Dick York made a fortune with “Bewitched,” but before dying from an incurable disease, he had to clean apartments and couldn’t even leave his home for months.
Born in September 1928, Dick York grew up in a hard-working family. Betty York was his mother and he worked as a seamstress. Bernard York was a salesman.
DICK YORK’S EARLY CAREER
After moving from Indiana to Chicago, a nun at St. Mary of the Lake grammar school noticed his voice was exceptional, so when he was only nine years old, he joined the Jack and Jill Players.
He debuted in the play “Water Babies” and studied drama at the De Paul Academy and De Paul University. However, York had already been offered minor radio roles.
In 1944, York gained national notoriety by working in the TV series “That Brewster Boy.” His career improved after joining the cast of “The Jack Armstrong Show” and becoming “Junior Junction’s” emcee.
Although his career skyrocketed in 1964 after being cast as Darrin Stephens in “Bewitched” opposite Elizabeth Montgomery and Agnes Moorehead, the project that really changed his life was “They Came to Cordura,” a western released in 1960.
This date was September 4, 1928, when Dick York was born. Photo credit to AP. #OTD pic.twitter.com/AJQ35uqRU0
— Dr. Jeffrey Guterman (@JeffreyGuterman) September 4, 2020
Due to an accident filming one of the scenes, he ended up lifting over 180 pounds on his own, which tore the muscles along the right side of his back.
The disabling injury was permanent, but he was not ready to stop working. York tried painkillers to relieve the pain but soon became addicted.
York was diagnosed in 1928 with emphysema. It is a lung condition that causes breathlessness and shortness.
This date was in 1928 when Dick York was born. Watch him play Darrin Stephens #1 on Bewitched, weekdays and Sundays on #AntennaTV! What’s your favorite sitcom man? pic.twitter.com/CJtKOo7uRD
— Antenna TV (@AntennaTV) September 4, 2019
YORK’S ADDICTION AND DOWNFALL
His pill addiction was a problem since the first day of filming “Bewitched” as director William Asher found him passed out in his car when they were supposed to be shooting. The director considered firing him right away but gave him another chance instead.
Asher pointed out that he wasn’t sure whether York’s substance issues started due to his back injury or he was actually dealing with the “disease of drug addiction,” and his sore back was just a good excuse.
Actors Barney Phillips and Dick York were in two of the most iconic episodes of #TheTwilightZone. You can name another episode in which they appeared. pic.twitter.com/7fdjOPmpOH
— The Twilight Zone (@TheTwilightZone) March 11, 2020
Things got more complicated during “Bewitched” Season 5 when York had a seizure on the set, and Montgomery couldn’t take it anymore. She requested to find a replacement for York, and Dick Sargent stepped in.
York had difficulty returning to the entertainment industry after that and decided to quit. If that wasn’t bad enough, York was diagnosed with emphysema, a lung condition that causes shortness of breath.
YORK’S FINAL YEARS
After his Hollywood career ended, he spent his savings on buying an apartment building in West Covina and had planned to live off rental income.
He couldn’t evict his tenants because they failed to pay their rent. This was a regrettable decision. Eventually, York himself ran out of money and couldn’t afford the mortgage, so the bank foreclosed the entire property.
York was forced to clean other apartments in order to keep his apartment. From earning six figures, he was able to get his first welfare check-in in 1976.
By 1989, he had already overcome his painkillers addiction but was dying of emphysema and living with his wife, Joan, on a $650-a-month Screen Actors Guild pension in a bungalow in Michigan.
At the time, he confessed he had not left his home for months and was tethered to a 25-foot oxygen lifeline. York, who was 63 years old, died on February 20, 1992.
York spent his last days in Chicago helping homeless people by collecting 300 sleeping bags, 5,000 cans of grapefruit juice, and 12,000 jackets. Rest in peace, legend.