What Was Dick York's Net Worth?
Dick York was an American actor who had a net worth of $1 thousand at the time of his death in 1992. Dick York was best known for starring as Darrin Stephens on the ABC television series "Bewitched" from 1964 to 1969. He also starred as Tom Colwell in the TV series "Going My Way" and appeared in dozens of other films and television shows. York was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for "Bewitched" in 1968. Dick York passed away on February 20, 1992, at the age of 63 from complications from emphysema.
Unfortunately, at the time of his death, Dick was broke and living off a $650 monthly pension from the Screen Actors Guild. A back injury incurred during the filming of the 1959 movie "They Came to Cordura" left him with a lifelong severe back injury. That injury was a constant problem on the set of "Bewitched" and ultimately led to him being replaced on the series by Dick Sargent. After the series ended, he became addicted to painkillers, then after getting clean was totally out of money. At one point, he took a job as a house cleaner.
Early Life
Dick York was born on September 4, 1928, in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He was the son of Bernard and Betty York. His father worked as a salesman, and his mother worked as a seamstress. Dick grew up in Chicago. When he was 15, a Catholic nun recognized that he had a nice-sounding voice, and he began working at a radio station.
Career
York starred on the CBS radio program "That Brewster Boy" throughout the early 1940s. He subsequently appeared in hundreds of other radio shows and instructional films. He then moved to New York City and began acting on Broadway in "Tea and Sympathy" and "Bus Stop." He also performed with actors like Paul Muni and Joanne Woodward in live television broadcasts and also with Jack Lemmon and Glenn Ford in films like "My Sister Eileen" and "Cowboy."
In 1959, while filming the movie "They Came to Cordura," York suffered a permanent, disabling back injury. The injury did not immediately end his career, but it would plague him for the rest of his life.
In 1960, he appeared in the film version of "Inherit the Wind." Dick later went on to star with Gene Kelly and Leo G. Carroll in the ABC comedy-drama "Going My Way" in 1962. He remained on the series for the entirety of its one-season run as the character of Tom Colwell.
Additionally, York appeared in many episodes of television series like "Justice," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour," "The Untouchables," "Rawhide," "The Americans," "Wagon Train," "Father Knows Best," "The Twilight Zone," and "Route 66."
In 1964, York was cast in what would become one of his most well-known roles when he began appearing on the sitcom "Bewitched" as Darrin Stephens, the husband of the show's main character, Samantha, who was played by Elizabeth Montgomery. The show went on to become a huge success. York was nominated for an Emmy Award for his work on the show in 1968.
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Despite his success on the show, Dick had a hard time coping with his injury during filming. The crew built him a slanted wall on which he could lean between scenes in order to allow him to rest a bit between breaks. During the third season of the show, his injury was further aggravated into a painful degenerative spine condition. This resulted in frequent delays in shooting as York required assistance to walk. Some episodes of the series were written to allow his character to be lying down on a bed or a couch for an entire episode. He did not appear in a number of episodes during the third and fourth seasons. Dick eventually departed from the show during its fifth season, which required creating a storyline in the show that mentions Darrin being away on a business trip. He had fallen ill and became too sick to return to work. He left the sitcom in order to devote himself to his recovery. He was replaced by Dick Sargent.
York later tried to revive his career in the early 1980s. He appeared in "Simon & Simon" as the character Martin Donlevy in 1983. In 1984, he appeared in an episode of "Fantasy Island" as Mr. Sutton. However, his health ultimately continued declining and he was unable to successfully revive his career.
Personal Life
After leaving "Bewitched," York spent around 18 months largely bedridden. He had developed a dependency on prescription painkillers, which he described in his memoir "The Seesaw Girl and Me." He revealed that he used the drugs to deal with his injury as well as to come to terms with the end of his acting career. Dick later quit the drugs cold turkey, which led to a six-month painful withdrawal period. He eventually beat the addiction.
However, York continued smoking cigarettes. For much of his life, he was a three-pack-a-day smoker. He developed emphysema in the later years of his life. By 1989, he was using an oxygen tank to help him breathe. While bedridden in his home in Rockford, Michigan, Dick founded a private charity called Acting for Life to help homeless people. He raised money by calling politicians, business people, and the public from his bed.
York died of complications from emphysema at Blodgett Hospital in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 20, 1992, when he was 63 years old. He was buried at Plainfield Cemetery in Rockford, Michigan.
