Dick York
| Dick York | |
|---|---|
|
Dick York in 1965 | |
| Born |
Richard Allen York September 4, 1928 Fort Wayne, Indiana, USA |
| Died |
February 20, 1992 (aged 63) East Grand Rapids, Michigan |
| Cause of death | Emphysema |
| Resting place | Plainfield Cemetery in Rockford, Michigan |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1947–1984 |
| Spouse(s) | Joan Alt (1951–1992, his death) |
| Children | 5 |
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. His best known motion picture role was as teacher Bertram Cates in the 1960 film Inherit the Wind.
Early life
York was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Betty, a seamstress, and Bernard York, a salesman.[1][2] He grew up in Chicago, where a Catholic nun first recognized his vocal promise.[3] He began his career at the age of 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.[4] He performed with stars including Paul Muni and Joanne Woodward in live television broadcasts and with Janet Leigh, Jack Lemmon and Glenn Ford in movies, including My Sister Eileen and Cowboy.
It was while filming the 1959 movie They Came to Cordura with Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth that York would receive a permanently disabling back injury. In York's own words: "Gary Cooper and I were propelling a handcar carrying several 'wounded' men down [the] railroad track. I was on the bottom stroke of this sort of teeter-totter mechanism that made the handcar run. I was just lifting the handle up as the director yelled 'cut!' and one of the "wounded" cast members reached up and grabbed the handle. I was suddenly, jarringly, lifting his entire weight off the flatbed—one hundred and eighty pounds or so. The muscles along the right side of my back tore. They just snapped and let loose. And that was the start of it all: the pain, the painkillers, the addiction, the lost career."[5]
In 1960, he played the role of Bertram Cates (modelled on John Thomas Scopes, of "Monkey Trial" fame) in the film version of Inherit the Wind.[6]
York went on to star with Gene Kelly and Leo G. Carroll in the 1962 ABC television comedy/drama Going My Way. York was cast in the series, which lasted one season, as Tom Colwell, who operates a secular youth center.
York appeared in dozens of episodes of now-classic television series, including Justice, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Untouchables, Rawhide, The Americans, Wagon Train, Father Knows Best, and CBS's The Twilight Zone and Route 66.
Bewitched
York was cast as the first Darrin Stephens in the 1960s sitcom, Bewitched, as Samantha's (Elizabeth Montgomery) mortal husband. The show was a huge success and York was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1968.[2] Because of his back injury, which sometimes caused him to seize up in debilitating pain, the scripts for some of his later episodes on Bewitched were written around his being in bed or on the couch for the entire episode. York suffered little to no pain for the first two seasons, but after the third season, the pain worsened considerably, frequently causing shooting delays and York requiring assistance to walk around. In spite of his suffering, York maintained a professional presence on camera. While filming the fifth season-episode "Daddy Does His Thing," York fell ill: "I was too sick to go on. I had a temperature of 105, full of strong antibiotics, for almost 10 days. I went to work that day but I was sick. I lay in my dressing room after being in make-up, waiting to be called on the set. They knew I was feeling pretty rotten, and they tried to give me time to rest. I kept having chills. This was the middle of the summer and I was wearing a sheepskin jacket and I was chilling. I was shaking all over. Then, while sitting on a scaffolding with Maurice Evans, being lit for a special effects scene: They were setting an inky - that's a little tiny spot[light] that was supposed to be just flickering over my eyes. That flickering, flickering flickering made me feel weird. And I'm sitting on this platform up in the air...and I turned to Gibby, who was just down below, and I said, 'Gibby, I think I have to get down.' He started to help me down and that's the last thing I remember until I woke up on the floor. That's about all I remember of the incident...and I'd managed to bite a very large hole in the side of my tongue before they could pry my teeth apart."[5]
From York's hospital bed, he and director William Asher discussed York's future. "Do you want to quit?" Asher asked. "If it's all right with you, Billy," York replied. With that, York left the show to devote himself to recovery. From season six until the series ended in 1972, the role of Darrin Stephens was played by actor Dick Sargent. Sargent was originally offered the role of Darrin in 1964, but turned it down to do a short-lived sitcom called Broadside.[7]
Later years
Largely bedridden, York battled not only his back pain but an addiction to prescription pain killers.[3]
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 (née Alt), 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 television series including Simon & Simon and Fantasy Island.
York, a three-pack-a-day smoker, spent his final years battling emphysema.[2] 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 the general public to contribute supplies and money.[3]
Despite his suffering, York said, "I've been blessed. I have no complaints. I've been surrounded by people in radio, on stage and in motion pictures and television who love me. The things that have gone wrong have been simply physical things."[5]
Death
York died of complications from emphysema at Blodgett Hospital in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 20, 1992 at age 63. He is buried in Plainfield Cemetery in Rockford, Michigan.[8]
Filmography
| Film | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Film | Role | Other notes |
| 1945 | Insomnia (Combat Fatigue: Insomnia) |
Lucky | Short film for U.S. Navy |
| 1947 | Shy Guy | Philip Norton | Short film |
| 1950 | Last Date | Nick | Short film |
| 1951 | How Friendly Are You? | Phil | Short film |
| 1955 | My Sister Eileen | Ted 'Wreck' Loomis | |
| 1955 | Three Stripes in the Sun | Cpl. Neeby Muhlendorf | |
| 1957 | Operation Mad Ball | Cpl. Bohun | |
| 1958 | Cowboy | Charlie, Trailhand | |
| 1959 | The Last Blitzkrieg | Sgt. Ludwig | |
| 1959 | They Came to Cordura | Pvt. Renziehausen | |
| 1960 | Inherit the Wind | Bertram T. Cates | |
| Television | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1955 | Goodyear Television Playhouse | John Randolph | Episode: "Visit to a Small Planet" |
| 1955 | The Philco Television Playhouse | Andy | Episode: "Incident in July" |
| 1955 | Justice | Episode: "Fatal Payment" | |
| 1955–1957 | Kraft Television Theatre | Episode: "Million Dollar Rookie Episode: "Mock Trial" Episode: "Ride into Danger" | |
| 1956 | Playwrights '56 | Grayson | Episode: "Honor" |
| 1956 | Eye on New York | Lt. Mac Hartman | Episode: "Night of the Auk" |
| 1956–1958 | Studio One | George Fox George Weston Captain Jay Hellman |
Episode: "A Man's World" Episode: "The Weston Strain" Episode: "The Enemy Within" |
| 1957 | The Kaiser Aluminum Hour | Edward Gillis | Episode: "A Real Fine Cutting Edge" |
| 1957–1963 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Manny Coe Norman Logan J.J. Bunce Ralph Jones Tom Barton Herbert J. Wiggam |
Episode: "Vicious Circle" Episode: "The Dusty Drawer" Episode: "The Blessington Method" Episode: "The Doubtful Doctor" Episode: "You Can't Be a Little Girl All Your Life" Episode: "The Twelve Hour Caper" |
| 1958 | The United States Steel Hour | Gordon Bates | Episode: "Beaver Patrol" |
| Climax! | Gordon Bates | Episode: "Shooting for the Moon" | |
| 1958–1959 | Playhouse 90 | Scott Arlen Tom Matthew Sherwood |
Episode: "The Last Clear Chance" Episode: "The Time of Your Life" Episode: "Made in Japan" Episode: "Out of Dust" |
| 1958, 1960 | The Millionaire | Ken Leighton Sandy Newell |
Episode: "The Ken Leighton Story" Episode: "Millionaire Sandy Newell" |
| 1960 | The Untouchables | Ernie Torrance | Episode: "The White Slavers" |
| Alcoa Theatre | Corporal James Sloan | Episode: "The Glorious Fourth" | |
| Stagecoach West | Webb Crawford | Episode: "Three Wise Men" | |
| 1960–1961 | The Twilight Zone | Capt. Phil Riker Hector Poole |
Episode: "The Purple Testament" Episode: "A Penny for Your Thoughts" |
| 1961 | Naked City | Charles Colano | Episode: "Bullets Cost Too Much" |
| The DuPont Show with June Allyson | Lt. James Whitney | Episode: "School of the Soldier" | |
| The Americans | Bolick | Episode: "The War Between the States" | |
| General Electric Theater | Ashael Miller | Episode: "A Musket for Jessica" | |
| Adventures in Paradise | Markham Jones | Episode: "The Reluctant Hero" | |
| The Outlaws | Sam Nichols | Episode: "Night Riders" | |
| Dr. Kildare | Harry Benton | Episode: "The Lonely Ones" | |
| Frontier Circus | Jeb Randall | Episode: "The Shaggy Kings" | |
| 1961, 1963 | Rawhide | Frank Price Elwood P. Gilroy |
Episode: "Incident of the Broken Word" Episode: "Incident at Confidence Creek" |
| 1961–1964 | Wagon Train | Willie Pettigrew Charley Shutup Ben Mitchell |
Episode: "The Clementine Jones Story" Episode: "The Charley Shutup Story" Episode: "The Michael Malone Story" |
| 1962 | Thriller | Fred Bancroft | Episode: "The Incredible Doktor Markesan" |
| 1962–1963 | Going My Way | Tom Colwell | |
| 1963 | Insight | Episode: "Breakthrough" | |
| Route 66 | Lieutenant School | Episode: "What a Shining Young Man Was Our Gallant Lieutenant" | |
| The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Sheriff Will Pearce | Episode: "Terror at Northfield" | |
| The Virginian | Jeff Tolliver | Episode: "Stopover in a Western Town" | |
| 1964–1969 | Bewitched | Darrin Stephens | |
| 1965 | The Flintstones | Darrin Stephens | Episode: "Samantha" |
| 1983 | Simon & Simon | Martin Donlevy | Episode: "Too Much of a Good Thing" |
| 1984 | Fantasy Island | Episode: "Sweet Life/Games People Play" | |
Awards and nominations
- 1968: Nominated, "Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series"- Bewitched
See also
References
- ↑ "Dick York, 63, Actor Who Was Husband In TV's 'Bewitched'". The New York Times. February 22, 1992. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- 1 2 3 Allis, Tim; Leonhauser, Maria (March 6, 1989). "Shut in but Not Shut Off, Actor Dick York Gives the Time He Has Left to the Homeless". People 31 (9). Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- 1 2 3 Secter, Bob (February 8, 1989). "Bewitched by a Cause : Dick York Is Dying of Emphysema but He Lives to Help the Homeless". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ↑ Oliver, Myrna (February 22, 1992). "Dick York; Co-Starred in TV Series 'Bewitched'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- 1 2 3 Douglas, John (April 1992). "Dick York of Bewitched - A Farewell Interview". bewitched.net. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
- ↑ Crowther, Bosley (October 13, 1960). "Inherit the Wind". The New York Times. Retrieved November 8, 2015.
- ↑ Keehnen, Owen. "No More "Straight Man," Dick Sargent is Out and Proud". Chicago Outlines. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
- ↑ Plainfield Cemetery, Kent County
Michigan (Jul 9, 1998). "Dick York's grave". FindaGrave.com. Retrieved January 1, 2011. line feed character in
|first=at position 12 (help)
- York, Dick. The Seesaw Girl and Me (New Path Press, 2004) pp. 15–16, 100-105.
External links
- Dick York at the Internet Movie Database
- Dick York at AllMovie
- Dick York at the Internet Broadway Database
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