'Bewitched' actress Erin Murphy says she's part of 'secret group' with former child stars
I was enrolled in school while I was on the set, but the weeks that I'd be filming, I would have a tutor on set," she explained. "The studio would send a limo to my elementary school and pick me up and the whole class would come out and wave goodbye to me as I went off the set. And the days I was not filming, I would go to regular school. So, I actually looked forward to both. I loved working, but I also liked going to school and hanging out with my friends. So, I had some friends who were child stars when I was a child star. I have way more friends who are child stars now that I'm a grown-up."
Murphy called what she and other former child stars have a "weird shared experience."
'BEWITCHED'
"I mean, there is such a small segment of the population who've had those experiences about, you know, going on auditions and working 12-hour days and kind of being famous, so everyone knew who we were," she said. "So, when you meet someone who's a former kid actor, you immediately are bonded to them because it's a life experience that most people don't understand."
Murphy said she's friends with everyone from the actors who played the children on "The Brady Bunch" to "The Waltons" and "Little House on the Prairie."
"We kind of have this secret group that we're all in, so I'm friends with all of them," she admitted. "And if you name a kid actor from, you know, the '50s, '60s, '70s, '80, '90s, I would probably say that I know them."
Murphy added that she and friend Maureen McCormick , who played Marcia on "The Brady Bunch," also have another special connection.
"She has a brother who has special needs and I have a son with special needs, so we are bonded over that as well," she explained.
Murphy started portraying Tabitha , the Stephens' oldest child, just before she turned 2 and stayed on until the show's final eighth season, leaving when she was 8.
She reflected on the comedy, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary.
"I think one of the reasons this show is still so popular is that it kind of appeals to everyone," she said. "Everybody wishes they could do magic. Everybody, you know, likes the fantasy element of it. Plus, it was really well done. So I think because it was well-written and well-acted and well directed, it's held up surprisingly well over the years."
Murphy also joked that she couldn't believe it's been 60 years since "Bewitched" first premiered on television on Sept. 17, 1964,because that means I'm going to be 60 this year, too, and that's impossible!"
The actress said she always thought of her co-stars as "family."
"I spent my whole childhood growing up on a television set, so my mom or dad were with me, but they were up in my dressing room and were offstage," she explained. "So, the actors who played my family were the ones there right next to me, so, I always thought of them as family members."
Murphy said she doesn't really have a favorite episode, but she "always liked the episodes where my character would go to school or... There's one I love where I turned a little girl, Amy, into a butterfly. I love that one. I love the ones where, like 'Hansel and Gretel,' where I go into a storybook, or 'Jack and the Beanstalk.' I like the episodes because I have really fond memories of shooting those. So, they're fun when I catch up and watch them, they're fun to watch."
She also likes the Halloween episode where Tabitha went trick-or-treating with some goblins she magically pulled out of a storybook.
"That was super fun to shoot because now most of the time we would shoot at Screen Gems. It was the old Screen Gems studio at the corner of Sunset and Gower [in Hollywood]," Murphy said, "but anyone like that, where we'd be outside, we would shoot at the ranch in the [San Fernando] Valley. So, it was always fun to go there, because then on breaks I'd be outside and I could, like, walk around and see the other sets. And it was fun to shoot there."
Murphy said there were some things she couldn't do as a child actor, like participate in school sports, "because I never knew when I would be working. But I don't know, I think I've had great experiences because of it. I know I've traveled the world. People have known who I am my whole life, so I don't know what it would like not to be recognized, if that makes sense. Because I was a little kid, and I'd be out in public and literally everyone knew my name, so I don't know what it would be like not having that."
Now, with grown children of her own, Murphy said she supports whatever they want to do with their lives.
"I have six kids who are all completely different, so I've never, you know, how parents say, 'I want my child to be a doctor or a lawyer' or whatever. I think it's important to let the kids figure out what they're interested in. So, they all do different things. And I always said if any of them were interested in the business, I would encourage it because I think the entertainment business is amazing, but none of them really went that way," she said.
Murphy said her oldest son is the only one working in the entertainment industry, designing virtual reality for television, "so he actually does that for TV and film, but none of them have been actors."
The 60-year-old has no regrets over her own career or for choosing to leave the industry after "Bewitched" and enjoy more of a regular childhood.
"I really don't," she said. "I mean, you look back on life and I was there on the set with actors who were parents. And I'm friends with Elizabeth Montgomery's kids. And I have more pictures with their mom than they do. So, I always thought, I don't know, life is short, but it's also long. I think there's plenty of time to do everything."
Murphy does, however, regret one road not taken from her child star days.
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"I always wish I'd done a show with Aaron Spelling," she said of the late producer who made shows like "Charlie's Angels," "Beverly Hills, 90210" and "Melrose Place." "That's one of my regrets. I should've done an Aaron Spelling show because it would have been fun. But, you know, life isn't about regret. It's like I worked on the show, I had a great life and raised kids. I'm still in the business. I don't live with regret at all."
Murphy admitted that her "dream role" on a Spelling show "would be to be something like Julie, the cruise director on 'The Love Boat,' because it's different actors every week and they travel. I thought that would be fun."
Murphy said after the table read for "Bewitched" each week, they'd spend the rest of the week shooting one episode, "so it was a long day each day, but super fun."
She also revealed that "The Donna Reed Show" was shot before them and she was allowed to use Reed's dressing room between takes "since I was a kid, and they thought I should have a bed and a kitchen. So, I may have had the best dressing room of everyone on the show."
The show's environment was "very positive," Murphy said.
"Liz Montgomery had a dressing room right next to the set, like a little trailer set up inside the set, inside the stage, and I don't know, we just had a great time. It was a fun set to work on. Lots of very positive people," she explained.
Agnes Moorehead, who played Samantha's mother and powerful witch Endora, who often clashed with Darrin, was Murphy's favorite castmate.
WATCH: 'Bewitched' star Erin Murphy says she has no regrets from acting career, reveals one missed 'dream role'
Murphy said Moorehead would draw her cartoon pictures and read her stories to entertain her during the long days on set.
"She was so amazing," the actress remembered. "I was always told to be very diplomatic as a child, so I could never say what my favorite was like. You know, I had to be very, you know, 'everyone was great.' Everyone was, and it was. But Agnes Moorehead was definitely my favorite."
FORMER 'BEWITCHED'
Murphy also praised the 1960s show for tackling difficult issues like racism "head-on."
I know it was very important to Elizabeth Montgomery, and it was her show," Murphy told Fox News Digital. "So, that's something that I'm proud of. A lot of people maybe see 'Bewitched' as kind of fluffy and all the, you know, the fantasy elements of it. We tackled a lot of serious issues because they were important to our cast."
She said the show talked about controversial issues at the time "in a way that made them accessible to people. A lot of shows were criticized at the time, if they were too political or, you know, [took] too much of a strong stance on anything. But 'Bewitched' faced things, you know, head on and people embraced it. So I'm proud of that."
Fast-forward to today, Murphy hasn't slowed down at all since leaving "Bewitched."
WATCH: 'Bewitched' star and mom of 6 Erin Murphy says she supports her children whether they're in the industry or not
"I'm really busy. I have, you know, kids and grandkids and I love to travel," she explained. "I still work. I do a lot of voiceover work. I have a great group of friends. I think life is all about balance. And I see people who kind of live their whole life working a job they don't love. And then, you know, as their life comes to an end, they're thinking, OK, well, someday I'll retire. And do, you know, travel or do something? But I don't want to live my life without having done everything."
Murphy said she just bought a small place outside of Nashville, Tennessee, to be closer to some of her grandkids, but she also has a home on the beach in Malibu, California.
"I'm kind of living the dream where I play celebrity poker tournaments, I go deep sea fishing with a group of actors and comedians," she admitted. "It's all about fun. I have friends over for game nights, and I don't know, life is good."
When asked by Fox News Digital what she thinks Tabitha would be up to these days as a grown-up in the 21st century, Murphy responded: "I think she would actually embrace the magic and use it for good."
The premise of "Bewitched" centered around demure housewife Samantha Stephens fitting in as a mortal in a suburban neighborhood outside of New York and teaching her daughter, Tabitha, to conceal her magic.
"So, I think it would maybe be the opposite because 'Bewitched' was all about, you know, being in the closet, and she couldn't let anyone know she was a witch, and she wasn't really being her true, authentic self," Murphy mused. "But I don't know, I think Tabitha would be having fun these days."
And after spending most of her life saying "no" to a possible reboot of the series, Murphy told Fox News Digital, "I'm kind of at the point a few years ago I did a year of 'yes,' like saying 'yes' to plays. I always said I wouldn't do a play. And I thought, OK, this is my year of 'yes,' I'll do a play. I'll shoot a... web series. I'll go to Italy. I'll do everything that comes at me. That sounds fun. I think I would maybe do that now. I think if they did a 'Bewitched' reboot and it was written right, I think I would maybe do a part. I wouldn't expect to star in it, obviously, but I would be happy to participate and have fun with it."
