already continued. It was also noted that her body was also not supple enough to withstand the rigors of ballet.

She attended and dropped out of Vancouver's now-defunct King Edward High School, to focus more on her dance studies. She then attended the B.C. School of Dancing. It was there that Canadian dance instructor, June Roper, started her in a new direction, for which she was grateful and relieved. The following year at the Orpheum Theatre, Margaret appeared as a hula dancer in the famous revue Waikiki. When she was 17, Margaret had become a graceful young woman. A new nightclub, the Palomar had opened in Vancouver, and she acquired a week long booking. Hoping to present more sophisticated image, she combined her middle name with her mother's maiden name, which turned out to be Yvonne De Carlo.