ROCKFORD, MICH. -- Dick York, 63, the actor who played the befuddled husband of a nose-twitching witch in the 1960s television series "Bewitched," died Feb. 20 at a hospital in Grand Rapids, Mich. He had emphysema and a degenerative spinal condition.
Agnes Moorehead played his overbearing mother-in-law, also a witch, who perpetually mangled her son-in-law's name.
"Bewitched" was the second highest-rated series of the season in its debut year, 1964-65, second only to "Bonanza," and stayed in the top 10 most of the years Mr. York was on it.
He was replaced on the show by Dick Sargent in 1969 when problems stemming from an old back injury, including overdependence on painkillers, forced him to leave. The show continued until 1972.
His other television credits included a 1962-63 series based on the 1944 film "Going My Way."
Mr. York, who lived in Rockford, was born in Fort Wayne, Ind. He began his acting career as a child, doing radio in Chicago, where his family moved when he was young. At 15, he starred in the network radio show "That Brewster Boy."
In addition to his television work, he appeared in several films, including "My Sister Eileen" and "Inherit the Wind," in which he played the schoolteacher whose teaching of evolution prompts the celebrated 1920s "monkey trial." He also appeared on Broadway in the mid-1950s in "Tea and Sympathy" and "Bus Stop."
Mr. York was active in raising funds for the homeless, working by telephone while largely confined to his home.
Survivors include his wife, Joan, of Rockford; five children; a sister; and 13 grandchildren.
