Richard Allen "Dick" York

 Richard Allen "Dick" York (September 4, 1928 – February 20, 1992)

He is best remembered for his role as the first Darrin Stephens on the ABC television fantasy sitcom Bewitched. His best known motion picture role was as teacher Bertram Cates in the 1960 film Inherit the Wind. While filming the 1959 movie They Came to Cordura with Gary Cooper and Rita Hayworth, suffered a permanently disabling back injury. In York's own words, "Gary Cooper and I were propelling a handcar carrying several 'wounded' men down [the] railroad track. I was on the bottom stroke of this sort of teeter-totter mechanism that made the handcar run. I was just lifting the handle up as the director yelled 'cut!' and one of the 'wounded' cast members reached up and grabbed the handle. I was suddenly, jarringly, lifting his entire weight off the flatbed—one hundred and eighty pounds or so. The muscles along the right side of my back tore. They just snapped and let loose. And that was the start of it all: the pain, the painkillers, the addiction, the lost career." York suffered little to no pain for the first two seasons of Bewitched, but after the third season, the pain worsened considerably, frequently causing shooting delays and York requiring assistance to walk around. In spite of his suffering, York maintained a professional presence on camera. His pain forced him to ultimately quit after the fifth season, and York was replaced. York, a three-pack-a-day smoker, spent his final years battling emphysema. York died of complications from emphysema at Blodgett Hospital in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, on February 20, 1992 at age 63. He is buried at Plainfield Cemetery in Rockford, Michigan.