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“I’m one of those people who always had really positive experiences as a child actor. I loved every minute of it. I’ve had so many great things happen in my life because of being a kid actor.” Erin Murphy might have shared her iconic role as Tabitha Stephens on Bewitched with her fraternal twin sister, Diane, but only one of them fell in love with Hollywood. Learning early on that show business isn’t for everyone as her sister dropped out of the show, Murphy fell in love with the spotlight and joined Agnes Morehead and Elizabeth Montgomery full time for the show’s run from 1966 to 1972.

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After wrapping up Bewitched in 1972, Murphy made several guest appearances on popular series like Lassie and in over 100 commercials before she returned to El Toro High School where she was a cheerleader and homecoming queen. Fast forward a few decades and the 54-year-old Bewitched star has a family of her own and a long list of jobs that span from fashion stylist to makeup artist, casting director, acting teacher, motivational speaker, and stunt double!

Life and Career

Erin Margaret Murphy and her fraternal twin sister Diane came into this world on June 17, 1964, in Encino, California. As babies, the girls auditioned for and won the part of Tabitha Stephens on the third season of Bewitched, which also marked the first season the show was in color. The girls were a perfect fit on the series since they closely resembled Elizabeth Montgomery. Hiring fraternal twins also helped the show’s producers avoid the strict California child labor laws since Erin and Diane could take turns on the set.

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Unlike her sister, Murphy fell in love with performing as the show’s producers used her for close-ups and Diane for distance shots. “From the time I was a baby, I loved it,” she said. “I liked the lights and I loved being on set. My sister used to cry when they would bring her on set. Even now she hates it.” Part of what attracted Murphy to being on set was the relationship she formed with her on-screen parents—Elizabeth “Mantha Mommy” Montgomery and Dick “Darren Daddy” Sargent. In fact, Montgomery made a lasting impression on Murphy’s life as she later said, “A lot of people who knew Liz well and knew me told me how much I’m like her. And I think it’s because we spent 12 hours a day together growing up. I looked to her as a parent and she would tell me what to do like a parent… I’m so much more like her than I am my own mom, which is hilarious.”

Murphy’s relationship with Montgomery was truly special but she idolized her on-screen grandmother, Agnes Morehead. “She was probably my favorite person on the show… I just thought she was the most colorful, most beautiful person,” Murphy said. “I loved her like a grandparent. I had grandparents who lived in other states that I didn’t get to see, and she didn’t have grandchildren, so we had a really great, loving relationship.” In fact, Morehead showered Murphy with gifts and quality time that made a lasting impression on the young actress.

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After Bewitched wrapped up its final season in 1972, the eight-year-old Murphy landed on her feet and spent most of her time making cameos on hit shows like Lassie as well as in over 100 commercials. One of her most famous commercials from the decade includes an appearance with Ronald Reagan in a laundry detergent ad. By the time she reached her teens, Murphy blossomed into a beautiful young adult and modeled for Hang Ten swimwear during breaks from El Toro High School where she was homecoming queen and a cheerleader.

Following her high school graduation in 1982, Murphy enrolled at San Diego State University and spent two years in school before she met and fell in love with Terry Rogers. She dropped out of college and married Rogers shortly before they moved to a ranch in Arizona where they welcomed their first son into the world. Over the next few years, Murphy balanced her 20s with motherhood and life on the ranch as she took on a string of odd jobs working as a casting director, makeup artist, and production assistant before she divorced Rogers in 1989.

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Returning to Hollywood, Murphy launched her career as a motivational speaker and was a frequent guest and television correspondent on TV Land and Fox Reality Channel. She married Eric Eden in 1993 and gave birth to her third son, Clark, in 1995 before divorcing Eden in 1998. Months later, she married a third time—this time to Darren Dunckel with whom she has three sons.

Life Today

Expertly balancing motherhood with her career, Murphy made a huge comeback to television in the new millennium. She appeared on NBC’s game show Identity and took her seat as a celebrity judge on I Know My Kid’s a Star in 2008. She joined Bob Saget in 1 vs. 100 and made guest appearances in Craft Lab, Groomer Has It, and Over Your Head before appearing in eight episodes of Hulk Hogan’s Celebrity Championship Wrestling.

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Apart from her acting career, the 54-year-old Murphy is also a fashion, beauty, and luxury lifestyle writer in addition to running Verge Living, a residential retail development company in downtown Las Vegas that she manages with her husband. She’s also an advocate of autism awareness after one of her sons was diagnosed as autistic. As if that doesn’t keep her busy enough, she runs Bewitched Memorabilia and Slim Chillers frozen vodka martini ice pops as well as Erin Murphy Knits, an eco-friendly boutique that offers hand-knitted alpaca clothing. Believe it or not, she raises the alpacas on her ranch in Bell Canyon, California.

Most recently, Murphy returned to the stage in local theater and says that now that her boys are grown, she’s ready to pursue acting once again. She’s kept that promise by joining fellow child stars from Gilligan’s Island, The Brady Bunch, The Waltons, and Little House on the Prairie to star on the YouTube sitcom Life Interrupted. “I would like to do another series at some point,” she says, “but I do want to spend time with family and friends, just laugh and enjoy life more. I want to do a little bit of everything.”