Milt Larsen, the Magic Castle & Me!

Was so excited to attend the book release party for Milt Larsen, the founder of one of the happiest places on earth: The Magic Castle. Even more excited to find out that I'm IN the book! What many people don't know is that Milt Larsen got his SAG card doing the 'table yank trick' doubling for Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde). You can read the story on pages 72-73 of My Magical Journey The First 30,000 days.

Also there were Tracy Weisert, Geri Jewell, Jeraldine Saunders, Alison Arngrim, Kate Linder, Tippi Hedren, Barbara Van Orden and Ruta Lee. Photos by Bill Dow.

Bewitched is Coming to Logo TV!

Exciting news: Bewitched is coming to the Logo TV Network! Premiering with an all-day marathon on October 14th, before we move to our permanent slot on Wednesdays from 7:00-10:00 PM. We'll be joining their new lineup of comedy classics, including Absolutely Fabulous and Will & Grace. The last time you saw me on Logo is when I let my friends Rupaul & the lovely Ms. Pandora Boxx turn me into a 'Drag Queen' on the celebrity finale of Rupaul's Drag U!!

Diary of a Kickstarter Campaign: All or Nothing!

It's the countdown for the Erin Murphy Knits Alpaca Project! My Kickstarter Campaign has three days to go and is 82% funded. I've receeived several messages from my backers saying that they'd like to honor their pledges even if I don't reach 100%. That's not how Kickstarter works. Kickstarter is an "All or Nothing at All' platform. If I don't reach 100% funding, your credit card will not be charged. But I'm not worried yet. I feel great about the support of my backers and the enthusiastic messages that I've received. Hopefully when my project hits the 'Ending Soon' page on Kickstarter I'll pick up a few extra sponsors. You can help by telling your friends about the Erin Murphy Knits Alpaca Project! All rewards will be received in time for holiday gift giving. Wouldn't a hand knit alpaca hat make a great gift? http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/erinmurphyknits/erin-murphy-knits-alpaca-project?ref=category

Rest in Peace William Asher, My Uncle Bill!

Yesterday morning I received a call from my dear friend Rebecca Asher. I was expecting her call, since I'd just contacted her about getting her dad the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Television Academy this year. Over the last 10 days, I'd had conversations with two of my friends at the Academy about honoring Bill & I was eternally optimistic that he'd somehow be able to attend. Sadly Rebecca's call was to tell me that her dad, my beloved Uncle Bill, had just passed away. The news wasn't entirely unexpected, he was 90 years old and had been extremely ill for well over a year. My emotions were raw and overwhelming. It's nearly impossible to put into words the loss I feel for a man who changed my life so completely, a man I met when I was a baby and respected and loved like a parent. I think sometimes actors lose contact with coworkers and move on to the next show with simply a glance over their shoulder. That wasn't the case with my relationship with Bill Asher. In the eighties and nineties, I went to pool parties and barbecues at his Malibu beach house. We had talks about him creating a remake television series of the film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner, with his wife Joyce Bulifant playing my mom. We also met several times at hs office with photographers and illustrators since he wanted to create an animated/ live action Bewitched series with me. I thought the idea was silly, but I gladly would have done it for him. Over one lunch, I mentioned that I'd just gone to Magic Mountain with his sons Billy & John. His face lit up, 'Are you and Billy an item? I'd love that!' no offense to Billy, whom I adore, but my response was , 'NO! EWWWW! He's like my brother!'. He gave me a hug and told me that I was already part of his family. Over the last ten years, Uncle Bill and I had the pleasure of seeing each other dozens of times, at events like the TVLand Awards and when Lizzie got her Star on the Walk of fame.

We both attended the Bewitched feature film premiere in New York and were on hand for the unveiling of TVLand's Bewitched statue in Salem. Darren and I drove out to the desert when he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Palm Springs Walk of Stars.

I was also there (pictured here with Rebecca and Billy Asher) when the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored him with his contribution to 50 years of television. In turn, he and his wife Meredith completely surprised me at an event where I was modelling the famous Joan Collins Playboy gown. One of the last conversations we had, Uncle Bill looked in my eyes and told me that he "knew I'd grow up to be a beauty and that I looked so much like 'his' Lizzie". As I drove home, I cried. Hollywod has lost a true Legend who will forever be remembered for his contributions to the entertainment world, including Bewitched, I Love Lucy, Gidget, The Patty Duke Show, etc. etc. I in turn feel like a sad little girl who lost my Uncle Bill; but feel very lucky to be part of his family.

In Honor of Comic Con..

It's that time of year again...time for ComicCon! Every year I get a bunch of e-mails asking if I'm going to be there. Surprising fact, I've NEVER been! Another surprising fact, there were Bewitched comic books & I was featured on the cover of a bunch of them. I may make the drive down & sign at Comic con next year. the party invitations are certainly tempting.

Save Bob Baker Marionettes!

How many of you remember the Punch & Judy episode of Bewitched? That was Bob Baker behind the curtain. Due to declining ticket sales & a drop in donations, the legendary Bob Baker Marionette Theater is up for sale. In June 2009, the theater was declared a historic cultural landmark. The building contains over 3,000 hand-made marionettes & has hosted shows followed by ice cream for almost 50 years. It's a wonderful place for a birthday party & I've had mine there! They have a Celebration & Preservation Extravaganza scheduled for July 29, 2012. Visit their website to purchase tickets, make a tax deductible donation or plan a visit: www.academyofpuppetry.org

Bewitched Memories: Dr. Bombay & Tabitha Visit Howard Stern!

People always ask who I stayed in touch with after Bewitched ended. One of the relationships that I've really enjoyed is with Bernard Fox (Dr. Bombay). We've had the pleasure of attending many, many events together over the years, traveling & sharing meals. We also share the same wicked sense of humor, which can be seen in our visit with Howard Stern. How many "Dick" jokes can you count in our 10 minute interview? For those interested in what Howard Stern is "really like", I've done his show three times & he is extremely smart, charming & a total gentleman! Photo credit: ABC Archives.

Bewitched Meets Mad Men!

Bewitched fans LOVE Mad Men! The similarities to even a casual viewer are obvious: 60's, advertising, smoking, drinking, pretty blonde wife, the fact that Don & Roger look like sexier versions of Darren Stephens & Larry Tate. I've been watching since the first episode of the first season & knew that there would be Bewitched references. The talented writing team didn't disappoint. I loved when there was mention that Don Draper should have lunch with Bill Asher at the Brown Derby 'He'll probably cast you'. Darren & I went to the Mad Men Finale Event at the Television Academy last night & had the chance to chat with the shows creator, Matt Weiner, the stars & the writers. They're all Bewitched fans! Little known fact, my dear friend Rebecca Asher (Elizabeth Montgomery & Bill Asher's daughter) was script supervisor on some early episodes. She's directing Raising Hope now (& I feel like a proud big sister). Adorable Kiernan Shipka, is so poised & articulate. I think she's amazing as Sally Draper & clearly has the most fully developed, interesting character ever written for a young actor on television. I've always said I'd love to work on another series when my kids were older. I've been so particular about what should be my return project to the small screen. I really didn't think MegaOctopus Piranha Boy was the right choice..Don't you think Tabitha Stephens Sterling has a nice ring to it? Heck, I'd be happy to play 3rd secretary down the hall & say "Good Morning Mr. Draper!'.

Bewitched Memories: My Thoughts on the Tabitha Series

With the huge success of Bewitched & the fact that the series ended without cancellation, it was inevitable that there would be a remake (or remakes). The first attempt was a pilot, Tabatha (with an A not an I), broadcast on ABC on April 24, 1976. The pilot starred Liberty Williams as a brown eyed, brunette Tabatha who worked for Trend Magazine in San Francisco. It was awful & wasn't picked up. The network completely reworked the concept & came up with Tabitha. The pilot aired on May 7, 1977 and the series debuted on September 10, 1977. in both series attempts, the concept was that my character was a grownup & alas, I was just 11 & 12. Lisa Hartman played the grownup me in the Tabitha series & the network made a great effort to cast someone that they thought looked like I would as an adult.

The network execs had me bring in bunches of photos, so the opening montage could have a mixture of my childhood photos & Lisa Hartman's. Adult Lisa looked like me, kid Lisa looked nothing like me. The opening voice over said something like, "Tabitha grew up like most kids, with braces & freckles..". I didn't have either, so they painted some on one of my photos as an option.

The Tabatha series wasn't great. It's been included in several lists of the worst series of all time! It did a nice job of launching Lisa Hartman's career. At the time, I was disappointed that they didn't wait a little & do the series with me, about Tabitha's adventures in high school. I did watch it at the time, but haven't seen it since. Here's my acting composite from that time:

Please visit my company, Erin Murphy Knits! www.ErinMurphyKnits.com I'm happy to offer 100% alpaca, hand knit hats for sale!

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Agnes Moorhead Knits!

People always ask me when I got interested in knitting. One of the most frequent things I hear when I'm knitting in public is 'knitting is a lost art'. Let me start by telling you about my earliest memories of knitting, long before I owned alpacas & decided to start Erin Murphy Knits. One of my fondest memories of childhood is sitting and watching Agnes Moorehead knit. Since my only living grandma lived a plane ride away, Agnes was my Grandmama that I got to see every day. She would tell me stories about how she had loved to do needlework since she was a little girl. I loved watching her knit and listening to her stories. Today when I knit, I frequently flash back on those fond childhood memories. Knitting is the perfect activity on a film/ television set where there are long periods of inactivity. Lots of current actresses knit on set: Julia Roberts, Jessica Alba, Sandra Bullock, Debra Messing, Sarah Jessica Parker, Christina Hendricks & Madonna. Lost art indeed!! Thought you might enjoy some photos of a few Hollywood legends who had a passion for knitting as well:

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Bewitched Bunch?

I kind of enjoy cross-over TV shows, where the cast of one show visits another. Sometimes this is done as a setup for a spinoff, like Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy or one of the versions of CSI or Law & Order. Sometimes the crossover is just for fun, like when the cast of Bewitched suddenly became animated & visited the Flintstones. As a child, my dream crossover would have been a visit to the Brady Bunch. We were filmed at the same time for the same network (ABC). I even sometimes shared an on set tutor with the Brady Kids. Maureen McCormick was on a couple episodes of Bewitched before she was a Brady. I would have loved to be a classmate of Cindy & Bobby. It doesn't matter that they're three years older, TV age and real age don't always coincide. Marcia & Jan could have been my babysitters! Can't you imagine the fun we would have had? I'm friends with most of the Brady's in the "real world". Susan Olsen has even puppy sat for us when we've gone on family vacation. What crossover TV show would you like to see?

What About Dick? or No TV for Lauren Hutton!

Over the weekend I attended the absolutely hilarious Eric Idle play: What About Dick? Unfortunately, it only had a four day run that ended yesterday, so my glowing review of the musical isn't to encourage you to go. The beautiful Orpheum Theater welcomed to the stage Russell Brand, Billy Connolly, Tim Curry, Eric Idle, Eddie Izzard, Jane Leeves, Jim Piddock, Tracey Ullman & Sophie Winkleman. The after party was especially cool: The cast mingled with other guests including Anjelica Huston, Patricia Heaton & Wendie Malick. The producer, Arnold Engelman, graciously introduced me to Lauren Hutton who was one of the investors. I learned two surprising things about the former supermodel: She is VERY short (shorter than I am!) and she hasn't watched television since 1964! She told me that she hadn't ever seen Bewitched, but was 'aware of it' & that she thought it was based on the book Bell, Book & Candle. She was also lovely!

My original title for this blog post was 'Lauren Hutton Prefers Dick to TV!' but I figured that was even too risque for me!

Memories of Sunset & Gower

Isn't it funny how certain things can trigger a memory? When I smell Aramis cologne, it reminds me of a high school boyfriend. When I smell Shalimar, it reminds me of watching my mom get dressed up to go out. Well a friend posted this photo on Facebook today, & memories came flooding back. This is the corner of Sunset & Gower in the 1960's. We filmed Bewitched right here at Screen Gems & I used to eat at the Copper Skillet all the time. One day, Johnnie Whitaker took me on my first date here. To be fair, I don't think he considered it a date, since I think I was only 5 years old & he was probably 10. It was while we were filming the Jack & the Beanstalk episode of Bewitched. I ordered breaded veal cutlet & he paid with a check. Awwww, memories!!

Rest in Peace Davy Jones

The Monkees filmed at the Screen Gems lot the same time we were filming Bewitched. I loved the show & like most of America, I thought that Davy was the cute one. I was lucky to spend quite a bit of time with Davy over the years. He was always funny, charming & ageless. I think a nice tribute would be to download your favorite Monkees songs from ITunes. I did that long before today!

Making TV Magic

Now that the Press Dome Campaign is running, I can show you a little behind the scenes footage. One version of the commercial has a segment with & little wink & nod to Bewitched Magic. I'm frequently asked about how we make things appear & disappear on Bewitched. Here's a little video tutorial that gives a good example of the "freeze process". Kids love the results if you want to try a little movie making on your own.

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My Commercial With Ronald Reagan!

Thanks to GaryB from Australia for finding my old commercial with Ronald Reagan. I'm topless, of course! This was one of Ronald Reagan's last commercials before he ran for Governor of California.