Butch Patrick | From Alcoholic & Partying Child Star of The Munsters to Motivational Speaker & Recovery Advocate

<p>Beginning his professional acting career at the age of seven, Butch Patrick is perhaps best known for his role as child werewolf Eddie Munster on the CBS comedy television series The Munsters from 1964 to 1966. His uncle John was a horse supplier to Hollywood Studios, and his cousin was Zorro's stunt double. This was his connection to get started in the industry. His mother & father were warm & loving, social drinkers. Typical 50's entertaining family, with light weekend partying at the house. This atmosphere would eventually spark his partying lifestyle that would take over his adolescent years.</p> <p>Eventually, his parents divorced and didn't have the father figure he needed for the discipline and structure in his life. He wanted to act temporarily to raise money for what he thought he really wanted to do in life, which was race cars. He didn't consider himself an actor, but acting just as a way of making side money. He felt he was one of the rare young Hollywood actors that actually had a pretty regular life with regular friends, and the Hollywood stuff was just a job to him.</p> <p>When he turned 16, he got his driver's license, and he was swept up in the 60's counter-culture & drug exploration. He hosted huge lavish parties that had the elite of Hollywood in attendance practically every week. He explained that no one ever told the Hollywood stars, child stars & musicians "NO!" when they were drinking and partying in excess. This quickly spiraled out of control into heavy drug and alcohol abuse. There was a point where he didn't even want acting gigs at all, he just wanted to go to the beach, race cars & do drugs. Eventually, he used so much that he had to turn into a dealer to offset his habit. He would get a rush flying under the radar with his partying lifestyle, it would justify his way of living to himself.</p> <p>There was a point where it all came crashing down, around the age of 40 he realized that he was not only hurting himself but hurting others. He thought about the fact that he was drinki