Richard York
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
Gangly actor best known as Darren Stephens, the befuddled husband of nose-twitching witch Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) on the long-running TV comedy, "Bewitched." York began his career as a child actor on radio in Chicago, most notably as Jack Armstrong, "the All-American boy." By the mid-1950s he had appeared on Broadway in "Tea and Sympathy" and "Bus Stop" and became a frequent guest performer on TV dramas and series such as "The Twilight Zone," "Wagon Train" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." York also entered films in the mid-50s: he was featured as former football player Wreck in "My Sister Eileen" (1955) and played the schoolteacher tried for teaching evolution in "Inherit the Wind" (1960).
York's first TV series was "Going My Way" (1962-63), based on the 1944 Bing Crosby film, but it is his co-starring role on "Bewitched" for which he remains best known. York remained with the show from its debut in 1964 to 1969, when problems stemming from an old back injury forced him to leave; he was replaced by Dick Sargent, who continued in the role until 1972.
In the years after his retirement from acting York was active with his private fund-raising effort called Acting for Life, soliciting money for the homeless by telephone while confined to his home by emphysema and a degenerative spinal condition.
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (Short)
Life Events
1955
Film debut, "Three Stripes in the Sun"
1955
TV debut in Gore Vidal's "Visit to a Small Planet" on "Goodyear Playhouse"
1959
Injured back on the set of the western film, "They Came to Cordura"
1962
Starred in first TV series, "Going My Way"
1971
Quit pain killers cold turkey
1985
Moved to Rockford, Michigan