Latest news with #Bewitched
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
What's in a name? 5 women on changing their moniker because of marriage, divorce — or 'Bewitched.'
In 1973, Samantha Feldman nee Selinger — who also happens to be my mother — was 12 years old, new to the United States from Israel and bewitched by Bewitched, a hit sitcom about a witch living in the suburbs with her husband and attempting to keep her powers under wraps to varying and often wacky levels of success. Feldman, who was born with the first name Sarit, fell in love not only with the show but also with its titular character, Samantha Stephens. 'She was spunky and fun and had a great personality,' she explains. 'She was ahead of her time, and she fought for things she believed in. Also, she dressed funky! She had such cool clothes.' And that's how seventh grader Sarit became Samantha. 'Growing up, everyone mispronounced my name; it was annoying,' she says. 'After my citizenship ceremony, I told everyone, 'Now that I'm an American, my name is going to be Samantha.' It just stuck.' People change their names for any number of reasons, whether it's because they want a moniker that better suits their identity or just really, really like TV witches. But typically, it's marriage (and, later, divorce) that's driving the update. According to a 2023 survey from the Pew Research Center, about 8 in 10 women in opposite-sex marriages took their husband's last name upon tying the knot; 14% kept their name and 5% opted for a hyphenated mashup incorporating both names. Among men, just 5% took on their wife's last name. 'Growing up in a traditional family, I just thought it was something required," says Nicole Williams, who was born Nicole Hall. 'Like, you get married, your last name changes. I didn't know that I had a choice," she adds with a laugh. There were other upsides to taking her spouse's name. "I was like, 'Well, to be honest, my last name is kind of boring, and I don't have a personal attachment to it,'" she tells Yahoo. "I wanted to separate ties with connections to some members of my family for personal reasons, and taking on a new last name would help drop some of that baggage.' For the handbag designer known professionally as Julie Mollo, changing her last name to Verderame after getting married last year felt meaningful; 'I'm a hopeless romantic at heart,' she says. But she's kept her maiden name for her eponymous (and super-sparkly) bag line, a distinction that has helped her create better work-life boundaries. 'I always struggled with the blurred lines between my work life and personal life,' she tells Yahoo. 'Moving my studio out of my home was the first step. I can be Julie Mollo when I leave the house and be just Julie when I'm at home.' Using her married name for her everyday, nonwork life has helped her embrace her entire self. But she appreciates the freedom to switch back and forth depending on the context. 'I'm grateful that my business name is my maiden name,' she says, 'because I never have to lose it or sacrifice it and change who I am.' As far as the differences between the two Julies? 'I think Julie Verderame is a lot more relaxed, whereas Julie Mollo is much more of a boss,' she quips. Many of the women who spoke to Yahoo about changing their name after marriage saw it as a symbol of their shared union and an important step toward building a life with their new spouse. The paperwork can be a nuisance, however. Williams, for one, still has student loans under her maiden name. 'I can't change them online and would have to send them my marriage certificate that shows my new last name," she says. "It's just a more difficult process." Things become even more complicated when it comes to divorce, Brittney Huntington tells Yahoo. When she decided to go back to her maiden name after her split, she encountered an administrative nightmare. 'I not only had to legally change it back, but I also had to go through the painstaking and customized process for each individual credit card/account/mortgage docs, etc., that could only happen once my legal [documents, including her passport, driver's license and Social Security card] were reinstated," Huntington says. 'There was a time when only one was updated, and I needed to travel. That caused some real headaches in proving I was, in fact, me.' As a new bride, Huntington had mixed feelings about changing her name in the first place but ultimately agreed because it was what her then-husband wanted. 'My father had passed away when I was young and had no sons, so my sister and I were the only ones able to carry on any sort of legacy of his name,' she says. 'It was very important for me to keep Huntington in there somehow, so I decided to move it to my middle name.' She also tacked on Huntington as a second middle name for her daughter. It's an "embarrassingly long name," she admits, but it's proved helpful now that the two no longer share a last name. 'Having continuity with my maiden name in both my own name and hers has made it easier to prove I'm me (and her parent) on subsequent government and health care documents,' she says. And though there are still some outstanding random things listed under her married name, she has otherwise fully and comfortably gone back to Huntington. 'It is, and always will be, Huntington." Of course, there's another route to take when it comes to changing your name after divorce: making up a new one. After her first marriage ended in divorce, writer Cheryl Strayed famously opted not to keep her ex's last name or go back to her maiden name. Instead, the avid hiker and Wild author settled on Strayed, a nod to her wanderlust spirit and uprooted situation. Erin Duran also went with option C after her divorce. And if you're thinking, 'Like the band, Duran Duran?' ... well, yes. 'In 2022, I got divorced, and my ex-husband was insistent that I didn't keep his name,' Duran tells Yahoo. 'My mom, who is a giant hippie, has changed her name multiple times. After rejecting a few of my ideas, she was like, 'Why don't you pick something you love?' Music is what I love most." She zeroed in on her favorite new wave acts. A nod to David Bowie or The Smiths? The first was "too obvious," the second too "boring." And then: "We stumbled across Duran Duran." "Erin Duran sounded nice, easy to spell," says the divorcée, who was heartened when her friends didn't laugh when she ran the idea by them. But she admits that she wasn't really thinking clearly when she made the name change official. 'I got COVID during my divorce proceedings,' she says. 'I'm in bed with a fever, and my lawyer says he needs a name for the paperwork. I don't know if I would have done it if I had been in [my] full faculties. I don't mind being weird, but it's a commitment.' Today, she has no regrets. She likes the way the name flows, and where it lands in the alphabet ('I grew up with the last name Wright and knew the pains of being [last]," she explains). Most importantly, though, she likes how the name makes her feel. 'I didn't go back to my maiden name because it felt like a retreat or defeat or something,' Duran says. 'It just didn't feel right to go backward. I wanted to take control of my next chapter. To define it.'
Daily Mail
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE She was on a massive '60s TV show as a child, who is this beauty? Hint: it's not Charlize Theron
She was on a major TV series in the 1960s that involved a pretty blonde witch. At the time, the actress was a cute little child star who had a twinkle in her eye and very blonde hair. The fun show became enormously popular as fans followed the private lives of the actors closely. She then explored various roles in the industry as a casting director, makeup artist, stylist, acting teacher, and stunt double. As life progressed, the mother of six re-entered the entertainment world as a TV presenter for networks like Fox Reality Channel and E!, and hosted several infomercials. She also worked with Hulk Hogan, Bob Saget, Danny Bondaduce and RuPaul. Who is this beauty who is seen below as a teenager? She is Bewitched child star Erin Murphy, 61. Murphy charmed audiences as Tabitha. Erin was the magical daughter of witch Samantha (Elizabeth Montgomery) and Darrin Stephens. Murphy was also one of the last surviving original cast members of Bewitched, along with her twin sister Diane, with whom she shared the role. Last year she gave a rare interview. She has finally revealed her favorite Darrin, the role of the mortal father/husband famously played by two different actors on the beloved sitcom. Over the years, fans have debated which Darrin — originally portrayed by Dick York and later by Dick Sargent — was the better fit for the role, and now Murphy is settling the debate. 'I will give you a scoop. My entire life I have been so diplomatic because I loved them both,' she admitted to People on Saturday. 'They were wonderful guys. Watching the show, Dick York is a better Darrin.' York embodied Darrin from 1964 until a serious back injury forced him to leave the show in 1969. Sargent then took over the role until the series wrapped in 1972. Murphy fondly reflected on her close bond with York, describing how he took on a fatherly role both on and off screen. 'Dick York was a dad, and he had a lot of kids, so he was just more paternal,' she shared with the outlet. She added, 'So he was more like a dad. Dick Sargent was a great guy, and we stayed in touch until he passed away. But I'm going with Dick York on this one.' Sixty years on, Bewitched continues to captivate. The show centers on Samantha, a witch who marries a regular man, Darrin Stephens. Though she vows to live as a normal housewife, her magic constantly disrupts their ordinary life, leading to endless mischief. 'It's so interesting because I grew up on the show, so it's the only childhood I know, but I feel lucky,' Murphy said. The actress began appearing on the show as Darrin and Samantha's daughter Tabitha in 1966, and remained on the program until it ended in 1972. She and her twin sister Diane were jointly cast as Tabitha in order to comply with U.S. child labor laws limiting how many hours each girl could be put to work. But, as Murphy told Studio 10 in March 2020, she and Diane were fraternal twins and 'as soon as they hired us they realized we really don't look that much alike'. She explained 'they ended up showing my sister from the back or from a distance and then after the first year I took over'. Murphy also said Montgomery, who died from cancer in May 1995 at the age of 62, 'was like a mom' to her, adding: 'We were close off the set and I loved her very much.' However her 'favorite' co-star was Agnes Moorehead, who played Samantha's mother Endora and 'was very much like a grandma to me and I just thought she was beautiful and colorful and fun. 'And her favorite color was purple and everything in her dressing room was purple.' Later in the 1970s, there was a short-lived spin-off series called Tabitha, in which the character was played as an adult by Lisa Hartman. After Bewitched wrapped up in 1972, Erin Murphy stepped out of the spotlight, but reruns kept her a familiar face for viewers. Starting her role as Tabitha at just two years old, Murphy graduated from El Toro High School in Lake Forest, California, in 1981.
Buzz Feed
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Buzz Feed
Funny Childhood Misconceptions That Will Make You Laugh
Kids have very active imaginations. They see the world in a totally different way! Of course, this can lead to some pretty funny mix-ups, misunderstandings, and lots of make-believe. Reddit user Night_sky2025 recently asked, "What was the weirdest thing you believed as a child?" Here are some of the wild, hilarious, and wholesome responses: "When I was pretty young, I learned the word 'fired' in reference to guns. I didn't know that it also referred to being terminated from a job. So it was with confused horror that I observed my mom casually inform my dad that her coworker, Jody, had apparently been shot to death at work for her subpar job performance. And it was unnerving how casually my dad reacted to it, with little more than a, 'Oh man, that's too bad.' For quite a while, I became quite invested in my mom's work performance." "My dad was a pilot, so he was gone a lot when I was a kid. My mom often took us to Chuck E. Cheese when my dad was on a trip. I eventually noticed we only went there when Dad was gone, so I asked him why he never wanted to go with us. He told me he was the guy in the mouse costume and was always there; he just wasn't allowed to interact with us. For many years, I genuinely believed this. We laugh about it now." "As a kid, I believed you were supposed to pray to God when you wanted good things to happen and pray to Satan when you wanted bad things to happen. Like, two separate customer service departments." "Endora from Bewitched was real and could see me through the TV, so I had to clap and act super grateful for Bewitched or she would curse me." "Someone told me Canadians eat toast upside-down because that places the toast toppings in direct contact with taste buds. Young me believed Canadians were very clever for coming up with this toast-eating method and would occasionally give it a go myself. I met a Canadian as a fully grown adult and asked him if my 'fact' was true. Understandably, he was politely mystified. " "I believed that brown cows were the ones that made chocolate milk, and the black/white cows made the regular milk. Pink cows made strawberry milk, and farmers had to hide them in their barn because they were afraid someone would steal the pink cows because everyone loved strawberry milk." "That we had two stomachs: one for liquids and one for solids. When people would say, 'It went down the wrong pipe,' I assumed it was liquids vs. solids, not solids vs. gas." "I was told to leave my cuts and scrapes alone because when I went to sleep, little, tiny people would crawl into my bed and build the scabs themselves using their tools, and I'd be rude if I messed with their work by picking at it. I used to want to catch these little tiny people. To be fair, I never saw a scab develop. I'd just wake up, and it would be there, for it seemed legit. Thanks, Mom." "That the new president of the US had beaten up the previous president to get the job. I spent so much of my young life hating Ronald Reagan, not for his policies, because I was unaware of them, but because I thought he had beaten up Jimmy Carter, and Jimmy Carter seemed like a nice man." "So many things. One of my favorites is that my grandpa told me the neighbors behind them were building a shed for an elephant. It was big enough for one, and my grandpa worked with the circus, so it was totally plausible. It's still referred to as the 'elephant shed.'" "My parents told me that TV was black and white before because the world was actually black and white. Then, a colorful meteorite struck the Earth and gave color to the world. In my defense, I was very little." "That there could be cameras in our house filming a TV show like other families (The Brady Bunch, The Partridge Family, etc.)." "You know, in infomercials, when they say, 'But you gotta call right now to get this deal!'? I used to think they kept track of what time their commercials aired, and started a few-minute timer after they aired, and if you called after the timer ran out, you wouldn't get the deal." "I thought shooting stars were make-believe like unicorns and leprechauns. I was well into my 20s before I figured it out. Still never seen one though." "I remember my dad telling me that part of his job was firing people. I imagined him taking them up on a hill at night, building a campfire around them, and lighting them up. I didn't understand why anyone would allow this to happen to them, even if they were bad at their job." "My parents were raised Catholic and didn't want to force it on me, so I never went to church or read the Bible or anything. Didn't want to. It seemed boring. All of my religious influence came from outside sources that I felt pretty separated from, so I kind of didn't know Jesus was a religious figure. All I knew was what I saw on TV and read brief references. Seeing different versions of Jesus was especially confusing because if he were a real guy, we wouldn't be able to redesign him, right? So for a really long time, maybe until I was 11 or 12, I fully believed Jesus was a type of character. Like a wizard or the Good King sorta deal. He was just 'That Brand of Guy.' If you will, an improv prompt, or some kind of role that needs to be filled in for a story. I still think that, but I thought everyone else thought that, too." "I used to believe the 'Gray Pumpkin' would come the night of Halloween to take some of the candy my brother and I collected in exchange for toys. As it turns out, this was just a fun little lie my mom told us so that I, a kid with a severe nut allergy, wouldn't feel as bad about not being able to eat like 75% of the candy I collected. Also, it was supposed to be the 'Great Pumpkin' (from Charlie Brown), but I misheard, so I always imagined a large, gray pumpkin with arms and legs sneaking into our house." "I remember thinking our eyeballs hang by hooks. I don't remember anyone telling me that; I think I just came to that conclusion myself because I couldn't understand how else they are there." "My sister made up a pop star named Rosie. Though I had never seen her or heard her music outside of my sister singing 'Rosie songs,' I was her biggest fan and would love to ask my sister all about her. I was shocked when my sister came clean after we were almost full-blown adults, haha." "That you only had a certain amount of 'voice' allotted for your lifetime, and that's why old people's voices were very soft and shaky, because they'd used up all their voice when they were young. For a while, I was DETERMINED to have a booming voice when I was old, so I barely spoke to 'save' my voice for later." "Have you ever gone on a highway and seen a sign that says 'speed limit enforced by aircraft'? I thought that they would just shoot you from the sky for speeding. It's not like a plane can give a ticket." "That the opposite side of my knees were called 'leg pits.'" "If you play Candy Crush in the car while it is pumped with gas, the car will explode." "If you turn a light on in a car at night, you could get a ticket." "That when you eat, the food would start to fill your entire body up, beginning at your feet. I thought people could cram food into themselves like you shove cotton into a stuffed animal." "The left side of my body was sad because I was right-handed. So if I were eating, I'd always have the last bite on the left side of my mouth to cheer it up, etc." And: "That 'made from scratch' meant whatever scraps were lying around." What's the wildest or silliest thing you believed as a kid? Tell us in the comments or share anonymously using this form. Note: Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Bewitched' Star, 61, Turns Heads in Birthday Selfie
'Bewitched' Star, 61, Turns Heads in Birthday Selfie originally appeared on Parade. Bewitchedstar Erin Murphy turned 61 on June 17. The actress, who portrayed Tabitha Stephens on the hit sitcom, shared a selfie on Instagram to mark her special day. "Rise & shine, it's my birthday! This is 61," Murphy captioned her post. Many fans wished Murphy a happy birthday in the comments section of her post. "Happy birthday! You look amazing," one person wrote. "Happy birthday. You are simply gorgeous," someone else said. "Well happy bday Tabitha!!!" a third comment read. "Happy birthday Erin, you are a very beautiful woman, just like when you were 20 years old. Beauty has always been with you," a fourth Instagram user added. Days before her birthday, Murphy shared that she'd made it to the final table at the Ed Asner Celebrity Poker Tournament. "Happiness is going into the final table with the most chips! The empty seat next to me is where I knocked out Beth Broderick from Sabrina the Teenaged Witch! TV witches can't always stick together," Murphy captioned a post on June 15. 🎬SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox🎬 Murphy first joined the Bewitched cast in its second season alongside her twin sister, Diane Murphy, who also turned 61 on June 17. Eventually, Erin continued on in the role on her own and played Tabitha until the series ended in 1972. Following her time on Bewitched, Murphy went on to star in a handful of shows, including The Comeback Kids in 2014 and Life Interrupted, a TV movie that was released in 2017. 'Bewitched' Star, 61, Turns Heads in Birthday Selfie first appeared on Parade on Jun 18, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 18, 2025, where it first appeared.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Bewitched' Child Star, 61, Is Unrecognizable 50 Years After Show Ended
'Bewitched' Child Star, 61, Is Unrecognizable 50 Years After Show Ended originally appeared on Parade. Bewitched child star is unrecognizable 50 years after the show ended. Murphy, now 61, portrayed Tabitha Stephens in the beloved sitcom. And she looks nothing like her character today. 🎬 SIGN UP for Parade's Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox 🎬 In late June, Murphy took to Instagram with a stunning selfie that stopped followers in their tracks. "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy…🎶," she captioned her update. One Instagram user declared, "Such a beautiful lady! Watching you on Bewitched all those years ago I never dreamed of seeing you all grown up, 😍🔥❤️ 🙏." Another echoed, "I don't think any of us ever thought of seeing her grow up. But you have to admit she grew up to be so beautiful." "You are a goddess 😍," someone else commented. Meanwhile, a different fan shared, "My goodness you are absolutely gorgeous ❤️❤️❤️❤️." Not long before posting that snap, Murphy dropped a throwback of her in Bewitched, captioning the Instagram post, "Little me! ❤️." One follower wrote, "I remember so cute and you grew up now totally beautiful." Another shared, "I remember watching little you when I was a kid." Someone else echoed, "I remember that episode." Murphy and her twin sister, Diane, initially both portrayed Samantha and Darrin's daughter Tabitha in Bewitched, although Erin took over the role entirely as they grew up and looked less alike. Bewitched aired for eight seasons on ABC from 1964 to 1972, and starred Elizabeth Montgomery, Dick York, Dick Sargent and others. Next: 'Bewitched' Child Star, 61, Is Unrecognizable 50 Years After Show Ended first appeared on Parade on Jul 3, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jul 3, 2025, where it first appeared.
