Was Dick York Fired or did he resign?

[Larry Tate]

Although i think Dick York would have been fired by both Screen Gems and ABC after his initial 5 year contract expired, i do believe Bill Asher when he said on the day of his collapse that Dick York simply resigned from the show that day.

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 Yorks 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.

Larry Tate

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[MickeyMac]

He left the show because of his back injury.

[Marvo301]

Whether you want to call it a firing, a resignation,or whatever the real reason Dick York left the series is that he was physically incapable of continuing in the role due to his back injury.

[Mr. Television]

They should have ended the show as well.

[Marvo301]

Originally Posted by Stuck In The '70's

They should have ended the show as well.

I feel the same way!

[the truth]

Sometimes I think that way too but then I realize that if it ends after five years, then I never get to see "I'll blow you a kiss in the wind" once D.S. takes on the Darrin role.

So maybe it was worth going on.

[MickeyMac]

I disagree. I am one of the few people who liked Dick Sargent. Seasons 6 & 7 were good but there should have never been a last season.

[lucyandethel]

I know that Elizabeth Montgomery was reportedly less than pleased with Dick York after he made those comments. I don't believe they ever spoke again after he left the show.

[old grouch]

I know that it was probably impossible, but it's a shame that they couldn't have found a way to work around Dick York's injury.

[catlover79]

It is sad all the way around. We may never know the whole story, but I also think that the show should've ended after S5.

[Larry Tate]

By the time he left it was no longer humanly possible for Dick York to continue on Bewitched, there is no way to work around someone who was in a state of semi-coma for a year and a half after he collapsed.

More to the point was there some surgical or medical means at the time he initially injured himself to rectify it so his acting career could have proceeded unabated.

I heard he had procedure's offered to him at the time he got hurt originally but turned them down, would they have worked?

Thank goodness the Producers of the show made the right choice to recast Darrin and continue on with the show for another 3 excellent years, i will always be grateful to them for this choice.

Larry Tate

[tcr1701]

Dick York was never fired and ABC had no desire to see him go. If his contract was ending after 5 years you can bet ABC would have renewed. This was confirmed by Bill Asher and Mrs. York who has stated ABC came to their home to try and talk DY into remaining with the show. He also was not grandstanding to get more money. At the time he was physically exhausted from the rigors of filming the show. He was indeed bedridden for 18 months (both physically exhausted and emotionally depressed) per his own autobiography.

His "addiction" was to prescription medicines (one for pain, one for energy, another for vitamins) given by his doctor. This was a typical 1960s practice - you just prescribe a pill. After nearly 10 years of all that stuff in his system, he finally collapsed. There's only one vague reference to DY wanting the filming break off to heal and that was in retrospect and a "what-if" by DY - not something he asked for at the time. Bill Asher confirmed this by stating that DY asked to be lot out of the show the day he was at the hospital. It was his last conversation with Bill Asher. Mrs. York also asked Asher to let him out after seeing her husband in such pain. At the time even Dick Sargent mentioned he knew York left because he was ill.

The only one who wanted DY out was Elizabeth Montgomery. She was, on several occasions, told in no way would they (ABC or the BW production team) fire him. She originally wanted (per Jackie Cooper) casting approval, but was refused that by the Copper and the studio. At the beginning of the series She and York got on great, but after a time she became highly annoyed with him. No one really knows why. Bill Asher had to know, but he never publicly commented on it. There's an interesting section on this in the new EM biography by Pilato. The book also addresses DY's cryptic remark about the changing atmosphere on the set - EM and Asher were not a happy couple by then.

The behind the scenes politics, of course, no longer really matters. Dick York left because he had to and the series went on. He was actually more concerned with "letting everyone down" than leaving a successful career. However, he did admit (blaming no one but himself) for "ruining a beautiful career." Had his back not finally given out as it did, he would have finished Bewitched and then moved on to another show or TV movies. But that's the way Hollywood works; it's a business and the studios always move on regardless of what happens to the actors.

[Larry Tate]

Originally Posted by tcr1701

Dick York was never fired and ABC had no desire to see him go. If his contract was ending after 5 years you can bet ABC would have renewed. This was confirmed by Bill Asher and Mrs. York who has stated ABC came to their home to try and talk DY into remaining with the show. He also was not grandstanding to get more money. At the time he was physically exhausted from the rigors of filming the show. He was indeed bedridden for 18 months (both physically exhausted and emotionally depressed) per his own autobiography.

His "addiction" was to prescription medicines (one for pain, one for energy, another for vitamins) given by his doctor. This was a typical 1960s practice - you just prescribe a pill. After nearly 10 years of all that stuff in his system, he finally collapsed. There's only one vague reference to DY wanting the filming break off to heal and that was in retrospect and a "what-if" by DY - not something he asked for at the time. Bill Asher confirmed this by stating that DY asked to be lot out of the show the day he was at the hospital. It was his last conversation with Bill Asher. Mrs. York also asked Asher to let him out after seeing her husband in such pain. At the time even Dick Sargent mentioned he knew York left because he was ill.

The only one who wanted DY out was Elizabeth Montgomery. She was, on several occasions, told in no way would they (ABC or the BW production team) fire him. She originally wanted (per Jackie Cooper) casting approval, but was refused that by the Copper and the studio. At the beginning of the series She and York got on great, but after a time she became highly annoyed with him. No one really knows why. Bill Asher had to know, but he never publicly commented on it. There's an interesting section on this in the new EM biography by Pilato. The book also addresses DY's cryptic remark about the changing atmosphere on the set - EM and Asher were not a happy couple by then.

The behind the scenes politics, of course, no longer really matters. Dick York left because he had to and the series went on. He was actually more concerned with "letting everyone down" than leaving a successful career. However, he did admit (blaming no one but himself) for "ruining a beautiful career." Had his back not finally given out as it did, he would have finished Bewitched and then moved on to another show or TV movies. But that's the way Hollywood works; it's a business and the studios always move on regardless of what happens to the actors.

Not according to Bill Asher who and in print stated ABC wanted Dick York gone and tried to get rid of him repeatedly but that Bill Asher used his creative control authority to thwart their attempts in doing so.

This being the case obviously they would not have renewed Yorks contract after it expired as Asher could not have refused them then.

He wasn't fired but he would have been if he had lasted till after his contract expired.

It was nothing to do with York the actor but rather was due to his medical condition and as a result his being unreliable in his availability on any given week to be able to film the show.

This cost all involved a great deal of money re ABC, Screen Gems & the Ashers who owned 20% of Bewitched.

Once he collapsed and his drug issues became known to them he would never have been allowed back on the show by ABC.

Even though he was not a recreational addict he was still incapacitated by his medically needed medication to the point that he was functionally in a semi-coma for said 18 months.

It was sad and unfair but that is what life is, often unfair especially when $$$$$ are involved.

He had to go so he went voluntarily while he could.

As to why Liz wanted him off the show, William Froug has alluded to this both in the past in his book and now in the new Elizabeth Montgomery Biography.

Liz wanted him gone and for good reason and understandably so on many levels.

Dick York was bedridden for 18 months after his collapse for the reasons you stated and as well due to his serious medical realities which made it impossible for him to even stand up much less work, it was simply physically impossible for him to ever work again on any sustained basis such as on a weekly TV show, sad but true.

His attempt to pull a JR Ewing to grab more cash was not at this point but rather at the end of season 4.

This is what Bill Asher and Liz thought and their view as such is documented on paper.

It is no vague reference in Dick York stating in an interview in print that he wanted back on the show in the spring of 1969 and his saying in said interview in late spring he did re-approach Screen Gems and ABC about returning to the cast as Darrin at that time.

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.

He was told no & understandably so and he did that interview about this as well as saying he was not appreciated on the show, that the atmosphere was very negative on the Bewitched set and that he now was happy to be moving on, this is documented fact.

He never asked Bill Asher directly to come back on the show but contacted Screen Gems about it, but based on the reaction of those running Bewitched Screen Gems said no.

Sure he was deluded in thinking he could come back on the show and function physically but he still thought it was so and he confirmed years later near the end of his life to Herbie Pilato this all this was so, that he made the request then in the spring of 1969 and was still bitter near the end of life about being rebuffed by the powers to be.

I have never seen Mrs. York state ABC asked him to stay on and that perspective does not seem credible to me.

Bill Asher i know never said anything along those lines either and in fact is on record as saying the opposite.

You may have transposed the facts in your thought process with ABC going to Elizabeth Montgomery's home after she decided to end Bewitched after season 8 where they begged her and offered her the moon to continue the show but she said no, this latter fact was reported in the trade papers at the time.

In Fact Bill Asher and Elizabeth Montgomery had complete casting approval on Bewitched right from the beginning as Liz went over Jackie Coopers head to the head of ABC on the west coast who basically told Screen Gems to give Asher and Elizabeth Montgomery all that they had been promised by Bill Dozier the head of Screen Gems on the west coast till just prior to Bewitched being picked up by ABC.

Larry Tate

[tcr1701]

A major problem ABC would have had was insuring Dick York after the seizure. The cost would have been very high for an actor they knew was sick. That's why Asher always had a non-Darrin script ready just in case. Elizabeth was adamant that BW worked best with Darrin and Samantha and she didn't like when York missed (that and her personal dislike of him).

When DY had his seizure ABC would indeed have been reluctant to continue with him. Asher states he really argued with ABC about this at the time, but that they inevitably were right. Asher knew BW could not go on with DY and York knew he could not continue. He and Elizabeth considered ending the series at the time.

I was in contact with Mrs York about 10 years ago. She was a very sweet and kind woman. She was also very upset about all the negative remarks about DY at the time on another message board. She really wanted people to know that he and she both asked to let him out of the show. Was it inevitable any way from ABC...probably so. They simply could not insure him any longer. Mrs York said ABC came to see him (hoping he was okay) and they saw for themselves how ill he really was.

Had York recovered quickly Asher would most likely have continued to fight for him. For a few hours after the seizure Dick was completely unconscious. He was very, very ill and Asher knew this. ABC, Mrs York, Bill Asher, Elizabeth, and York himself knew it was over. And there were regrets from everybody.

This was a blameless situation because the circumstances were simply too impossible; DY was just not healthy enough to continue. After that seizure, the writing was on the wall for all concerned.

[Larry Tate]

Yes the over all cost re insurance, the production costs associated with the cast and crew being there and Dick York was not, the logistical planning issues, all amounted to $$$$$ lost so your right the network would have said enough as he was really uninsurable by that point of time even before his collapse.

In Bewitched Forever Elizabeth Montgomery stated she liked doing the
Non-Darrin episodes, thought they were fun and allowed them to do something different, go off on a tangent while staying within the premise.

Seeing what it was like all day at home for Samantha while Darrin was away at the office, having her interact with other characters she normally would not have or in ways she did not usually was something she also liked about them.

I agree with her, the Non-Darrin episodes were great & highly entertaining and we got much more Serena as a result, i agree with her views on them.

Yes this was a sad situation that was utterly blameless, it was actually overdue and only a matter of time that he would no longer be able to sustain the weekly grind.

He was indeed very very ill for the next 18 months, it was just over for him.

Larry Tate