Behind-The-Scenes Stories Of 'Bewitched'

Dick York left Bewitched in 1969, after five years on the show; viewers received no explanation for his exit. The actor endured deepening pain through the show's fourth season and became addicted to pain pills. He had suffered an injury on the set of They Came to Cordura in 1959, and never fully recovered. After York had a seizure and passed out on the set of Bewitched, he decided to leave the show. 

Dick Sargent stepped in as Samantha's husband. The new Darrin had different on-set chemistry with Elizabeth Montgomery; thus, when the show ended a few years later, Sargent weathered the brunt of the blame. 

Bewitched producers approached English film and stage actor Tammy Grimes to play the lead, but she opted to do another project: The Tammy Grimes Show. Incidentally, Grimes's show lasted for only a month, airing briefly on ABC.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Montgomery and William Asher, director of successful shows like I Love Lucy, Gidget, and The Patty Duke Show, had recently married. They were in the market for a project to work on together and decided upon the Bewitched script. 

Elizabeth Montgomery's biographer, Herbie Pilato, has claimed that Dick York and Agnes Moorehead, who played Samantha's mother, Endora, had a good working relationship. According to Moorehead's biographer, Charles Tranberg, actors York and Moorehead had a spiritual connection of sorts, with Moorehead once commenting that she understood him "better than the others."

When York left the show, Moorehead was less than thrilled, reportedly acting so cold to Dick Sargent that he cried on several occasions. Moorehead also became a staunch defender of York when critics commented on his contribution to the show.

Based on her personal history, Elizabeth Montgomery allegedly had an attraction for older, often troubled men. Her first husband, Fred Cammann, was four years her senior. The two stayed married only briefly during the 1950s. Next, Montgomery married Gig Young in 1956; according to biographer Herbie Pilato, Young was an alcoholic and emotionally abusive. Montgomery and Young divorced in 1963.

Montgomery later married William Asher, also an older man, in 1963. They signed onto Bewitched as a couple wanting to work together, but their relationship troubles carried over to the set.

Agnes Moorehead and Dick York had great affection for each other. After York left the show, Moorehead took her dissatisfaction with the recasting out on his replacement, Dick Sargent. In front of the entire cast at the first script reading, she announced that she "did not like the change."

The tension between Elizabeth Montgomery and Moorehead grew due to the way Moorehead treated Sargent. On one occasion, Moorehead reportedly demanded Sargent to kiss her hand as he approached her. Montgomery sarcastically commented about Moorehead's ability to make everyone feel welcome.

After a piercing glare from Moorehead, Montgomery retorted, "Don't you look at me that way."

The disagreement between the two women carried over to Moorehead's dressing room, where Moorehead feigned ignorance about her behavior. On the set later, Moorehead admitted she was wrong, and they forgot about the incident. 

During their marriage, William Asher reportedly cheated on Elizabeth Montgomery often, something that might have influenced Montgomery to enter a two-year relationship with Bewitched producer and director Richard Michaels. The affair between Montgomery and Michaels coincided with the end of her marriage to Asher, whose attention had shifted to an actress named Nancy Fox.

Montgomery and Michaels started as friends but, according to Michaels, their connection became "more and more compelling." They eventually moved into an apartment together, but kept their relationship secret. The affair ended Michaels's marriage, and Montgomery and Asher divorced in 1973.

According to biographer Herbie Pilato, Asher spent the rest of his life pining for Montgomery, "crying his heart out for her, saying, 'It was all my fault.'"