Bewitched and Beyond: The Fan Who Came to Dinner (13 page)

Me and Teddy Getty!

“Nobody I know!”

Sandra Gould circa 1950s.

Sandra and husband, Hollingsworth Morse.

Oil painting of Freddy the Flute from
H.R. Pufnstuf.
I wish you could see the “mod” colors of this.

I don’t have a picture of that (DAMN!) but here’s one of Sandy and Kasey in the pool that day!

“To Mark, darling, the talented
Bewitched
fan who I love.” Love you to, Sandy, so much.

Chapter 17

Samantha, Jeannie, and Jerry Springer

Some odd things happened in 1995. I went to the funeral of “Samantha,” met “Jeannie” (Barbara Eden) for the first time, and flew to Chicago to appear on
The Jerry Springer Show.
This was also the year that Kasey experienced her first bout with cancer.

Elizabeth Montgomery had passed away very suddenly of colorectal cancer on May 18th. On June 18th, a month to the day, we were invited to attend her memorial service at the Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills. Kasey and I attended with Sandra Gould.

The service was quite touching, and one of my strongest memories of that day was how much Elizabeth’s daughter, Rebecca, was so moved by the events. I have since met Rebecca on many happier occasions. Typically, Sandy, quipped afterwards that no one had had the decency to sing Ding Dong the Witch is Dead… I know, I know, rude but funny!

In October of that same year, I attended a play in Long Beach that Barbara Eden was starring in called
Night Club Confidential.
It wasn’t until then that I realized how well she could sing and dance, as well as blink!

Years later, I learned the director of that play was a young man named Luke Yankee. Luke is the son of actress Eileen Heckart (
Bus Stop, Butterflies Are Free, The 5 Mrs. Buchanans, Alice
) and we became good friends for awhile.

Here’s another strange coincidence. I basically moved to California because of
Bewitched,
which starred Elizabeth Montgomery, I later lived with SueAne Langdon and her husband (after Kasey passed), and today I am friends with Eileen Heckart’s son, Luke Yankee. Oddly enough, Elizabeth, SueAne, and Eileen all starred together in a (really dreadful) film called
The Victim.
(I say really dreadful as that’s how SueAne describes it herself… One reason being, there isn’t any ending!)

That December, Kasey was diagnosed with cancer and began the first of many surgeries. She also began radiation therapy but being the incredible trouper that she was, still attended her 70th birthday party at her daughter Monika’s house that same year as if nothing at all was wrong!

By December 19th, Kasey, Bernard and I were off to Chicago and the set of
The Jerry Springer Show
! There we met up with Erin Murphy (Tabatha) and David and Greg Mandel (Lawrence), the twins that had originally played Adam.

Also on the stage with us were Lani O’Grady
(Eight Is Enough),
and Brandon Cruz
(The Courtship of Eddie’s Father).
Today Brandon Cruz sports a rather punk look and is an exceptionally nice guy.

I don’t remember a lot about the show, but I do remember an audience member calling me “The
Bewitched
Stalker”! HA! I rather liked that!

At one point, Kasey, Bernard and I were walking through the bitterly cold streets of Chicago one night and a homeless man on the street recognized Bernard as “Dr. Bombay.” When the guy asked the good Dr. for money, Bernard pointed to me and said, “Talk to my manager!”

If you don’t remember this particular episode of
The Jerry Springer Show,
it’s because it never aired. Why? It’s my understanding that the twins who played Adam refused to sign the release forms as they were the
only
ones not compensated for their appearance, because they weren’t guild members.

A genii? “At least it’s an allied line”

Louise and Tabatha together again. In a perfect world Tabatha would have grown up to marry Jonathan Tate.

Chapter 18

Calling Dr. Bombay! Emergency! Come Right Away!

I first met Bernard Fox in 1992 when we were invited to an autograph show at The Water Gardens in Santa Monica. Kasey and I had contacted him and then went to pick him up in her navy blue Jag. She made me go to the door alone. I was so nervous walking up to his front door, but Bernard was great from the onset, and we have become lifelong friends. Both of our families have been through quite a lot together and today, Bernard, his lovely wife Jacque, their daughter Amanda, and Lisa, are my second family.

In fact, tradition states that nearly every Halloween, Amanda and I create a cemetery in their front yard and I sit high in a tree by the front door and scare the hell out of unsuspecting trick-or-treaters! Of course, adding to the fear factor is Amanda, dressed as a creepedout zombie sitting on her Harley. Lisa busies herself handing out candy and preparing an incredible dinner for us to enjoy when the fun of tricks and treats is over!

At the time of the above photo, the Bewitched house facade was no more than two sides of a building (left and front facing) propped up by heavy beams and supports. Thru the years it had undergone many changes from its original inception and only half of the front wall brick was still in place. But overall it is still recognizable.

In 1995, Tim Allen and the cast and crew of
Home Improvement
were going to blow it up for an episode of that show, and no one was certain if the façade would survive. Luckily, we were able to be there and document the “historic” moment with a video camera.