Erin Murphy was born in Encino, Calif. in 1964, and she landed quickly in the spotlight. As an infant, Murphy booked a gig in a Folgers coffee commercial and did a laundry detergent commercial with Ronald Reagan. But Murphy was meant for more than commercials.
When she was 2 years old, she and her fraternal twin, Diane, got the role of Tabitha Stephens. Even though Erin Murphy shared the part at first, it was her who was used for all of the close-ups while her sister was used for cutaway shots. “From the time I was a baby, I love it,” Murphy told ABC News. Noting her sister would cry on set, she shared, “I liked the lights and loved being on my set.”
As the girls got older and started looking less alike, Murphy was the obvious choice to keep the character going. Because she was with the show for so many seasons, the cast became like a second family for her. She told ABC News, “I always called her ‘Mantha Mommy, because I couldn’t say Samantha, and I called Dick Sargent, Darren Daddy. … They really were like parents to me.”