Was Dick York Fired or did he resign?

The delays caused by his absences and the uncertainty of his being able to work any given week due to his back condition cost both ABC & Screen Gems a fair bit of money, so i think they would have been inclined to cut their loses at that point.

Later the following year in late spring Dick York did re-approach Screen Gems and ABC about returning to the cast as Darrin.

He had asked to be allowed a sabbatical till that September to allow his back to heal at which point filming of his scenes would have recommenced.

By that point though Screen Gems had recast Darrin and signed Dick Sargent for the role, in fact 3 or 4 episodes had already been filmed by that point in time and were in the can so to speak.

As well Liz & Bill and Screen Gems did not believe that the time off would make any difference knowing full well the extent of Dick York's back problems and how difficult it had been for him all those years.

They correctly believed that he would still be incapacitated after his time off and would be unable to work.

This would have left Bewitched in the Lurch without a Darrin and with most likely all the best candidates no longer available forcing them to take whatever they could get.

They proved to be right as after Dick York's collapse in early December, 1968 he was bedridden and only semi lucid for for more then a year so obviously would have been unable to film scenes for Bewitched in September, 1969.

He was never again able to physically work for any sustained period of time, so the time off would have accomplished nothing.

That summer after he had been rebuffed by the Ashers and Screen Gems he said in an article that he was glad to have left the show and wanted to play other roles, that he felt he was improperly and underused as Darrin and that the atmosphere on the set was very unpleasant.

Talk about burning your bridges, that alone made any further expectation of any contact between Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York in the future unrealistic and not rational.

Why would anyone rush to that aid of someone who in your last interaction with them had slapped you in the face.

Interestingly Dick York in interviews near the end of his life in the 1990's still claimed if they had just given him that summer off he could have finished the run of the show.

So he was clearly in denial on that matter all of his life.

It is sad he was not able to finish the run of the series, it would have been great and preferable if he could have, but it simply was not possible.

At least we do have his wonderful performances of the first 4 2/3 seasons of the show to enjoy over and over, they are all timeless those episodes and never get old.

You post this or a new version of this about every six months. All for....nobody knows why...I don't even read them anymore.

However, Dick York resigned. His wife Joey specifically asked Bill Asher to let him do so. She could not watch him be in pain any longer.

" Later the following year in late spring Dick York did re-approach Screen Gems and ABC about returning to the cast as Darrin."

This is not true. Dick York in his own biography wrote that he spent over 18 months sick in bed after leaving Bewitched - in pain and quite frankly depressed. He could not possibly have called ABC to return a year later. I know he wished terribly that he could have feeling that he "let everybody down" by having to leave.

To educate fools like you and to ensure fans of the show know the true history of Bewitched rather then agenda driven lies from people like you.

Obviously you are reading all of my posts voraciously, otherwise you would not reply to each and every one of them with such intensity and fascination.

A threat to your agenda much they are..me thinks so!!!

York in his bio. and in interviews has stated even on camera that he thought if he just had that summer off that he could come back and do season 6, , this was before he was on his back for 18 months, but was so disconnected from reality and in denial decades later that he still stated that if only i had the summer off....................why he would do this is something for his shrink to answer not i.

I think ABC would have fired him as he was costing them and SG a ton of money due to the weekly question as to if he could show up for work.

You post this or a new version of this about every six months. All for....nobody knows why...I don't even read them anymore.

However, Dick York resigned. His wife Joey specifically asked Bill Asher to let him do so. She could not watch him be in pain any longer.

" Later the following year in late spring Dick York did re-approach Screen Gems and ABC about returning to the cast as Darrin."

This is not true. Dick York in his own biography wrote that he spent over 18 months sick in bed after leaving Bewitched - in pain and quite frankly depressed. He could not possibly have called ABC to return a year later. I know he wished terribly that he could have feeling that he "let everybody down" by having to leave.

York in his bio. and in interviews has stated even on camera that he thought if he just had that summer off that he could come back and do season 6, , this was before he was on his back for 18 months, but was so disconnected from reality and in denial decades later that he still stated that if only i had the summer off....................why he would do this is something for his shrink to answer not i.

It's called reflecting on one's past. It was 20 years later when he spoke about hoping he could have returned. He also said - and I can post the clip if you'd like - that he knew when "people had had enough." And there was no going back. It would seem that York cared enough about the show to hold some hope that he could have continued. Normal people would have a little sympathy for a man in pain (don't worry, I don't mean you).

I think ABC would have fired him as he was costing them and SG a ton of money due to the weekly question as to if he could show up for work.

It cost them little because Asher - and I can post the video clip if you'd like -
had non-Darrin scripts ready to go when needed. He also refused ABC's execs wanting to replace him.

:lol::lol::lol: Now you are literally just making stuff up.
He was saying what was the case back then saying he thought he could have made it back after the summer off.
It is widely known and documented as such, how ill informed can you be.
It is like asking me was there really a character called Samantha.

York meant Asher knew when "people had had enough." that was when he in effect fired York and why, your obfuscation knows no bounds.

No York was both delusional and selfish in wanting to hold the show hostage to his return which would have ruined it, as with his not being able to return after the summer it would have been Darrinless.

Even in Barry Pinters Bio he talks of York costing them all lots of money and as such it could not go on, same as in all the other Bewitched Bio's, please stop embarrassing yourself like this.

Asher refused ABC execs wanting to replace him before his collapse, after he could no longer, at that point it was all moot because everyone knew he was done, even York, till he got fanciful again about the summer.

It's called reflecting on one's past. It was 20 years later when he spoke about hoping he could have returned. He also said - and I can post the clip if you'd like - that he knew when "people had had enough." And there was no going back. It would seem that York cared enough about the show to hold some hope that he could have continued. Normal people would have a little sympathy for a man in pain (don't worry, I don't mean you).



It cost them little because Asher - and I can post the video clip if you'd like -
had non-Darrin scripts ready to go when needed. He also refused ABC's execs wanting to replace him.

:lol::lol::lol: Now you are literally just making stuff up.
He was saying what was the case back then saying he thought he could have made it back after the summer off.
It is widely known and documented as such, how ill informed can you be.
It is like asking me was there really a character called Samantha.

York meant Asher knew when "people had had enough." that was when he in effect fired York and why, your obfuscation knows no bounds.

No York was both delusional and selfish in wanting to hold the show hostage to his return which would have ruined it, as with his not being able to return after the summer it would have been Darrinless.

Even in Barry Pinters Bio he talks of York costing them all lots of money and as such it could not go on, same as in all the other Bewitched Bio;s, please stop embarrassing yourself like this.

Asher refused ABC execs wanting to replace him before his collapse, after he could no longer, at that point it was all moot because everyone knew he was done, even York, till he got fanciful again about the summe.

Sure. Whatever you need to believe to keep your fantasy alive.

Dick York had to leave because his health didn't let him keep in the show, if able to work he'd never have been fired, Asher knew there was nobody better than him for the role.

Dick York had to leave because his health didn't let him keep in the show, if able to work he'd never have been fired, Asher knew there was nobody better than him for the role.

Yes, I agree with you - had York not had that last seizure and been able to work with the pain back pain he would have been able to finish the run. Joey York, however, really wanted him to quit. She worried about his health - and she was right in the end.

York's interview with Filmfax in 1991

Then a decision was made by York and by producer/director Bill Asher.

Again, from York's writings.

"Bill Asher comes to the hospital and he says, 'What do you want to do, Dick? Do you want to quit?' I said, 'If it's all right with you, Billy.' He looked at me, and I guess he and Joey had talked and I guess Bill knew when people had enough and he said, 'OK, kid, I'll tell 'em.'

"And Bill Asher and I hugged for the first time."

York remained sick and on his back for over a year.

I thought York was in a coma and Asher Whispered him back from the great beyond, guess Asher was telepathic, maybe he was a super hero and that was his power.:lol::lol::happyface:happyface:wave::wave:

Yes, I agree with you - had York not had that last seizure and been able to work with the pain back pain he would have been able to finish the run. Joey York, however, really wanted him to quit. She worried about his health - and she was right in the end.

York's interview with Filmfax in 1991

Then a decision was made by York and by producer/director Bill Asher.

Again, from York's writings.

"Bill Asher comes to the hospital and he says, 'What do you want to do, Dick? Do you want to quit?' I said, 'If it's all right with you, Billy.' He looked at me, and I guess he and Joey had talked and I guess Bill knew when people had enough and he said, 'OK, kid, I'll tell 'em.'

"And Bill Asher and I hugged for the first time."

York remained sick and on his back for over a year.

I thought York was in a coma and Asher Whispered him back from the great beyond, guess Asher was telepathic, maybe he was a super hero and that was his power.:lol::lol::happyface:happyface:wave::wave:

"Then, gentlemen," said Napoleon, "let us wait a little; when your opponent is executing a false movement, never interrupt him."

Did you say something?..............no you didn't.......never mind..........Ooops my bad !

"Then, gentlemen," said Napoleon, "let us wait a little; when your opponent is executing a false movement, never interrupt him."

I was never a huge Dick York fan. But, I was even less of a Dick Sargent fan. There was just something unsettling about him. Hard to put my finger on.....but in real life he would be the person who I would be waiting to leave the room before I could feel at ease.

Dick York said he resigned because of health issues, if it wasn't for his health he would have continued playing Darring till the end of the series.

"Tedious" is I guess the best way I can summarize my take on Sargent's personality.
He seems like one of those people who would, for example, see me out in my back yard putting in landscaping, and volunteer to help all the while insist upon structuring my arrangements to HIS satisfaction, rather than mine. If that makes any sense.

York, otoh, I always resented (I was a child at the time) because he was always such a wet blanket against Sam's "gift" which ....while I understand that was a part of the script...York's delivery always came across as condescending.....which at the time as a child I probably didn't understand it as such, but in retrospect I am certain that is where my resentment was grounded.

Agnes Moorehead was quite clear in her admiration of York, and that too might (now) be a factor in why I see York as the superior Darren.

Of course back then I despised "Endora" probably more than any of them. And only in the last decade or so coming to admire her work. I now consider it a real treat to find her in other old movies and such.

I can't imagine him being fired. I heard he was ill and wasn't able to continue.

I can't imagine him being fired. I heard he was ill and wasn't able to continue.

Well, "fired" might be open to subjective interpretation. Anytime an employee causes the organization operational challenges, it forces them to evaluate priorities, and act in what is their best interest.

I believe the TV show "Blue Bloods" was forced into a similar dilemma with Jenifer Esposito. Popular with fans, talented, but unable to dependably carry the work load.

Business is business. The company might not be willing to use the "F" word, but the end game is the same.

I personally worked for a company for 28 years that had always given it's employees gold plated treatment. Due to changing business environment they decided to no longer be that kind of benevolent employer, and my protests coupled with my memories of the way the company had historically operated were less than convenient to this new corporate mindset. Rather than having me poisoning the well they offered me a years severance pay and a glowing letter of recommendation......."or else".

So, I accepted their bribe and left on positive terms. "Left upon my own choice" was the verbiage they incorporated into the letter. But I assure you I was VERY much fired.

Something along those lines might have been the easiest option available to York, it certainly was to me.

York, otoh, I always resented (I was a child at the time) because he was always such a wet blanket against Sam's "gift" which ....while I understand that was a part of the script...York's delivery always came across as condescending.....which at the time as a child I probably didn't understand it as such, but in retrospect I am certain that is where my resentment was grounded.

It interesting that you mention this view of Darrin. As a kid I always thought that Dr. Bellows was so "mean" to poor Major Nelson (I Dream of Jeannie), but as an adult I totally see how poor Dr Bellows really was mentally tortured by Major Nelson (and Jeannie). Haha!


Well, "fired" might be open to subjective interpretation....

Looking back on it I tend to think it really was a combination even if Bill Asher knew ultimately that he had to let York go. Asher stated in an interview that while York was in a coma he spoke to him saying he would not fire him, but that he knew that wasn't possible. Asher knew the production could not go on with York's issues and York knew that (as he admitted) "people had had enough" and so he understood he had to leave as well.

I know Mrs. York spoke to Asher and wanted him to let York out of his contract. I also think that Asher and Elizabeth knew there would be a risk in recasting since York was so good and that she wanted to end the show at season 5. It was the syndication offer of more money that convinced them to go on.

As a kid I always thought that Dr. Bellows was so "mean" to poor Major Nelson (I Dream of Jeannie), but as an adult I totally see how poor Dr Bellows really was mentally was tortured by Major Nelson (and Jeannie). Haha!



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I can see that aspect, both ways, good comparison