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Erin Murphy played Tabitha Stephens from age 2 to age 8 on Bewitched
After the show concluded, Murphy went back to a “normal childhood” and is able to recall her fond memories of having both experiences
Murphy, 61, remembered the one time she tried to shake her star status and why it wasn’t necessary
Erin Murphy has great childhood memories.
The actress, 61, talked about life after Bewitched on The Magnificent Others podcast with Billy Corgan, explaining that while many child actors had trouble shaking their on-screen persona, it never presented a problem for her.
“Anywhere I would go as a child, people knew who I was. Everyone knew who I was. And that seemed normal because that’s all I knew,” she explained.
The star continued, “But maybe it was because Bewitched was a show people loved so much, I never had bullying. Kids at school were nice to me.And I have always felt almost an obligation to be maybe nicer than others because of that.”
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Murphy explained that her desire to be liked wasn’t a “weird child actor thing,” but a genuine desire to connect with others.
“I want people to like me,” she said. “And it’s not because it’s a weird child actor thing, like I want them to like me so I get a job. No. I like people. I want them to like me. I don’t want them to think that, since I was on a TV show, that I should be treated differently. I kind of bend over the other way.”
Murphy recalled enjoying herself as she moved from junior high to high school and getting to do the things other girls her age did.
“I wanted to do all the things. I was class president. I was a cheerleader. I was homecoming queen,” she shared.
She added, “I had a very normal childhood. I feel like even being a kid actor, I had a normal childhood because I was still able to do things like be a Girl Scout and stuff like that.”
Murphy recalled a time when she had an opportunity to “start over” away from her Bewitched past and quickly realized that approach didn’t suit her.
“When the show ended, we were in LA for a few more years, then moved down to Orange County. I thought, ‘Oh, we’re moving away. I’m gonna change my name.’ I was gonna use my middle name, which I hate. My middle name is Margaret, but my dad called me Peggy. So I thought, I’ll be Peggy Mercy… But I thought we would move away and I could be a new person and no one would know me,” she recalled.
“The first day of school, everyone knew who I was. I wasn’t Peggy for even an hour. It didn’t last,” she remembered.
Murphy stated that she still watches Bewitched from time to time and is excited to revisit it with her grandkids.
“When I watch Bewitched, it’s fun for me, and I really don’t watch it that often. because I have grandkids now. I need to get them watching it,” she said. “They think they’d like it. But, when I watch the episodes like ‘Jack and the Beanstalker,’ one of the episodes where I was the focus of the episode, I remember so many things about filming. So it’s fun remembering.”
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