List of Bewitched characters
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There are many characters in Bewitched, a fantasy television sitcom.
Samantha Stephens
Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) is a witch. She's married to a mortal named Darrin Stephens and has two magical children by him. Samantha often has difficulty adjusting to mortal life, even though she is trying to give up using her powers. She is perhaps the most sensible character in the show; she enjoys her mother's company and is able to take her jabs at mortal life with ease. She is optimistic and treats everyone with respect be they magical creatures, powerful witches and wizards, or ordinary people.
Darrin Stephens
Darrin Stephens (originally Dick York, later Dick Sargent) is a mortal married to Samantha. He did not know she was a witch until she told him. He works as an executive at the McMann and Tate advertising agency. Dick York was unable to continue his role as Darrin because of a severe back condition, the result of an accident during the filming of They Came To Cordura in 1959. Starting during the third season, York's disability caused ongoing shooting delays and script rewrites. After collapsing while filming the episode "Daddy Does His Thing" and being rushed to the hospital in January 1969, York left the show. Dick Sargent, who would go on to play Darrin in the sixth through eighth seasons, was cast for the role that same month.[1]
Endora
Endora (Agnes Moorehead), is Darrin's chief antagonist of the series and Samantha's mother. Like all witches, she never reveals her surname, indicating to Darrin that he would be unable to pronounce it. Endora loathes mortals and disapproves of Darrin, as do many of Samantha's relatives. Endora refuses to even use Darrin's name, alternatively calling him "Derwood", "What's-his-name", "Darwin", "Dum-Dum", etc., all much to his annoyance. She refers to him as "Darrin" only eight times during the entire series.[2] Endora's ploys to provoke a breakup always fail as Samantha and Darrin's love overcomes every obstacle. Even though Endora casts countless farcical spells on Darrin, she never attempts to destroy him outright. During the first season, Endora threatens her warlock husband Maurice that she will not have a human being on her conscience. It was one of not few times when Endora went out of her way to protect Darrin from Maurice (See episode 1x10). Endora once lets Maurice kiss her, but if she finds out that he just kissed her (and disappeared) and she gets a bug (with which she can't use her powers any more), she gets furious until Maurice surprisingly comes back, gives her an antidote, and takes her to "the place we used to go to on the Milky Way" to have dinner there together. She doesn't get along with Darrin's mother, Phyllis Stephens (because Endora gets along too well with Phyllis' husband, Frank), but they are civil to one another in, what Samantha calls "killing one another with kindness". Endora does dote on her grandchildren, Tabitha and Adam, and to them, she is called "Grandmama".
Larry Tate
Larry Tate (David White) is Darrin's profit-obsessed boss. Tate is a regular character. Tate's opinions turn on a dime to appease a client in an attempt to land a deal. However, there are two episodes that show evidence that Larry has deep feelings as well as having a sense of integrity. In the first season installment, "And Something Makes Three", Larry realizes he is to become a father for the first time and is almost overcome with joyful emotion. In the seventh season Christmas episode "Sisters at Heart", notwithstanding his obsession with the bottom line, Larry threatens to cancel an important client's account with McMann & Tate when he realizes the client is a racist.
Louise Tate
Louise Tate (Irene Vernon, Kasey Rogers) is Larry's wife and Samantha's closest mortal friend. Louise Tate was played by Irene Vernon during the first two seasons and then replaced by Kasey Rogers, who wore a short black wig to appear similar to Vernon. According to Rogers,[3] Bill Asher noticed her tugging at the wig and asked why she was wearing it. She laughed and said, "because you told me to." He replied, "Why don't you take it off!" and she played Louise with red hair for the show's final three seasons.
Gladys Kravitz
Gladys Kravitz (Alice Pearce, Sandra Gould) is a nosy and tactless neighbor of the Stephens family, from whom she lives across the street. Gladys' snooping often results in her witnessing witchcraft or its strange side effects. She frequently tries to prove Samantha is a witch, only to fail, frequently causing her husband and others to doubt her sanity.
Abner Kravitz
Abner Kravitz (George Tobias) is Gladys's retired husband. He doesn't believe the stories his wife tells about Samantha being a witch. By the time she gets him to come to the window to see some magic she has just witnessed it is all over, and Abner thinks she's crazy. Abner's sister, Harriet (Mary Grace Canfield), stayed with her brother once while Gladys was out of town, and she also witnessed some behavior that caused her to share her sister-in-law's opinion of their neighbor. Abner likewise disagreed.
Tabitha Stephens
Tabitha Stephens (Erin Murphy) (spelled Tabatha in production credits until season 5) is the daughter of Samantha and Darrin. She is born in season 2. She has supernatural powers. Tabitha Stephens' birth in the season 2 episode "And Then There Were Three" featured infant Cynthia Black in the role. For the remainder of the season, Tabitha was played by twins Heidi and Laura Gentry, followed by twins Tamar and Julie Young. Fraternal twin toddlers Diane Murphy and Erin Murphy were cast for the role at the beginning of season 3. In time, they began to look less alike, so Diane was dropped during season 4. Diane made several guest appearances in other roles, and filled in as Tabitha one last time in season 5's "Samantha Fights City Hall", because Erin had the mumps. Tabitha was played by Liberty Williams in the 1976 pilot and by Lisa Hartman in the 1977 series of the same name.
Adam Stephens
Adam Stephens (David Lawrence) is the son of Samantha and Darrin. Like his sister and his mother, he has supernatural powers. In the Tabitha TV show pilot, he is played by Bruce Kimmel and he also possessed warlock powers and a mischievous nature, but in the series itself, he was played by David Ankrum, and was often the disapproving mortal figure of the family, much like their father, Darrin was. Despite his entreaties to his sister to not use her powers, and his dismay when their Aunt Minerva (Karen Morrow) encouraged her to use them, he really does love his sister very much. A continuity error switched the birth order of Tabitha and Adam (in Bewitched, Tabitha is older and Adam is younger; in Tabitha, Adam is older and Tabitha is younger).
Maurice
Maurice (Maurice Evans) is Samantha's father, an urbane thespian, and the only warlock in the House of Lords. He often embellishes his entrances and exits with strained Shakespearean verse. Bewitched is unique for pre-1970s sitcoms in that it portrays Endora and Maurice in, as Maurice describes to his private secretary, "an informal marriage". Maurice once introduces Endora as "her (Samantha's) mother", and Endora twice threatens, if she doesn't get what she wants, to "move back in" with Maurice, a prospect that terrifies him. In the episode "Samantha's Good News", Endora threatens to file for an "ectoplasmic interlocutory" (i.e. "divorce"), only to wrangle Maurice's affection. He is also a member of the Warlock's Club in London. Maurice refers to Darrin with incorrect names (like Endora), including "Duncan" and "Dustbin", with Endora going so far as to "correct" him, saying "that's Durwood". Once in the series he kisses Endora, and after takes her to "the little place, we used to go to on the Milky Way" (episode: "A Plague on Maurice and Samantha"). Like Endora, he dotes on his grandchildren, Tabitha and Adam, who are allowed to call him "Grandpa".
Phyllis Stephens
Phyllis Stephens (Mabel Albertson) is Darrin's strait-laced mother who visits occasionally but never learns of Samantha's supernatural powers. Phyllis makes inopportune surprise visits (which often cause Samantha to use magic to clean up the house quickly). Phyllis often becomes discombobulated and complains of "a sick headache" after accidentally witnessing something inexplicable. She and Endora do not get along, as Endora often displays contempt for her mortal counterpart. Phyllis also once thought her husband was having an affair with Endora, which did not help relations between the two. They are civil to one another in what Samantha refers to as "killing each other with kindness".
Frank Stephens
Frank Stephens (Robert F. Simon, Roy Roberts) is Darrin's laid-back father. He loves musicals and operas and once, during the first season he and Endora go together to a musical, from which he doesn't comes back that night. He and his wife, Phyllis, get near to a divorce, until Samantha and Endora use their magic to bring them back together.
Serena
Serena (Elizabeth Montgomery) is Samantha's cousin on Maurice's side.[4] Serena is egocentric and looks like Samantha (except for a tattoo under her left eye). Also played by Elizabeth Montgomery, Serena is credited as "Pandora Spocks" (a spin on the phrase "Pandora's box") in many of her appearances from 1969 to 1971. Serena is first seen in episode, #54, "And Then There Were Three".[5] Serena is the antithesis of Samantha, in most episodes sporting a beauty mark on her cheek, raven-black cropped hair and mod mini-skirts. Ever mischievous, bawdy and irresponsible, Serena often flirts with Larry Tate (calling the white-haired Tate "Cotton-Top"), just for sport. She occasionally dates mortals, including characters played by Jack Cassidy and Peter Lawford. Despite her wild behavior and frequent co-plotting with Endora, Serena often supports Samantha and Darrin, even though she finds them "both a bit square."
Uncle Arthur
Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde), Endora's prank-loving brother, makes several appearances. Despite many practical jokes at Darrin's expense, Uncle Arthur has a less antagonistic relationship with him than Endora. In one episode, both Serena and Uncle Arthur go head-to-head with the Witches Council to support the Stephens' union, only to have their own powers suspended. Samantha is clearly very fond of her uncle and vice versa.
Dr. Bombay
Dr. Hubert Bombay (Bernard Fox) is a warlock and womanizer, often accompanied by a buxom assistant. He constantly cracks stale jokes. A strange occurrence or condition caused by a supernatural illness is occasionally used as a plot device, and his assistance is often sought. He could be summoned by the phrase, "Dr. Bombay, calling Dr. Bombay. Emergency, come right away." His first name, "Hubert", was revealed in the final episode of the spinoff Tabitha.
Samantha's aunts
Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne) is the only one of Samantha's relatives for whom Darrin regularly shows tolerance. She is Samantha's bumbling, elderly, absent-minded-but-lovable aunt. Though well-intentioned, Clara's spells usually backfire, and her entrances and exits are often a grand fumble, such as entering via a chimney or colliding with a wall. She has a collection of over a thousand doorknobs (inspired by Lorne's real-life collection). Aunt Enchantra and Aunt Hagatha are two of Samantha's other aunts. They occasionally ride in an antique car called "Macbeth" (sometimes driven by chauffeur Rasputin, other times operating sans driver) which enters the Stephens' home through the wall. Enchantra was played by three different actresses, including Estelle Winwood, while Hagatha was played by five, including Jane Connell, Reta Shaw, and Ysabel MacCloskey.
Esmeralda
Esmeralda (Alice Ghostley) is the Stephens' anxiety-ridden and magically inept housekeeper. Esmeralda was introduced in 1969 after Lorne's death. Ghostley had stated that she did not consider her character as a replacement for Clara.
Apothecary
An unnamed witches' apothecary (Bernie Kopell) is an amorous old warlock from whom help for supernatural illnesses is occasionally sought. He appears in four episodes.
Betty
Betty, the secretary at McMann and Tate, was played by various actresses, including Jill Foster (ten appearances) and Marcia Wallace.[6]
Sheila Sommers
Sheila Sommers (Nancy Kovack) is Darrin's wealthy former fiancée and Samantha's nemesis. Twice in the series (in the premiere episode, "I, Darrin, Take This Witch, Samantha" and in "Snob in the Grass") she tries to seduce Darrin, only to be stopped by Samantha's powers. The character also appears in the 1968 episode "If They Never Met."
Howard McMann
Howard McMann (Roland Winters, Leon Ames) is Larry Tate's business partner, and appears only twice during the series in "Man of the Year" and "What Makes Darrin Run".
Charlie Leach
Charlie Leach (Robert Strauss) is a conniving private investigator who attempts to blackmail Samantha, with disastrous results, in "Follow that Witch" and "Catnapped". In the first episode, he was working for a client of Darrin's whom he wanted to do advertising with. The second episode, he caught Samantha using her powers. The Leaches were the reverse of the Kravitzes with Charlie convinced that Samantha was a witch, while his wife, Charmaine (Virginia Martin) was convinced that her husband was crazy. However, unlike the Kravitzes, Charlie used blackmail to get Samantha to give him what he wants, but it always backfired when Samantha used her powers to defeat him. After "catnapped", Charlie and Charmaine were never seen or spoken of again.
Characters from history and other fiction
Thanks to witchcraft, a number of interesting characters were seen, including Benjamin Franklin, Franklin Pierce, George and Martha Washington, Paul Revere, Sigmund Freud, Julius Caesar, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, Leonardo da Vinci, Napoleon, King Henry VIII, Cleopatra, Bonanno Pisano, Santa Claus, Jack of Jack and the Beanstalk, Mother Goose, The Artful Dodger, Hansel and Gretel, The Tooth Fairy, the Loch Ness Monster, a leprechaun, Prince Charming, Sleeping Beauty, Willie Mays (playing himself), and Boyce and Hart (playing themselves).
Cast
| Character | Actor(s) | No. of episodes |
|---|---|---|
| Main Characters | ||
| Samantha Stephens | Elizabeth Montgomery | 254 |
| Darrin Stephens | Dick York (1964–1969) Dick Sargent (1969–1972) |
156 (York) 84 (Sargent) |
| Endora | Agnes Moorehead | 147 |
| Larry Tate | David White | 166 |
| Recurring Characters | ||
| Tabitha Stephens | Cynthia Black (1966) Heidi and Laura Gentry (1966) Tamar and Julie Young (1966) Diane Murphy (1966–1968) Erin Murphy (1966–1972) |
116 |
| Gladys Kravitz | Alice Pearce (1964–1966) Sandra Gould (1966–1971) |
30 (Pearce) 27 (Gould) |
| Abner Kravitz | George Tobias (1964–1971) | 55 |
| Louise Tate | Irene Vernon (1964–1966) Kasey Rogers (1966–1972) |
13 (Vernon) 33 (Rogers) |
| Aunt Clara | Marion Lorne (1964–1968) | 28 |
| Serena | Elizabeth Montgomery (1966–1972) (credited as "Pandora Spocks") |
24 |
| Adam Stephens | unknown (1969–1970) Greg and David Lawrence (1970–1972) |
24 |
| Phyllis Stephens | Mabel Albertson (1964–1971) | 19 |
| Dr. Bombay | Bernard Fox (1967–1972) | 18 |
| Esmeralda | Alice Ghostley (1969–1972) | 15 |
| Frank Stephens | Robert F. Simon (1964–67, 1971) Roy Roberts (1967–1970) |
13 |
| Maurice | Maurice Evans | 12 |
| Uncle Arthur | Paul Lynde (1965–1971) | 10 |
References
- ^ "Sargent Replaces Bewitched Costar". Los Angeles Times. January 31, 1969. p. G14.
- ^ "Nicknames". Bewitched @ Harpies Bizarre. Retrieved May 25, 2009.
- ^ "Interview with Kasey Rogers and Mark Wood - Bewitched @ Harpies Bizarre".
- ^ Episode 5.20, "Mrs. Stephens, Where Are You?" Aired 1969-02-13.
- ^ "Serena's Style - Bewitched @ Harpies Bizarre". harpiesbizarre.com. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ^ Lance, Steven (1996). Written Out of Television: A TV Lover's Guide to Cast Changes, 1945–1994. Madison Books. p. 63. ISBN 1-56833-071-5.