Dick York

Dick York
Dick York
Born	Richard Allen York September 4, 1928(1928-09-04) Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S.
Died	February 20, 1992 (aged 63) Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Spouse(s)	Joan Alt (1951 – 1992)

Richard Allen "Dick" York (September 4, 1928 – February 20, 1992) was an American actor. He is best remembered for his role as the first Darrin Stephens on the ABC television fantasy sitcom Bewitched.

Early life and career

Born Richard Allen York in Fort Wayne, Indiana, York grew up in Chicago, where a Catholic nun first recognized his vocal promise. He began his career at age 15 as the star of the CBS radio program That Brewster Boy. He also appeared in hundreds of other radio shows and instructional films before heading to New York City, where he acted on Broadway in Tea and Sympathy and Bus Stop. He performed with stars including Paul Muni and Joanne Woodward in live television broadcasts and with Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon, and Gary Cooper in movies, including My Sister Eileen, Cowboy, and They Came to Cordura. He played the role of Bertram Cates twice, once on the big screen in Inherit the Wind and on television in Inherit the Wind (1965 film). He appeared as Lieutenant James Whitney in the 1961 episode "School of the Soldier", with Lee J. Cobb, in CBS's anthology series, The DuPont Show with June Allyson.

York went on to star with Gene Kelly as Tom Colwell in the ABC television comedy/drama Going My Way, and to appear in dozens of episodes of now-classic TV shows, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Wagon Train, and CBS's The Twilight Zone and Route 66.

Bewitched

York is best known as the first actor to play Darrin Stephens in the 1960s sitcom Bewitched. The show was a huge success and York was nominated for an Emmy in 1968, but a debilitating back injury he had suffered on the set of They Came to Cordura caused him increasing pain. In some of his final episodes on the show, the script was written around his being in bed or on the couch for the entire episode because of his real-life back problems. During the fifth season on the sitcom, he collapsed on the Bewitched set and was rushed to a hospital. From his hospital bed, he resigned from the show to devote himself to recovery. For the 1969-70 season, he was replaced in the TV series by actor Dick Sargent, who held the role until the series ended in 1972.

Later years

Largely bedridden, York battled not only his back pain but an addiction to prescription pain pills.

In his memoir, The Seesaw Girl and Me, published posthumously, he describes the struggle to break his addiction and to come to grips with the loss of his career. The book is in large part a love letter to his wife, Joan, the seesaw girl of the title, who stuck with him through the hard times. York eventually beat his addiction and tried to revive his career. He appeared on several prime-time TV shows including Simon and Simon and Fantasy Island.

York, once a heavy smoker, spent his final years battling emphysema. While bedridden in his Rockford, Michigan home, he founded Acting for Life, a private charity to help the homeless and others in need. Using his telephone as his pulpit, York motivated politicians, business people, and regular people to contribute supplies and money. York is buried in Plainfield Cemetery in Rockford, Michigan.

In popular culture

To this day, there is lingering fascination and bemusement in the pop culture consciousness that York and his Bewitched replacement Dick Sargent share the same distinct first name. For example, in an episode of the animated television show Family Guy, the main character Peter Griffin is asked a question of who discovered America, to which his response was Dick York. When told he was wrong, Peter reacted by saying, "Dick Sargent! It was Dick Sargent!"^{[citation needed]}

Two episodes of the American version of Whose Line Is It Anyway? feature a reference to Dick York; in one of these episodes, during a game of Newsflash, Colin Mochrie, acting as the reporter, is asked how the events began, to which he replies it started with a debate over "who was the best Darrin". In the other, the topic for a game of World's Worst was "World's Worst Acceptance Speech", where Ryan Stiles goes on to thank every single person he ever met, among them, Dick York.

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards

• 1968: Nominated, "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series" - Bewitched

External links

• Dick York at the Internet Movie Database
• Dick York at the Internet Broadway Database
• Dick York at TV.com
• Dick York at Find a Grave
• All About Dick York