99 Fun Facts About Bewitched

On Bewitched, absent-minded Aunt Clara has a passion for collecting what?

Doorknobs: the quirk was borrowed from the actress who played her, who collected them in real life.

What is Samantha and Darrin's street address on Bewitched?

1164 Morning Glory Circle sits in Westport, Connecticut in some episodes and Patterson, New York in others; Patterson is where Elizabeth Montgomery's family had its farm.

What is the name of the Madison Avenue advertising agency where Darrin works?

McMann and Tate chases a bigoted toy tycoon's account in 'Sisters at Heart', a 1970 Christmas episode whose story was written by a tenth-grade English class in Los Angeles.

How does Samantha most often cast a spell?

Twitching her nose was the very thing Samantha had promised to give up: Darrin wanted a normal suburban marriage, with no witchcraft at all.

Who played Endora, Samantha's disapproving mother?

Agnes Moorehead came from Orson Welles's Mercury Players and played the mother in Citizen Kane; Endora brought her six Emmy nominations, but she never won for the part.

Which actor took over as Darrin for Bewitched's final three seasons?

Dick Sargent had been close to signing as Darrin before the pilot was shot, but another job got in the way, so Dick York played the part first.

Dick York's back problems, which forced him off Bewitched, stemmed from an injury on which 1959 film?

On They Came to Cordura, a scene with a railroad handcar on the second-to-last day of shooting tore the muscles in York's back, and he worked on through the pain for years.

What did Bewitched do after Dick York collapsed in 1969?

It filmed without Darrin: York had collapsed while shooting 'Daddy Does His Thing' and never came back, so the season was finished without him and a new actor took over for season six.

Which animation studio made the cartoon opening credits of Bewitched?

Hanna-Barbera drew the cartoon Samantha and Darrin of the titles, and in 1972 made teenage versions of their children Tabitha and Adam the stars of an animated circus special.

What set the first two seasons of Bewitched apart from the six that followed?

Black and white: all 74 episodes of the first two seasons were shot that way before colour arrived in 1966, and every one was later colourised.

How much of Bewitched did Sol Saks, its credited creator, actually write?

Only the pilot: Sol Saks never wrote another episode, and a friend who worked on the show said he just sat back and took in the royalties.

Rehearsals for the Bewitched pilot were due to begin on the very day of which 1963 event?

The Kennedy assassination hit director William Asher personally: he knew the president and had staged the 1962 birthday gala at which Marilyn Monroe sang to him.

In its first season, Bewitched was second in the ratings only to which show?

Bonanza alone outdrew it: in 1964-65 the new sitcom about a suburban witch beat every other comedy on television, with Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. a close third.

Which two actresses won posthumous Emmys for their Bewitched roles?

Alice Pearce and Marion Lorne both died shortly before their wins; Lorne's heart failed ten days before the 1968 ceremony, where Elizabeth Montgomery accepted the award for her.

Who took over the role of nosy neighbour Gladys Kravitz in 1966?

Sandra Gould took over Gladys after the part's first actress died of cancer; Alice Ghostley was asked first but refused out of loyalty to her late friend.

Why do Aunt Clara's spells keep going wrong on Bewitched?

She was losing her powers with age, and being absent-minded as well she tended to forget the spell that would undo each blunder, leaving Samantha and Darrin to clear up.

Before he became Uncle Arthur, Paul Lynde first appeared on Bewitched in 1965 as what mortal character?

A nervous driving instructor called Harold Harold, so rattled by Endora in the back seat that he is fired until Samantha wins him his job back; that autumn Lynde returned as Uncle Arthur.

Bewitched's Paul Lynde was a regular on which game show?

Hollywood Squares gave him its centre square from 1968 to 1981; on Bewitched, for all his fame as Uncle Arthur, he played the part in just ten episodes.

Under what fake name was Elizabeth Montgomery sometimes credited when playing Samantha's cousin Serena?

Pandora Spocks, a pun on Pandora's box, was Montgomery's own idea for the credits when she played Samantha's miniskirted lookalike cousin.

Erin Murphy played young Tabitha on Bewitched, but at first she shared the role with whom?

Her fraternal twin sister Diane: producers auditioned only twins because child labour laws limited a toddler's hours on set, and Erin took over once the two stopped looking alike.

A 1970 Bewitched story arc was shot on location in which town?

Salem got its visit by accident: a fire had wrecked part of the Stephens house set that summer, so the next season opened with an eight-episode trip there while it was rebuilt.

Which cable channel put up a bronze statue of Samantha in a Massachusetts park in 2005?

TV Land paid for the bronze and unveiled it that June, with director William Asher and three of the show's surviving actors there to watch.

Which car company was a main sponsor of Bewitched when it launched in 1964?

Chevrolet got its money's worth: its cars turned up on screen again and again.

Which rival NBC show, produced by the same studio, did Bewitched inspire?

I Dream of Jeannie arrived a year after Bewitched: Sidney Sheldon created it in answer to the witch's ratings, swapping her for a genie in a bottle.

In 1965, Samantha and Darrin turned up as new neighbours on which animated series?

The Flintstones called the episode simply 'Samantha', and Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York voiced their own characters as Bedrock's new arrivals.

In the 1977 spin-off Tabitha, where did the grown-up Tabitha Stephens work?

A television station, KXLA in Los Angeles; the spin-off also rewrote the family, turning her warlock little brother Adam into an older, disapproving mortal.

Who played the real witch cast as Samantha opposite Will Ferrell in Bewitched (2005)?

Nicole Kidman's Isabel is the unknown a fading film star picks as his Samantha for a comeback remake, never guessing she can do the magic for real; Nora Ephron directed.

Samantha's actress was the daughter of which Hollywood star and director?

Robert Montgomery gave her a first screen role on his own anthology series, Robert Montgomery Presents; two years later her Broadway debut in Late Love won a Theatre World Award.

Elizabeth Montgomery's first Emmy nomination was for which gangster-era crime series?

The Untouchables cast the future Samantha as Rusty Heller, a nightclub siren, before Bewitched began; five more nominations followed for the witch.

Genealogists found Elizabeth Montgomery was a distant cousin of which notorious figure she played in a 1975 TV film?

Lizzie Borden and Montgomery were sixth cousins once removed, through a 17th-century Massachusetts settler; the link was traced only after the actress died, so she never knew she had played a relative.

William Asher, the director behind Bewitched, had earlier directed more than 100 episodes of which sitcom?

I Love Lucy was his proving ground in the 1950s, yet the one Emmy of his career came in 1966 for directing Bewitched.

Endora's actress later developed cancer, like many who filmed which John Wayne epic downwind of atomic tests?

The Conqueror was shot around St George, Utah, downwind of Nevada's test site; by 1980, 91 of its 220 cast and crew had developed cancer, though no link has ever been proven.

Endora's actress won her only Emmy guesting on which series?

The Wild Wild West won her the 1967 Emmy for a single guest appearance; her years of nominations as Endora and her four Oscar nominations all came to nothing.

What did the actor who played Bewitched's second Darrin do in October 1991?

He publicly came out as gay on National Coming Out Day, saying the high suicide rate among young gay people was his main reason, and joked that he was a 'retroactive role model'.

David White's son Jonathan, after whom Larry Tate's baby was named, died in which 1988 tragedy?

The Lockerbie bombing killed Jonathan, 33, aboard Pan Am Flight 103; White, who had lost the boy's mother thirty years earlier, died two years later, and father and son's ashes now share a niche in a Los Angeles cemetery.

In which 1960 film did Dick York play the teacher on trial for teaching evolution?

Inherit the Wind cast York as the Scopes-like teacher beside Spencer Tracy and Fredric March; in his last years, housebound on oxygen, he ran a one-man phone campaign for the homeless.

In a 1992 interview, Elizabeth Montgomery agreed Bewitched could be read as an allegory about what?

Closeted homosexuality was a reading the cast talked over on set, she said: the show was about people not being allowed to be what they really are.

Which 1972 sitcom, produced by William Asher, took over the Wednesday slot Bewitched had held a year earlier?

The Paul Lynde Show gave Bewitched's Uncle Arthur a sitcom of his own, as a lawyer exasperated by his son-in-law; ABC took it in place of a ninth season of Bewitched, and it lasted one year.

In the Bewitched episode among TV Guide's 100 greatest, what does Endora do to Darrin?

She splits him in two: an all-work Darrin stays behind on an account while his fun-loving half holidays in Florida with Samantha, in 'Divided He Falls', which made the magazine's 1997 list.

Bewitched's Japanese dub inspired a 1966 Toei series regarded as the first anime of which genre?

Magical girl anime began with Sally the Witch, a manga and cartoon whose creator took his inspiration from Bewitched, shown in Japan under the title 'My Wife Is a Witch'.

Which star played the witch in I Married a Witch, the 1942 comedy that helped inspire Bewitched?

Veronica Lake's witch brews a love potion for the man she means to torment, then drinks it herself and falls for him, the same witch-loves-mortal idea Bewitched ran with.

Which actor played the witch doctor Dr. Bombay?

Bernard Fox played the eccentric physician from 1967 to 1972 and later reprised the role on the soap opera Passions.

Alice Ghostley played which shy, inept witch who babysat Tabitha and Adam?

Esmeralda's magic misfired from nerves: a sneeze would conjure something unexpected, and when Darrin flustered her she simply faded from sight.

The backlot facade that played Samantha's house on Bewitched was damaged in a fiery stunt for which 1990s sitcom?

Home Improvement damaged the facade with a pyrotechnic stunt for an episode, but it was restored and stood until the backlot street was cleared in 2023.

In January 1972 Bewitched was moved to Saturdays opposite which number-one program?

All in the Family was the most-watched show in America; against it Bewitched fell to 72nd for the season, having been the country's number two in its first year.

On WandaVision, the exterior of the Stephens house served as the home of which character?

Agatha Harkness plays the nosy neighbour but is secretly a witch herself, and Marvel filmed her home at the very facade that had been Samantha's.

What was the name of Elizabeth Montgomery and William Asher's production company?

Ashmont Productions joined the first syllables of Asher and Montgomery; the couple's company took its credit on the eighth and final season, just as the marriage was coming apart.

Why did Bewitched end in 1972 when ABC wanted more?

Its star quit: the show had sunk to 72nd in the ratings, yet ABC was ready to renew it for a ninth season, and Elizabeth Montgomery chose to stop.

Danny Arnold, Bewitched's first producer, went on to co-create which police comedy?

Barney Miller followed a decade later; on Bewitched Danny Arnold had used the magic sparingly, as a metaphor for a young couple's everyday troubles.

Bewitched's Uncle Arthur was played by the comedian who voiced Templeton the rat in which animated film?

Charlotte's Web (1973) cast Paul Lynde as its gluttonous rat. He played Uncle Arthur in only ten Bewitched episodes, yet it became one of his best-known roles.

Maurice Evans, Samantha's father on Bewitched, wore heavy ape makeup as which Planet of the Apes character?

Dr. Zaius, the orangutan of the 1968 film and its first sequel, was Evans under the makeup. He was famed for Shakespeare, which Bewitched echoed in his warlock's verse-laden entrances.

The actor behind Dr. Bombay on Bewitched played Colonel Archibald Gracie in which 1997 blockbuster?

Titanic was his second film about the liner. Thirty-nine years earlier he had an uncredited bit as the lookout in the crow's nest in A Night to Remember.

Endora's actress on Bewitched made her film debut as the hero's mother in which Orson Welles classic?

Citizen Kane (1941) was her first film; she had followed Welles into pictures from his Mercury Theatre troupe. She earned four Oscar nominations in the film career that followed.

The Bewitched house plays Clark Griswold's boyhood home in the old home movies of which comedy film?

Christmas Vacation shows the facade in Clark's old family films. The house was a backlot shell: its front door opened onto an unfinished entry, with interiors shot on sound stages.

The Kravitz house seen in Bewitched's later seasons went on to be the home in which 1970s sitcom?

The Partridge Family later used the same house. Before 1966 the Kravitzes had lived in the home from The Donna Reed Show instead.

Which Sleepless in Seattle filmmaker wrote, directed and produced the 2005 Bewitched film?

Nora Ephron said the original series was about a powerful woman and a husband who could not deal with that power. Critics were unkind, and the film took less in American cinemas than it cost to make.

Which star of The Office played Uncle Arthur in the 2005 Bewitched film?

Steve Carell appears late in the film, when Uncle Arthur turns up to talk the hero out of letting his witch co-star leave for good.

On Bewitched, Aunt Clara tries to conjure an electrician to fix a lamp and instead summons which historical figure?

Benjamin Franklin marvels at the twentieth century in a 1966 two-parter, while Larry Tate assumes he is Darrin's campaign idea for an electronics client.

Which Oscar-winning actress plays Iris Smythson, the diva cast as Endora, in the 2005 Bewitched film?

Shirley MacLaine's Iris turns out to be a real witch herself, a secret she reveals at a celebration by casting spells on younger guests flirting with the heroine's father.

Which British film veteran plays Nigel, the witch heroine's meddling father, in the 2005 Bewitched film?

Michael Caine's Nigel keeps popping up to coax his daughter home, then becomes infatuated with the actress playing Endora.

Dick Wilson, the recurring bar drunk on Bewitched, was better known as which long-running TV commercial character?

Mr. Whipple, the grocer of more than 500 Charmin commercials, was Wilson's day job. On Bewitched he turned up in 18 episodes, usually blaming the magic he saw on the drink.

How is the prank-loving Uncle Arthur related to Samantha's mother, Endora, on Bewitched?

Her brother plays endless practical jokes on Darrin, yet gets on with him better than Endora does. He once lost his powers for defending the marriage before the Witches Council.

What is the first name of Gladys Kravitz's disbelieving husband, forever reading his newspaper on Bewitched?

Abner never looks up in time to see the magic his wife reports, so he never believes her. George Tobias played him for seven seasons.

On Bewitched, Aunt Clara's attempt to conjure a house painter instead brings which Renaissance artist?

Leonardo da Vinci swaps clothes with Darrin by accident, wanders into an art museum and starts chiselling at a stone artwork before Samantha zaps him back.

Uncle Arthur tries to zap up a French pastry on Bewitched and gets which historical figure instead?

Napoleon Bonaparte appears because the pastry Arthur wanted is called a napoleon. Samantha passes the emperor off as Henri, her visiting cousin from Paris.

The two leads of the 2005 Bewitched film shared which unwanted award for their pairing as a couple?

A Razzie named them the year's worst pairing. The film was also nominated for worst director, actor, screenplay and remake.

How did Bewitched deal with two of Elizabeth Montgomery's real-life pregnancies during the show's run?

Samantha got pregnant too, giving the Stephenses Tabitha and later Adam. The real babies' father was the show's director, William Asher.

Bumbling Aunt Clara's fumbled entrances on Bewitched often have her arriving by which unusual route?

Down the chimney, or straight into a wall: Clara's comings and goings rarely go to plan. She is also the only one of Samantha's relatives who truly gets on with Darrin.

In the first episode of Bewitched, when does Samantha finally tell Darrin that she is a witch?

On their wedding night, after Endora has zapped the groom down to the hotel lobby to stall him. Darrin is shocked but decides he cannot give Samantha up.

On Bewitched, what reason does Endora give Darrin for never revealing her surname to him?

He could not pronounce it, she tells him. Her first name might nod to the Biblical Witch of Endor, and she repays the favour by almost never saying Darrin's name correctly.

At the start of Bewitched's fourth season, the retiring witch Ticheba names Samantha as her successor in which role?

Queen of the Witches is a job Samantha tries to refuse for Darrin's sake. She agrees to perform her duties only after midnight, so they will not disturb her mortal life.

Aunt Clara's actress and Bewitched's second Louise Tate both appeared in which Alfred Hitchcock thriller?

Strangers on a Train (1951) gave Clara's actress her feature film debut after decades on the stage, while Kasey Rogers, then working as Laura Elliott, played the scheming wife Miriam.

In a late Bewitched episode, Endora turns a Siamese cat into a model played by which Batman actress?

Julie Newmar plays the statuesque Ophelia, whom Endora creates to test Darrin's loyalty on the eighth anniversary of his first date with Samantha.

Which future Oscar winner played Rodney, a lovesick teenage warlock, in the Bewitched episode Man's Best Friend?

Richard Dreyfuss played the warlock Samantha once babysat, who turns up in her kitchen declaring his love. It was one of his small 1960s TV roles, years before Jaws.

Which baseball great turns up as himself among the guests at Endora's Halloween bash on Bewitched?

Willie Mays surprises Darrin among the witches and warlocks in the 1966 episode Twitch or Treat, a gathering Endora insists on holding at Samantha's house.

Elizabeth Montgomery of Bewitched appeared so often on which game show that its host gave her a royal nickname?

Password was hosted by Allen Ludden, who gave her a regal title after her many appearances. Her later acting years were mostly spent in dramatic television films.

Bewitched director William Asher also made which 1960s film series starring Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello?

Beach Party and its sequels were Asher's other 1960s hit. Elizabeth Montgomery made a cameo as a witch at the end of the 1965 entry, parodying Samantha.

After glimpsing something inexplicable on Bewitched, Darrin's mother Phyllis typically complains of which ailment?

A sick headache is Phyllis's stock reaction, since she never learns that her daughter-in-law is a witch. Her surprise visits often force Samantha to tidy the house by magic.

Who is Sheila Sommers, the wealthy woman who hosts a formal dinner in the first episode of Bewitched?

Darrin's former fiancée is so condescending at her dinner that the new bride gets back at her with witchcraft. Nancy Kovack returned as Sheila twice, once trying to seduce Darrin.

Before Bewitched, Elizabeth Montgomery was married for seven years to which Oscar-winning actor?

Gig Young was her husband from 1956 to 1963. That same year she married William Asher, who was about to direct her as Samantha.

From his sickbed in later life, Bewitched's Dick York founded the charity Acting for Life to help whom?

The homeless were his cause. Bedridden with emphysema, he used his telephone to press politicians, businesses and the public to donate supplies and money.

What did the first actress to play Gladys Kravitz keep secret throughout her time on Bewitched?

Her terminal illness, ovarian cancer, had been diagnosed before the series even began. She worked through two seasons and died in March 1966, weeks after filming her last episode.

Mabel Albertson, Darrin's mother on Bewitched, was the older sibling of the actor behind which Willy Wonka character?

Grandpa Joe was Jack Albertson, born six years after Mabel. Their mother was a stock actress who supported the family by working in a shoe factory.

Bernie Kopell, the amorous warlock apothecary on Bewitched, later spent nine years as Doc on which series?

The Love Boat made him Dr. Adam Bricker for 250 episodes. On Bewitched he played the apothecary in four episodes, plus a hippie warlock called Alonzo.

Alice Ghostley, the shy witch housekeeper on Bewitched, later played Bernice Clifton on which hit sitcom?

Designing Women brought her an Emmy nomination in 1992. She had first appeared on Bewitched in 1966 as an inept maid named Naomi.

Which actress played the grown-up witch daughter in Tabitha, the short-lived 1977 Bewitched spin-off?

Lisa Hartman took over after a first trial episode with a different actress failed to sell. The series was cancelled after twelve episodes.

Samantha's flirtatious cousin Serena teases white-haired Larry Tate with which nickname on Bewitched?

Cotton-Top is Serena's pet name for the boss she flirts with just for sport. Elizabeth Montgomery played both cousins, giving Serena cropped black hair and a tattoo that changed between episodes.

Dr. Bombay of Bewitched reappeared decades later on which NBC soap opera featuring a witch named Tabitha Lenox?

Passions also had its witch name her daughter Endora, another nod to Bewitched. The soap began on NBC in 1999 and ran until 2008.

Which 1958 film, with James Stewart falling under a modern witch's love spell, helped inspire Bewitched?

Bell, Book and Candle starred Kim Novak as the modern witch Gillian Holroyd. Columbia owned it, and the studio's television arm went on to produce Bewitched.

Which television arm of Columbia Pictures produced Bewitched along with The Monkees and The Flying Nun?

Screen Gems was Columbia's TV studio, which is why the Stephenses' house was a facade on the backlot of Columbia's ranch in Burbank.

Alongside a car maker, which food company sponsored early Bewitched, a reason for its many breakfast scenes?

Quaker Oats shared the first five seasons with the car maker, whose vehicles were written into storylines. Later sponsors included Eastman Kodak and Oscar Mayer.

Which film star turned director was behind the camera for the first-season Bewitched episode A Is for Aardvark?

Ida Lupino directed the episode, in which a laid-up Darrin gets a house enchanted to meet his every need and Endora warns that the power will go to his head.

Which Broadway star, fresh from playing Glinda in Wicked, is the witch's neighbour Maria in the 2005 Bewitched film?

Kristin Chenoweth went from Broadway's good witch to befriending a film one. Her character lives next door to Isabel, who has moved to Los Angeles to try a normal life.

In its final season Bewitched moved to Wednesdays against Adam-12 and which popular CBS variety programme?

The Carol Burnett Show helped sink it: Bewitched ended that year in 72nd place, after one last move to Saturdays against the country's highest-rated programme.

On a Bewitched trip to the Tower of London, a spiteful witch sends Samantha back to the court of which king?

Henry VIII meets a Samantha with no memory and no powers, so Endora sends Darrin back to the sixteenth century to rescue her. The two-parter opened the final season.

Which future film star has a barely seen bit part as a flight attendant in a first-season Bewitched episode?

Raquel Welch plays the stewardess on Darrin's flight to Paris in the 1964 episode Witch or Wife, though she is not seen clearly.

Which Lost in Space child actor played Darrin as a ten-year-old boy in the Bewitched episode Junior Executive?

Billy Mumy plays the boy Endora turns Darrin into, who is then mistaken for an advertising prodigy. A year earlier he had been the troubled orphan the Stephenses take in for the holidays.

The actor who played Dr. Bombay on Bewitched was also Colonel Crittendon on which 1960s military sitcom?

Hogan's Heroes ran from 1965 to 1971, almost the same years as Bewitched, so he played the witch doctor and the colonel side by side.

In an early Bewitched episode, Samantha punishes a lecherous client at her dinner table by turning him into what?

A dog is what baby-food maker Rex Barker becomes after making passes at her. Samantha is angrier still when Darrin seems to care more about the account.