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Erin or Diane Murphy(which baby witch is it?)

posted 7 years ago by [email protected] (5497)
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When I was a kid I didn't know that TV shows used twins because of child work laws.

But like most Bewitched fans, I later found out that Tabitha was played by Erin and Diane Murphy until Erin took over the role by herself.

I saw Erin Murphy on a Bewitched documentary and she said that since they were fraternal twins they started to look a lot different from each other. She said that she was mostly used in the close-ups. Then she was the one to take over the role because she "resembled Elizabeth Montgomery more."

Miss Murphy was just being tactful I think. As I have rewatched the third season episodes, she is clearly the better looking twin! Her sister Diane was cute, but Erin was a real little beauty.
I can't believe I watched that show for so many years without seeing the difference! For one thing, their hair is different. Erin's mostly curled down over her ears and Diane's hair was curled above her ears.

Sometimes you can see the difference in their behavior while in the playpen. Diane always seemed the one who wanted OUT! I just watched the first episode of season three. Darrin greets Tabitha in her playpen and ask how daddy's little girl is. She immediately raises her arms and says, "Out, out". She reached up in several episodes as if she clearly wanted OUT of that playpen! ha ha

I just watched the episode when Aunt Clara creates a double for Jonathan Tate. Sitting side by side, those babies were clearly identical. They could never have placed the Murphy twins next to each other. In every episode with Tabitha I am obsessed with figuring out which twin is which.

Can anyone else tell which twin it is?

[–] [email protected] (1732) 7 years ago

I always knew, as they looked like sisters, but not twins. And, yes, Diane is much more fidgety. Sometimes it's hard
to catch, though. For instance, in season four's "Playmates", Erin has virtually all of the role. But if you look closely,
Diane is in the master shot when Michael's mom first let's Tabitha and Sam into the living room (Erin has the close-up).

In the season five ep about Sam saving the park, Diane, of course, plays the WHOLE role in the opening teaser, as
Erin was sick the week they were filming. And while Liz is very loving in the scene, it is very obvious which twin it
is.

Here's what I don't get. Since twins were used even as far back as "I Love Lucy" for Little Ricky, how come they were
able to film entire series with Jay North ("Dennis the Menace") and Jerry Mathers ("Leave it to Beaver") on time
WITHOUT using twins?? I mean, these boys dominated the shows, and they couldn't work more than four hours a day!
Maybe they shot their episodes over a Two-week schedule rather than a week.

[–] [email protected] (5497) 7 years ago

Yes, in that season five episode, it is pretty obvious that it's Diane in the opening teaser. But I never noticed back when I was a kid!

As far as not using twins for "Dennis the Menace" or "Leave it to Beaver", those boys were children of course, but not babies. I think Jay North was hired at the age of eight and Jerry Mathers was nine. Little Ricky was played by five year old Richard Keith. But even that age makes a world of difference in child development and their performance compared to the Murphy twins who were two when they debuted on Bewitched.
I read an article that explained the use of twins to portray babies and toddlers. It said that children two and under can be fussy, crying, teething, etc. When one baby is being un-cooperative, they just use the other one. They have no real dialogue and can't take much direction. All a show wants from a baby or toddler is cuteness, co-operation and QUIET! lol

A school age child is a lot different developmentally. Even though child actors can only work a few hours a day, they can obviously do their work and turn in a performance without the show worrying about them crying and fussing and ruining a scene. Successful child actors seem to be driven and a lot more ambitious than the average child. They aren't shy and they can take direction and work with adults.

I don't know if you ever watch any of the soaps, but toddlers must be terribly difficult to work with. When there was a toddler on a soap, in about six months of (very brief) appearances, the child would magically become six or seven years old! It must be difficult to work with a youngster who can't talk yet, but CAN babble and fuss and mess up a scene. I used to feel sorry for the actors who had to ad lib around a babbling baby, pulling at their jewelry, looking up at the studio lights, pointing at their real mommy off camera, etc.

No wonder shows prefer to use twins. Bring out the quiet one who isn't making a fuss!