Alex Carson
Bewitched was one of the most popular sitcoms of the 60s and 70s. Audiences and critics alike couldn’t get enough of Samantha and Darrin Stephens. The duo began to feel like extended members of our families as we tuned in week after week. Ratings went through the roof. To say that the series was a success is a bit of an understatement. In fact, half a century later it’s still re-ruining in syndication all throughout the world.
If you’re a fan of the show you probably remember little Tabitha, Sam and Darrin’s daughter. Her addition marked a major turning point for the story. She very quickly became an essential addition to the cast and won over our hearts with her cute, endearing ways.
Although she could be a bit of a handful as well. She started using magic at a young age – including twitching her nose just like her mother. Samantha and Darrin certainly had their hands full. Tabitha was particularly headstrong and needed extra special discipline. Despite her unorthodox upbringing, Tabitha turned out to be a pretty well-adjusted kid.
Well, little Tabitha, portrayed by Erin Murphy, is all grown up now, and we have the inside scoop as to what she’s been up after all these years. Some child stars wind up having pretty awful lives, but we think that you’ll find that Murphy has found her way. Sure, she might not be a huge Hollywood movie start these days, but she certainly has carved out her own path to success.
Many Different Jobs
When the final episode of Bewitched aired in 1972, Erin Murphy was just nine years old, but she was all too eager to get behind the camera once again. By the time she reached junior high, she had already appeared in over 80 commercials.
While in high school, she was head cheerleader and homecoming queen, she also did some modeling when she had the time. Murphy got consistently good marks in school and was in the top ten percent of her class. No one could accuse her of being an underachiever.
After she graduated from El Toro High School in Lake Forest, California, she set out determined and motivated to make a name for herself. She wanted the best out of life and she had the intelligence and experience to pull it off.
Murphy’s expertise isn’t isolated to just one particular field. In fact, she’s a bit of a ‘jill of all trades’. She has a wide array of talents that helped her find success in various realms early on in her life. For example, she sold cosmetics, worked as a make-up artist, recruited new talent as a casting director, designed fashion, taught acting classes, hosted a karaoke club, and gave motivational speeches at high-profile events. She certainly wasn’t just sitting around twiddling her thumbs. She was out there getting it.
Murphy shared a little bit of her life story with The Tolucan Times, a community paper in the Toluca Lake area of LA, a few years ago. In that interview, she highlighted some of the motivating factors that propelled her forward while working these various jobs. She expressed that she is a big believer that life is short and that you have to throw yourself into it to get the most out of it. She further explained how she feels that you have to push yourself and take risks to have an interesting life worth living. Nobody really accomplishes anything spectacular playing it safe all the time. You have to do things that might be a little scary from time to time, but in the end, it’s all worth it.
For quite some time after finishing up high school, Murphy stayed away from the cameras. All of her projects were certainly satisfying for her and they paid the bills but seeing as she grew up essentially behind the camera lens, she couldn’t stay away from the screen for very long.
Reality TV Host
Even though her primary interest was in acting in sitcoms, Murphy never regretted the time she spent working as a reality TV correspondent for Fox Reality Channel. She’s also worked as host and correspondent for TVLand, Tvgasm.com and E! In addition to serving as the on-air moderator for Allergan Medical.
In 2006 she appeared on the short-lived NBC game show Identity as one of the 11 strangers that helped the contestants solve trivia questions for cash. That same year she hosted 1 versus 100 alongside Bob Saget. In 2008, she appeared on Danny Bonaduce’s I Know My Kid’s a Star reality show as a celebrity judge. She followed that up with appearances on HGTV’s Craft Lab and Over your Head and Animal Planets Groomer Has It.
Sure, her fans would probably prefer to see her have a comeback on a sitcom or something, but Murphy has had an active and successful career in the entertainment industry. And for every appearance that she has made in front of the camera, she has also spent a significant amount of time working behind-the-scenes in more production oriented roles.
Really though, you would be hard-pressed to find a job that Murphy couldn’t do. She has incredible versatility thanks to her impressively high levels of motivation, intelligence, and humility. In 2008, she actually took her talents to the ring appearing on CMT’s Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling as a celebrity contestant. Erin’s wrestling name was Mistress of Mayhem aka M.O.M.
In 2010 she was a contestant in the celebrity finale of season one of Rupauls Drag U.
Murphy is also a successful entrepreneur. She co-created a company called Slim Chillers that produces low-calorie vodka infused popsicles. Her products are available in literally thousands of retail stores across the country as well as in Australia and China.
Murphy also owns and operates another business that she calls Erin Murphy Knits, where she sells hand-knit luxury alpaca fashion and handbags made from wool that she has harvested from her own alpacas. She describes her products as being softer than cashmere, warmer and lighter than traditional wool, hypoallergenic, and eco-friendly.
In 2012, Erin was featured in a photo spread in OK magazine with two of her alpacas at her private ranch in Bell Canyon, California.
Her business ventures must be paying off for her pretty well. Recent estimates put her net worth as around $10 million. That’s a significant chunk of change for a former child star. In 2018, Variety Magazine reported that she had purchased a two and a half million dollar beachfront home in Malibu. Not too shabby Tabitha.
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Make sure you stick around for the rest of the video to find out if Murphy has any plans of making a return to the sitcom world.
Theater and Activism
Early on in her acting career, Murphy decided that she had little to no desire to do theater bus as fate would have it, she would change her mind on that one later on in life. In 2016, she took her desire to act to a local LA theater where she performed in her a play called Dead Pilots Society.
Ever hear that old saying. You know, the one that says that ‘with great power comes great responsibility’? Well, Erin Murphy must have taken those words to heart. She might have a pretty penny in her bank account but that hasn’t completely gone to her head. In fact, those that know her describe her as grounded, down to earth and giving.
She is actively involved in numerous charity and activist causes. She supports AIDS awareness, meals on wheels, cancer research and has spoken up against bullying through numerous motivational seminars that she has hosted. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, she raised a great deal of money to help those that had been displaced by the storm.
The cause that is closest to her heart though is autism advocacy. One of her six children was diagnosed with autism when they were still very young. She has been actively raising awareness for the cause ever since. She actually had already taken part in raising awareness for autism, but after her son Parker was diagnosed with it she made it her primary focus. She regularly attends autism walks and marathons, volunteers, and speaks at events to support other parents. A portion of the proceeds from her businesses also goes to autism research.
She’s Hinted At Returning To Television
Murphy has recently hinted that she might make a return to the world of television. In 2017 she starred in a short film called I Might Be Famous and a made for TV movie called Life Interrupted. Granted neither project drew a lot of attention, but it’s still a sign that she isn’t completely out of the game. She told ABC News a few years ago that she never wanted to be complacent. So, who knows, we’re excited to see what projects Murphy might work on in the future.
She’s Been Dealing With The Pandemic Just Like All Of Us
2020 was a difficult year for pretty much everyone. Murphy has been dealing with the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns just like everyone else. She told FOX back in April that she’s been doing lots of cooking, clearing and has been homeschooling her kids.
To pass the time, she and her family have been playing lots of board games. She mentioned that Rummikub and A to Z are her personal favorites at the moment. She and her family have also been engaging in regular Zoom dinner parties with her friends as often as they can.
She’s also taken time to enroll in some online workout classes and goes out on long walks with her dog every day. In addition to just cooking, blasting music, and dancing around her waterfront house, she’s also dusted off her old Nintendo Wii and has been playing Wii Sports Resort to past the time.
In 2019 she reprised her role of Tabitha in the YouTube series TV Therapy. The show features a different classic TV character each episode unloading their past and current baggage on Dr. Stephen Nielsen’s therapy sofa.
Well, we’ve made it to the end of another facts-packed video. This is the part where you get the chance to have your voice heard. Do you think that Erin Murphy should make a return to television or do you think that she should stick with the projects and businesses that she’s been managing in recent years? Let us know what you think in the comments section below.
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