Nina Shipman, a character actress who came from a prominent show business family to star in “The Oregon Trail” and played a memorable role in an episode of the 1960s comedy “The Munsters,” died on Sept. 6. She was 88.
Shipman died of natural causes in a hospital in Gardena, California, her stepdaughter, Lianne Bremer, told The Hollywood Reporter.
The actress had a long pedigree in show business. She was born in Los Angeles on Aug. 15, 1938, according to the entertainment news website. Her father, Barry Shipman, was a screenwriter of Westerns and was a writer for the 1960s television series “Lassie.”
Her mother, Gwynne Shipman, was a dancer and actress.
Her paternal grandparents were also actors. Nell Shipman was a silent film actress, while Ernest Shipman was a member of one of the first Shakespearean touring companies in the United States, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Nina Shipman landed her first big role in the 1959 film, “The Oregon Trail,” playing a woman caught in a love triangle with Fred MacMurray and William Bishop, the entertainment news website reported.
Nina Shipman, Actress in ‘The Oregon Trail’ and ‘The Munsters,’ Dies at 88 https://t.co/U46JIeGX0E
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 9, 2026
Shipman had a key role in one of the wackiest episodes of “The Munsters,” in a bizarre character swap with Grandpa (Al Lewis).
The 1965 episode “Lily Munster, Girl Model,” lists Shipman’s character as “The Beautiful Girl,” according to IMDb.com.
According to the movie database website’s description of the episode, “Lily (Yvonne De Carlo) wants to do something with her spare time and she finds a job as a model. Herman (Fred Gwynne) gets angry and jealous, because he believes that all the men will admire her. Using his magic potions, Grandpa turns into a woman (see video below, at the 17:30 mark), in order to help Herman in a plan to make Lily jealous.”
“It was really kind of cool,” Shipman said during a 2024 interview. “I spoke my own lines, and then after we were through shooting, (Lewis’) voice was dubbed over into my lines so that I talked like Grandpa.”
Other movies that Shipman appeared in included a pair of 1959 films: “Say One for Me” and “Blue Denim,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
After that, Shipman worked mainly in television. In a 1966 episode of the “Andy Griffith Show,” “The County Clerk,” she played Irene Fairchild, a nurse who shares a romance with Howard Sprague (Jack Dodson).
Her résumé on TV included appearances on “General Hospital,” “Sugarfoot,” “The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp,” “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet,” “Surfside 6,” “Maverick,” “77 Sunset Strip,” “Bonanza,” “Rawhide,” “Dr. Kildare,” “Daniel Boone,” “Perry Mason,” “Burke’s Law,” “The Beverly Hillbillies,” “The Mod Squad,” “Adam-12″ and “Highway to Heaven.”
Shipman wrote a 1975 book, “How to Become an Actor in Television Commercials,” and was an accomplished pianist, a practitioner of falconry and a professor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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