Baseball Bobblehead Darrin

Named after the original Darrin Stevens from the television show Bewitched because of his striking resemblence to the actor Dick York. His goal is to visit anything related to the show Bewitched such as caches, other travel bugs, etc. He also would like to visit Hollywood, California and have his picture taken on the walk of fame with the stars of actors who appeared in Bewitched.

A talented actor with a gift for comedy, Dick York’s career was in its prime when it was virtually ended by an injury on the set of the hit TV series Bewitched. Born in Fort Wayne, Indiana on September 4, 1928, York grew-up a poor kid from the slums of Chicago. He got his start in acting when at the age of nine his parents signed him up for acting lessons at the Jack and Jill Players. As a teen he appeared on various radio series including Jack Armstrong - The All American Boy, and got his first taste of acting before the camera when he appeared in a series of instructional short films including: Shy Guy and The Last Date. In 1950, he moved to New York for the era of live television, and appeared on Broadway in Tea and Sympathy and Bus Stop. By the early 1960s he had relocated to Hollywood where he picked up steady work guest starring on TV on shows such as Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Wagon Train, and The Twilight Zone. His film career included Inherit the Wind, starring Spencer Tracy, and They Came to Cordura, starring Gary Cooper. It was on the set of Cordura that York initially suffered the back injury that would later end his career. At the time, he treated the injury with pain-killers, and it was not only the injury, but also his later prescription drug addiction that contributed to his downfall. York’s career reached its zenith when he was cast as the flustered and overbearing “Darrin Stephens” on TV’s Bewitched. He played advertising executive and mortal husband of the beautiful witch “Samantha,” played by Elizabeth Montgomery, from 1964 to 1968. Then, an on set flare-up of his back injury coupled with a stress related nervous breakdown, forced the show’s producer to replace him with actor Dick Sergeant. At that point York’s career was effectively over. His fortunes spiraled downward to the point where he was cleaning houses for a living. Nearly penniless, York’s health continued to fail and he at one point ballooned to over 300 pounds and lost all his teeth. Eventually, he got his life back under control, and returned to his beloved acting by making a few guest appearances on TV shows such as Fantasy Island and Simon & Simon. Sadly, his resurgence was short-lived as he contracted emphysema and was forced to live out his final years strapped to an Oxygen tank. His true personality was far from the high strung character that he played on Bewitched, and despite his debilitating illness, York spent the last years of his life working from his home making phone calls to raise money on behalf of the homeless. He died from emphysema on February 20, 1992 and is buried in Plainfield Cemetery in Rockford, Michigan.