Diane Murphy (born June 17, 1964)

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Diane Murphy (born June 17, 1964) is a former child actress, best known for sharing the role of "Tabitha" with her fraternal twin sister Erin in the 1960s television series Bewitched for one season. Erin then took over the part for the remaining 6 seasons. Diane left the entertainment industry at age thirteen and never returned. Diane, who is openly gay, is a member of the board of directors of the Greater Santa Barbara Community Association, an organization comprised of business, professional, and community members who are gay and lesbian.

Diane Murphy was born five minutes before her twin sister Erin on June 17, 1964, at St. Joseph's Hospital in Encino, California. Following the double birth, their mother, Stephanie, gave up her job as a teacher to devote herself full-time to the girls. Wherever she took them the twins drew attention.

When a talent agent wanted to sign them up, Stephanie and her husband, Dan, agreed to give it a shot. Unlike her twin sister, Erin, Diane Murphy was never interested in the acting profession.

Today, she has an M.B.A. in management from Golden Gate University, Santa Barbara, and a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

She is the associate executive director of Shelter Services for Women, a nonprofit organization that operates three shelters for battered women and their children in Santa Barbara. Her primary duties are grant writing, contract management, and budgeting.

Diane served as chairperson of the association's committee, which gives scholarships to gay and lesbian students based upon their grades and community involvement.

At the moment she's single and living with her cat, Sugar, in a Santa Barbara condo.

"I'm very happy with my life," she says. "I loved working on Bewitched, and it gave me some very unique and wonderful experiences, but eventually I wanted to lead a more regular life. So I quit the entertainment business when I was thirteen years old."


Diane and Erin Murphy

Before she left Hollywood, Diane appeared in numerous commercials (including one with Henry Fonda), and television shows such as the ABC Afterschool Special, The Magical Mystery Trip Through Little Red.

Source: http://samstephens.tripod.com/diane.html

Further Readings:

Bewitched: The Complete Episode Guide by Gregory Branson-Trent
Paperback: 322 pages
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (April 15, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 144213495X
ISBN-13: 978-1442134959
Amazon: Bewitched: The Complete Episode Guide

Classic TV's "Bewitched" debuted on the ABC network on September 17, 1964. It lasted an amazing eight seasons, through July 1, 1972. Although it wasn't television's first special-effects comedy, it sparked a trend for supernatural sitcoms in the 1960s, even beating NBC's Star Trek in the ratings. Produced and directed by William Asher, the director of various beach party movies (and husband of the show's star, Elizabeth Montgomery), "Bewitched" was a totally fresh television concept inspired by the 1942 film "I Married a Witch." "Bewitched" can still be seen on television today and still casts a spell on millions of viewers old and new. This book will list all episodes and give descriptions of production, air dates and the wonderful stories that went down in history. A collection of pictures are included to take you back to the wonderful world of Bewitched and a page out of TV land history.

Comments

[shadownyc.livejournal.com]

It's very interesting learning about the "other" Murphy sister. I grew up with Bewitched so this is quite interesting to me.

[elisa-rolle.livejournal.com]

me too, and they are still airing it here in italy, btw.