Twitch Upon a Star (35 page)
Read Twitch Upon a Star Online
Authors: Herbie J. Pilato
In playing opposite two
Darrins
on
Bewitched
, Elizabeth shared unique interplays with Dick York and Dick Sargent. But off-screen, she may have considered Sargent more of a friend. According to what
Bewitched
third-season producer William Froug revealed to
www.emmytvlegends.org
, documented on September 14, 2001, Lizzie had issues with York. Froug said executive producer Harry Ackerman hired him on the show to “take the fall,” to buffer any personal tension that transpired on the setâbetween Lizzie and York, as well as between Lizzie and Bill Asher. Froug explained:
Asher and Liz were in a troubled marriage ⦠They lived together, they drove [into work] together, but there was tension there that nobody but them could know about. So they needed someone in the [producer's] chair. And I was the guy they chose. It was [a] perfect [fit]. Nothing to lose for them, and nothing to lose for me.
Consequently, Ackerman hosted an initial meeting with Froug, Asher, and Lizzie; and as Froug went on to explain:
The first thing out of Liz's mouth was, “We've got to get rid of
him
!” Now, I'm brand new, and I'm wondering, “Who the hell is
him
?” So, after the meeting ⦠I finally had to say to Bill, “Who is
him
?” And he said, “Dick York. Liz can't stand him.”
As Froug perceived it, “Dick was madly in love with Liz,” and whenever York was forced to rest between filming, due to his severe back ailment, he would glance over to Lizzie, “longingly.”
“It was pretty clear he was very smitten,” Froug said, “and it was equally clear that she couldn't stand him because of that. Liz was the kind of woman that if you loved her, you were in trouble,” Froug concluded. “She was a tough cookie!”
Beyond Froug's somewhat indiscreet personal opinion from behind-the-scenes, on-screen, Elizabeth and Dick York were pure magic.
Charles Tranberg profiled York for
Classic Images
magazine in October, 2011. As he sees it, Lizzie had veto power over casting the show's pilot. Had she not approved of York, he would never have made the initial cut, much less come to play the role. Tranberg explains:
I think she thought that he was a strong counterpoint to her, and certainly their scenes together were magical. They had on-screen chemistry from day one. Whatever problems they might have had off-camera never showed up on-cameraânot even towards the end when York was increasingly ill due to his back problems and the psychological effects that the medication he was taking was causing. She probably became frustrated with him due to missing some shows, but when they worked together on-camera ⦠the chemistry was spot-on.
Tranberg also says York recognized in Elizabeth a trace of his wife Joey, the former actress known as Joan Alt, and whom he had known since they were children:
I think that always had a great effect on him and how he worked with and perhaps acted around Elizabeth. He realized how good they were together on camera. I think her interpretation of
Samantha
appealed to him both as an actor and maybe a bit as a man.
No maybes about it. As York acknowledged in his memoir,
The Seesaw Girl and Me
, (New Path Press, 2004), he “first fell in love with Elizabeth Montgomery by leg distance,” after seeing her perform with Tom Poston in the “Masquerade” episode of Boris Karloff's anthology series,
Thriller
. “My God,” he thought, “what a pretty dark-haired girl. And those legs! Oh my God!”
A few years later he auditioned for
Bewitched
, and had a chance to get a closer look, when Lizzie was sitting outside the casting office that housed Bill Asher and Harry Ackerman. “She unfolded those gorgeous legs and looked at me,” York wrote, “and I saw her in person for the first time. She had full lips and dark, soft hair. She was sex all over.”
A few minutes later, he and Lizzie walked in to read for Asher and Ackerman. By this time, of course, Lizzie already had the part. This audition was for York, who told her right before they read together, “Oh, God, you'd be wonderful” for the part of
Samantha.
York also noted in his book, “I've known Elizabeth Montgomery all my life, and she's kind of been my wife because she reminds me of Joey.” He explained how he walked into the audition “more confident than I've ever been in my life.”
At this point, he had his arm around Lizzie, and quipped to Asher and Ackerman, “I don't know about you guys, but this girl is perfect. Let's sit down and read this turkey and see if I'm the right guy for her.”
York's confidence paid off. He was more than right for the part. He was perfect.
Off-screen, as Charles Tranberg assesses, Lizzie's relationship with York was also ideal.
At least, in the beginning, she reportedly invited the Yorks to play tennis and socialize every now and then. But they were a private couple, and when away from the set, he liked to spend time with Joey and their children. Tranberg explains:
I don't think Elizabeth resented this, because she was a strong believer in family first, too. But as the time went by something, and I'm not certain what it is, soured their off-screen relationship. Not to the point that Elizabeth was demanding that they get rid of Dick, she knew how important he was to the show, as did Bill Asher. I don't know what it was; that she was getting fed up with his illnesses and I'm not sure how much empathy she had for his pain. They accommodated him on the set, certainly.
I do know that she felt the show was stronger when it was focused on
Samantha-Darrin
, and that when he was sick and missed shows it affected the balance of the show. I recall Mrs. York telling me, and I don't think she would mind my revealing this, that when Dick was nominated for an Emmy ⦠finally! ⦠in 1967, the cast, as usual, had a table at the awards ceremony. Elizabeth was also nominated as was Agnes Moorehead and others associated with the show.
But Dick was not there, so, at some point, Elizabeth excused herself and called Dick's house to see if he was coming. Apparently she was told that the whole family was gathered around the master bed watching the telecast on TV, and they were having more fun doing that. My guess is that Elizabeth probably didn't think that was being a professional and showing support for the show.
Into this mix, David Pierce, author of
The Bewitched History Book
(Bear-Manor Media, 2012), assesses Lizzie's alternate interpretations of
Samantha
in playing opposite first York then Sargent:
Many fans of
Bewitched
have varied opinions of the chemistry between Elizabeth Montgomery and her TV husbands, Dick York and Dick Sargent. I think she she had more chemistry with the former but I think the reason for it wasn't so much because of him, but because of what was going on in her life at the time she worked with him. Liz had just recently married Bill Asher and they were just starting their family. By many accounts, Bill and Liz were very much in love and Liz had mentioned how much she loved being a mother. Being able to work with her beloved husband who worked her schedule to make it easier to be with the children made her very happy, and that I think that translated into her acting with Dick York. The show was successful which would also have contributed to her happiness. With Dick Sargent, I think she had great chemistry with him as well, at least at first. However, her personal life starting going into shambles with the breakdown of her marriage, and though I think she could've maintained the energy, she didn't have it in her. Therefore, though Dick Sargent gave it his all, I personally believe Liz didn't, and it shows in her performances toward the end.
In 1989, Elizabeth herself concluded of the dual
Darrin
days:
I don't know who anyone's first choice was [to play
Darrin
], all I know is that, Dick York, Dick Sargent, and Richard Crenna were there. And any one of the three I would have been totally delighted withâ¦. It's really difficult to compare a couple of actors like that when you've been that close to them. But I felt that Dick Sargent was a more easy-going presence, actually. But don't forget, too, by the time he came in, that marriage was five-years old. So the characters themselves changed automatically. The newness of the relationship was done, and the relationship matured. So, I felt that
Darrin
, in any case, was becoming more of an easy presence, which made the problems even funnier at times. And he would sort of lapse into this kind of complacency, whenever he could. It was almost as if
Darrin
grew in the relationship ⦠he felt maybe he wouldn't have to be on his guard as much. So, when he was suddenly confronted with something ⦠like five years into the relationship ⦠he wasn't quite the nervous wreck [as when York played him]. It was a marriage that had worked for six years [by the end of spring of 1970, Sargent's first season]. I mean, how many of those do you find around, especially with a mother-in-law like
Endora
.
Beyond the
Darrin
debacle, Lizzie found it challenging to address other issues with Agnes Moorehead,
Endora's
alter ego. For one, she said it was “impossible to talk politics to her ⦠so you'd stay [away] from all sorts of really complicated areas like ice cream and religion.”
But
Bewitched
writer Doug Tibbles rememberd Moorehead as “kindly and polite ⦠removed and semi-serious. I don't think it was directed at Elizabeth. It was simply her carriage.”
Lizzie remembered how such carriage led to a terse, if comical, interaction between her and Aggie when film legend Ida Lupino was hired to direct the
Bewitched
episode, “A is for Aardvark,” the plot which Bill Asher once said represented the message of the entire series.
Darrin
is home sick in bed. Tired of running up and down the stairs to cater to his every whim, she grants him the gift of witchcraft. At first he goes wild with the power, but ultimately discovers that having material things without working for them is meaningless. And once he's feeling better, he buys her a watch (with money he earned from
McMann & Tate
), that's inscribed, “I love you every
second
.”
Samantha
cries real tears, and their love is stronger than ever.
However, as Lizzie acknowledged in 1989, there was no love lost between Lupino and Moorehead, nor herself and Moorehead while filming this episode. Lizzie thought Lupino was “terrific, and really liked her, but she had her hands full with Aggie.”
Elizabeth recalled Moorehead standing up against the television set in the
Stephens'
living room, and having “one of her snits. She had that attitude,” which Lizzie felt was exacerbated by Moorehead's heavy eye makeup, or “whatever it was that (make-up artist Ben Lane) used to paste on her eyelashes. I just never understood how she could (have) ⦠all that gook in her eyes.” So Lizzie finally asked:
“Aggie, can you take a nap?”
“What do you mean?”
“How can you close your eyes with all that shit up there?”
“Don't talk to me that way!”
“It was amazing, because she was giving Ida this really kind of weird look,” Lizzie went on to remember.
But Lupino was legitimately concerned about Moorehead's well-being. “What's the matter, Darling? Are you okay?”
Elizabeth intercepted those questions and said, “I think she's got something in her eye.”
“And Aggie was fuming,” Lizzie mused. “She almost popped her eyes, because she couldn't say, âHow dare you?'”
The situation became progressively worse from there, especially with Moorehead backed up against that television. Finally realizing that Agnes was sincerely upset, Lupino was more desperate than ever to address her concerns.
“Is there anything we can do?!”
And Lizzie was “just sitting there on the sofa, trying to stifle a laugh.”
At which point, Aggie turned around to leave the set and, as Lizzie said, “She looked like an owl ⦠her head almost went in a 180 degree turn. And she looked at me and I just looked at her, and she stomped off, away to her dressing room and slammed the door. And boy those violets (Moore-head's favorite flower, based on her favorite color) in that dressing room just went
boooogooogooosh
.”
Another jolting conversation took place between Elizabeth and Moore-head on the
Bewitched
set during the potent Sylmar earthquake of 1971. “There were still aftershocks,” Lizzie recalled. “So we were all still kind of nervous, and I asked her if she was scared.”
“No, of course not!”
“You weren't the tiniest bit scared?!”
“No! Why should I be scared? God takes care of me! God protects me through anything!”
“Well, that's good. So, what was the first thing you did when you felt the quake?”