Those of us who are old enough remember the days before cable television when we just had three or four major television channels to watch our favorite shows. “Bewitched,” was a cute sitcom starring Elizabeth Montgomery and her young daughter Tabitha Stephens was played by actress Erin Margaret Murphy. We hadn’t heard anything at all from the actress since she appeared in the third season beginning in 1966, when she was just 2 years old, through the ending of the original series in 1972. Whatever happened to Tabitha from Bewitched? We looked her up to find out and here is what we know about her.
She had a co-star on the show
Erin only fulfilled half of the duties of playing the role of Tabitha on “Bewitched.” As it turns out, she has a fraternal twin sister and her name is Diane. Although they’re not identical, Diane looked similar enough to play the part half of the time until the girls got older and their looks changed so much that there was no longer enough of a resemblance. Diane appeared for 18 episodes in total. After the producers discontinued using Diane in the role Erin took it on by herself.
Where is she now?
Erin Murphy is now 54 years old and she is the mother of six children. She went out and had a family of her own after growing up. She has fond memories of the series and she doesn’t mind talking about it with fans of the show. She shared that she and her sister auditioned for the part when they were just toddlers and because they looked a lot like Elizabeth Montgomery, they got the part, because that is what the casting crew was looking for. The children’s parents had responded to the casting call and it gave the girls their first start in the business. As for her career right now, Erin is actually appearing in a web series that is called “Life Interrupted.” She is starring with Dawn Wells, formerly of “Gilligan’s Island,” Michael Learned, the mother from “The Waltons,” and Alison Arngrim, who played the role of Nellie Oleson on “Little House on the Praire.” She is still an actress and it’s fantastic that she’s getting together to work with so many veteran actors on her recent production.
Her perspective on Elizabeth Montgomery
When asked about her relationship with former co-star, the late Elizabeth Montgomery, she shared that Ms. Montgomery and she were quite close and it was a lot like a mother-daughter relationship. Elizabeth had young children her age and they grew up together.
Her favorite person on the set
Murphy discussed her relationships with other cast members. Agnes Morehead played the role of Endora, Samantha Stephens’ mother, who was also a practicing witch who had an active dislike the Sam’s mortal husband Darrin Stephens. She called him “Derwood” on the show, out of spite. Agnes was one of Erin’s favorite people, and she loved hanging out in her dressing room on the set of “Bewitched.” She was a lot like a real grandmother to her. Ms. Morehead passed away at the age of 73 in 1974.
Erin Murphy’s Life after “Bewitched”
When asked how Erin coped when the series came to an end, she shared that it wasn’t really a big problem. Once the show ended, she had other things to do and she kept busy. Erin went to camp where she could spend time with other children that were her age. She had friends in the entertainment business who were around her age, though, so she got the socialization she needed even though she was working as a young child. She spent time with kids that she knew and she just did things that normal kids her age do. She said that it was easy for her to return to a normal life after the show ended. Her family moved from their previous residence in Los Angeles to Orange County. Hollywood didn’t forget Erin though. The job offers kept coming after “Bewitched” was over, but she turned them down. Murphy still gets job offers in the entertainment industry, and she picks and chooses what she wants to do, but she turns down most of them. She has all of the work that she wants to have, but her top priority is her children, family and friends, and she would also like to do a bit of traveling in her spare time.
Final thoughts
So now you know what became of Erin Margaret Murphy who played the role of Tabitha Stephen in the 1960s sitcom “Bewitched.” She enjoyed a great deal of success as a child actor, and she is still in demand. She’s a busy mom who is enjoying life to the fullest and at this point in her life, she’s not willing to spend all of her time doing acting gigs. We were happy to hear about her involvement in “Life Interrupted,” because it keeps her in the public eye and she represents a time when many of us were perhaps more innocent and enjoyed the simpler things in life, when we didn’t have hundreds of television stations to choose from, nor did we have “On Demand” or other streaming services. We were happy for every episode of “Bewitched” that we could catch because it was light and funny. Erin went from a cute little girl to a gorgeous actress and mom of six kids herself. She has done very well in her life and she’s healthy and happy and doing all of the things that she truly loves.
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