Many of us grew up watching the television show, Bewitched. If we were old enough, we would watch it as it first run but even years later, we would still enjoy it as a rerun.
That sitcom was very popular in the 1960s, following the lives of a married couple, a witch and a mortal. There was also another member of the cast who was quite enjoyable to watch, the young child star, Tabitha Stevens.
Many people didn’t give much thought to what happened to Tabitha after the show ended, but she showed back up on the scene when she was around 60. Looking at her now and what she is been through over the years shows us that some people are stars, whether they were on TV or not.
We were introduced to many characters through 1960s television. Bewitched is just one of those shows, and its humor and, for the time, special-effects were very entertaining.
The young actress who was cast as Tabitha Stevens to play the daughter of Elizabeth Montgomery and Agnes Morehead was only three years old at the time.
As was the case with many child stars, she had a twin and the two sisters shared the role at first. Eventually, however, there was only one girl who played the part.
She would appear in some 100 episodes and remain with the show until it ended in 1972. By that time, she said that she was already one of the most recognized child actors in Hollywood.
Along with working on that show, she also worked on some commercials, including appearing with Ronald Reagan in a detergent ad. There were also other young stars on the scene at the time, including Jodie Foster and Helen Hunt.
She stayed in Hollywood until she turned eight years old and then she went back to just being a normal kid. She would go to Girl Scouts camp, become a cheerleader, and eventually would only return to Los Angeles if she was guaranteed to have a job.
She said: “It wasn’t difficult for me. I continued acting and actually turned down jobs. I had a pretty easy transition away from it. I think a lot of it is in some ways I walked away from the business before maybe the business kicked me out.”
Eventually, she would change her career to something much different. She became a mother after marrying Terry Rogers in 1984. They moved to Arizona and she maintained a life far away from the lights of Hollywood.
While they were married, they had two sons together but they were divorced after five years. She moved back to California at that time to raise the children.
Eventually, she would get married again, and this time it was to Eric Eden. The rock musician and she welcomed a son, Clark but they were divorced by 1998. She moved back to California again at that time.
When she met Darren Dunckel in 1998, she ended up marrying him only two months later. They have three sons together, so she has a total of six children.
She said: “It’s a lot of fun. It’s a crazy but fun lifestyle. People always ask me if I’m Mormon. I only have one sister, and I grew up thinking ‘The Brady Bunch’ was the greatest show, so I always did want a big family. But ideally, I always wanted one boy and one girl, so maybe if I’d had a girl in there, I might have stopped at three or sooner, but I wouldn’t change anything,”
She has enjoyed being the mother and never regret staying away from Hollywood to raise her children. She also reveals that scripts are sent to her frequently, but she hasn’t seen anything yet that was good enough for her to be gone 12 hours a day.
She said: “I was involved with autism charities before Parker was born and then obviously once he was diagnosed, I put that as my focus. I go to board meetings [and] I volunteer. I speak at events. I think it’s important to be there for other parents who have questions.”
She has always been one to volunteer and appreciates giving back when she can.
Autism affects 1 in 68 children including my gorgeous son Parker. <3 #AutismAwareness pic.twitter.com/FuQEQfyZh2
— Erin Murphy (@Erin_Murphy) April 2, 2014
As of yet, none of her children have an interest in following in her famous footsteps. We are so happy that she has found what she loves to do, and we would welcome her back if she ever decided to entertain again.
