MovieChat Forums > Bewitched (1964) Discussion > Chris York

Chris York

posted 5 years ago by [email protected] (1732)
3 replies | jump to latest

I was happy to discover an interview with Herbie J. Pilato (who looks as handsome as ever,
btw) on Youtube with Dick York's son, Chris.

What a treat. Chris spoke so eloquently about his generous, loving father. He said he and
his four siblings were never on set, as DY liked keeping "going to work" very separate from
his family life (this has been the reason given for York's not attending the Emmy awards
in 1968 when he was up for Best Actor in a Comedy - he wanted to be with his family
watching at home).

Chris reminded us that Agnes Moorehead adored York, even though Moorehead was a
traditional Christian and York was "new age."

Chris also tells a great story of DY coming home to his children with those huge EARS,
but denying that they were bigger than usual. Very funny story from a sweet guy, who
clearly loved his dad.

[–] [email protected] (5497) 5 years ago

That's so nice to hear. I'm reminded of what Lucy said to the talent scout from Hollywood (the one she clonked over the head). She was pretending to ask him about Elizabeth Taylor and then she said that she liked hearing nice things about Hollywood.

I like hearing nice things too. So much of Dick York's true self is overshadowed by his back injury and subsequent problems with all the painkillers he had to take. It's as though there was no actual person there, just injury and pain.

It doesn't help Dick York's legacy when so much is written about his health problems and the fact that Elizabeth Montgomery wanted him gone.

It's refreshing that he didn't take his children to the studio. I remember Cher saying that when Chastity was little she thought, "Everybody's mommy and daddy had a TV show." And they paraded her on their show every week. Just my opinion, but I don't think little children need to be that involved in their parents' careers. My dad was a plumber and he never took me into a single basement. ha!

I'll have to look for that interview.

[–] [email protected] (1732) 5 years ago

MY father (long retired) was a salesman, and he took me to his downtown L.A. office only two or three times.

I'm dating myself, but my strongest memory of his office at Dunn and Bradstreet was the switchboard lady (!).
As a child, I was fascinated by the woman pulling out all those wires and sticking them into different plugs!
I decide at that point, that that's what I wanted to do when I grew up! (They don't exist anymore, of course).

I'm reminded of how Barbra Streisand once said she worked as a switchboard operator - for '$61 a week!!

[–] [email protected] (5497) 5 years ago

Interesting that you were fascinated by the switchboard lady. When i was a child, my aunt was a telephone operator for a while. She had several different jobs. She really wanted to open her own beauty parlor like her mother. But with kids and working, it took her a while to finish cosmetology school.
But I remember that she brought home a pair of those headphones that operators used to wear. They were in my cousin's toy box. i used to love to put them on and pretend to be an operator!

Getting back to celebrities and how or if they involve their children in their careers. I once watched a biography about the late Lou Costello. It said that while his daughter was a child, she had no idea about her dad's celebrity or that he made movies. He kept her totally in the dark about that part of his life.