My favorite performance was the "Twilight Zone" episode, "Penny for
your thoughts", with Dick York. It has a happy ending, unlike so many
Twilight Zone episodes.
There are interviews with Mr. York where he describes being poor as a child but they were happy and laughing.
" The part of Darrin Stephens was a vehicle for York to be seen as a
family man whose moral compass firmly pointed north (like the person
he really was...."
"York remained sick and on his back for over a year.
"After 18 months I was healed up but I was afraid. So we bought an apartment building and were going to live off the rent money. We rented to people who were on welfare and a lot of times they couldn't pay the rent. We wouldn't throw them out so we lost the building.
"And then Joey and I cleaned apartments and the boys helped out by selling newspapers and collecting tin cans. And they got jobs as waiters and busboys and I had unemployment.
"All my teeth rotted and broke off. We ate a hell of a lot of potatoes and noodles. I got to 306 pounds. I went out for every job they sent me on. I auditioned to direct a school play for $600 but I wasn't good enough."
Then one day York decided it was time to turn things around.
"I went on a diet. I borrowed money to get my teeth fixed. It took a year and I brought myself down to l60 pounds. Then I got an agent and within two weeks I got a job and the following week I got another job. That's unheard of.
"I did Fantasy Island and the next job was on Simon and Simon. Then I tried out for High School, USA, a pilot film that producer Leonard Hill had me read for the villain of the piece. I wasn't right for it but Henry Gibson was. So they called up and offered me the part of the guy who supplies all the money to the school."
Instead of letting this lack of television work and his ailing health
get him down, York went back to the medium where he got his start.
Outraged by the lack of response for the plight of the homeless in the
United States, York became an activist for this cause. He took the
voice that made him famous and became a call-in guest on radio shows
and made phone calls to friends in the entertainment industry and in
politics. He got beds, food, and shelter donated to the less
fortunate. Founding a small private, fundraising campaign called
Acting for Life, York's persistence helped many people. His pet cause
was the Dwelling Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan and his contributions
to that facility were well known.
Despite the fact that York was hooked up to an oxygen tank and was
housebound with his Emphysema and degenerative spine disorder, he was
as positive as ever in his final months. When asked about death in
what was his final television appearance, York showed his high spirits
by stating "that the world was kind to me. That I never met anybody I
hated or who hated me," and that he wanted to be remembered laughing
and encouraged everyone to "be happy." He lost his battle with
respiratory problems on February 20, 1992.
Dick York's legacy continues in the human rights initiatives he took
to free up army surplus warehouses for the poverty-stricken, the
commitment to his family (by staying married to the girl he met at age
15 for the rest of his life), and in the role of Darrin Stephens...
family man whose moral compass firmly pointed north (like the person
he really was...."
"York remained sick and on his back for over a year.
"After 18 months I was healed up but I was afraid. So we bought an apartment building and were going to live off the rent money. We rented to people who were on welfare and a lot of times they couldn't pay the rent. We wouldn't throw them out so we lost the building.
"And then Joey and I cleaned apartments and the boys helped out by selling newspapers and collecting tin cans. And they got jobs as waiters and busboys and I had unemployment.
"All my teeth rotted and broke off. We ate a hell of a lot of potatoes and noodles. I got to 306 pounds. I went out for every job they sent me on. I auditioned to direct a school play for $600 but I wasn't good enough."
Then one day York decided it was time to turn things around.
"I went on a diet. I borrowed money to get my teeth fixed. It took a year and I brought myself down to l60 pounds. Then I got an agent and within two weeks I got a job and the following week I got another job. That's unheard of.
"I did Fantasy Island and the next job was on Simon and Simon. Then I tried out for High School, USA, a pilot film that producer Leonard Hill had me read for the villain of the piece. I wasn't right for it but Henry Gibson was. So they called up and offered me the part of the guy who supplies all the money to the school."
Instead of letting this lack of television work and his ailing health
get him down, York went back to the medium where he got his start.
Outraged by the lack of response for the plight of the homeless in the
United States, York became an activist for this cause. He took the
voice that made him famous and became a call-in guest on radio shows
and made phone calls to friends in the entertainment industry and in
politics. He got beds, food, and shelter donated to the less
fortunate. Founding a small private, fundraising campaign called
Acting for Life, York's persistence helped many people. His pet cause
was the Dwelling Place in Grand Rapids, Michigan and his contributions
to that facility were well known.
Despite the fact that York was hooked up to an oxygen tank and was
housebound with his Emphysema and degenerative spine disorder, he was
as positive as ever in his final months. When asked about death in
what was his final television appearance, York showed his high spirits
by stating "that the world was kind to me. That I never met anybody I
hated or who hated me," and that he wanted to be remembered laughing
and encouraged everyone to "be happy." He lost his battle with
respiratory problems on February 20, 1992.
Dick York's legacy continues in the human rights initiatives he took
to free up army surplus warehouses for the poverty-stricken, the
commitment to his family (by staying married to the girl he met at age
15 for the rest of his life), and in the role of Darrin Stephens...
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