Tabitha Lenox
Tabitha Lenox is a fictional character and one of the main antagonists from the NBC/DirecTV daytime drama Passions. Tabitha has been played by Juliet Mills since the show's debut in 1999. Mills continued in the role when the show moved from NBC to DirecTV's The 101 in September 2007. Jane Carr portrayed Tabitha's voice and served as a body double for a time when Mills was on vacation in 2006. In June 2007, Tabitha recalled her youthful days at a magic academy in which the role of young Tabitha was played by Kim Huber.
| Tabitha Lenox | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Juliet Mills as Tabitha Lenox | |||||||||||||
| Passions character | |||||||||||||
| Portrayed by | Juliet Mills Kim Huber (young) | ||||||||||||
| Duration | 1999–2008 | ||||||||||||
| First appearance | July 6, 1999 | ||||||||||||
| Last appearance | August 7, 2008 | ||||||||||||
| Created by | James E. Reilly | ||||||||||||
| Book appearances | Hidden Passions | ||||||||||||
| Profile | |||||||||||||
| Occupation | Witch Wedding planner (16th century) Party planner (41 CE) Handmaiden (30 BCE) | ||||||||||||
| Residence | Lenox House Harmony, New England | ||||||||||||
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In 2001, HarperEntertainment released Hidden Passions, a tie-in novelization presented as Tabitha's diary, exposing the secrets and pasts of the town's residents. Passions featured a storyline involving Tabitha and Timmy promoting the book, which reached #4 on the real-life New York Times Best Seller list and garnered the series two alternative covers of TV Guide in July 2001.
Character history
Tabitha Lenox is a witch residing for well over 300 years in the Eastern seaport town of Harmony. She is known to be virtually immortal; that when one body dies she is later reborn in another, identical body. It is known that she has witnessed and/or participated in numerous historical events. She claims to have been the child of a mortal father Darrin Lenox and a Witch mother named Samantha. As a child, Tabitha had green skin because on her mother's side of the family she was descended from a Frog Prince. Her early life is unknown though as a young adult in Magic Academy she was teased because of her skin color. A loner because of this, Tabitha was an avid student of dark magic and gradually befriended another young witch Esmeralda.
Though Esmeralda at first teased Tabitha, the two eventually formed a wary friendship. Esmeralda even helped Tabitha hide her green skin with make-up. Eventually Tabitha used her own magic to maintain a permanent Caucasian complexion. Though the two witches bonded somewhat, Tabitha wanted to excel further into the Black Arts and eventually left the academy to pursue a life of evil but not before saying good bye to her friend Esmeralda.
Tabitha is next known to have existed in Ancient Rome as Cleopatra's handmaiden, claiming to have supplied the Egyptian queen with the asp that killed her. Tabitha claims to have been the party planner for Roman Emperor Caligula, known for his alleged extravagance and debauchery. At an unspecified time in the Middle Ages, she lived in Europe with her witchly rival, Hecuba. She also randomly claims to have lived through countless historical events and drops the names of an endless series of celebrity suitors and comrades. Tabitha claims responsibility for many historic disasters, among them the destruction of Pompeii, the Black Plague, the great fire of London, the 1755 Lisbon earthquake, the Great Chicago Fire, the San Francisco earthquake of 1906, and the sinking of the Titanic. In Harmony in the late 17th century, her witchery was exposed by Prudence Standish and the townspeople of Harmony burned her at the stake. After her resurrection, Tabitha vowed vengeance on the unwary descendants of those early Harmony settlers, especially the Cranes.
Tabitha has lived for an unspecified amount of time in a ramshackle, Victorian house in Harmony. Older residents of the town, including Sam Bennett and Pilar Lopez-Fitzgerald, often comment on the fact that she looks the same as she did when they were children or when they first came to Harmony; Tabitha's usual cover story is that they must be remembering her mother, and that the name "Tabitha" is a traditional family name. What few Harmony residents believe or understand is that Tabitha harbors the Dark Forces in her basement, a collection of demonic evildoers and devils who oversee Tabitha's wicked doings on Earth. Alternately called "the Dark Side" or "the Boys in the Basement", the Dark Forces sometimes appear to Tabitha, giving her orders or scolding her when her schemes go awry. Generally, they keep to themselves, usually eavesdropping on what is said in her house, and protesting with a loud foghorn-like sound and smoke issuing from the vents (which Tabitha tries to pass off as a leaky boiler).
Tabitha's former companion was Timmy, a doll she had created and brought to life. Timmy had had many incarnations over the centuries, always being stitched back together and brought back to life when met with misfortune. He had cavorted with his Tabby on all of her historical capers, including the sinking of the Titanic. His latest incarnation was in 1999, when Tabitha once again brought him to life to do her bidding. His mission in this lifetime was to help Tabitha destroy Charity Standish, a young girl with the ultimate powers of good. Tabitha was ordered by the Dark Forces to destroy Charity in order to keep her from mating with her one true love, Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald, which would supposedly trigger her full powers of goodness, thereby eradicating all evil from the universe forever, and presumably, Tabitha as well. However, on meeting Charity for the first time, Timmy was smitten by her and.could not bring himself to do her any harm. In those days, Tabitha carried Timmy, in doll form, under her arm as she went about her business around town. At times Timmy would mischievously come to life and cause the townspeople to check their senses, especially Julian Crane and Reese Durkee, both of whom would swear the doll was alive, although no one else ever believed them.
Another member of the "family" was Fluffy, Tabitha's enormous and not-so-nice house cat, who loved to pounce on Timmy and rip out his stuffings.
Tabitha at one time tried to kill Charity by setting fire to her house and trapping her inside. She succeeded in killing Charity's mother, Faith, but Charity was rescued in the nick of time by Miguel. As a result of her failure, the Dark Forces punished Tabitha by removing most of her powers, agreeing to restore them upon Tabitha's eventual destruction of Charity.
After the house fire at Charity's, she then came and lived as Tabitha's next door neighbor with her aunt and uncle. While living with Grace, Tabitha time after time tried to get rid of charity. She tried killing her by putting her on railway track but was saved by Miguel. She tried burning her at the stake when Charity was doing a school play about witches but was saved by the angel girl and Miguel. On Halloween, she conjured up demons from a fire and tried to destroy Grace and Charity but failed when the priest church Father Lonigan came and threw holy water destroying the demons.
Tabitha also dressed up as Santa and tried electrocuting Charity and Miguel by lighting a Christmas tree but failed. On New Year's Eve she tried to kill Charity by chopping her head off but failed once again. While at a New Year's Eve party the little angel girl came to Tabitha, telling her that Charity might be brought to the dark side due to the death of someone close. This incited Tabitha to try to find a way to make Charity become evil.
Tabitha found out through an ancient tome that Charity can be brought over to evil if she kills the person she loves - Miguel. Tabitha tried to make Charity kill Miguel by giving them a patty. She poisoned the patty that Charity was going to give Miguel but Timmy swapped the patty, making Tabitha eat the patty.
Tabitha melted but through the help of Timmy, Dr. Bombay, and an old enemy of Tabitha, Mathilda, she came back to life. She once again tried to make Charity kill Miguel by making Charity give Miguel poison tea but failed when Charity saw her tea leaves and screamed, making Miguel spill his tea.
It was revealed that, whenever Charity was near a bird statue, she would freak out and have visions. Kay, upon learning thus, decided to help Tabitha get rid of Charity.
Kay found the bird statue and put it near Charity and it made her have visions she couldn’t explain. She was eventually put in a psych ward. Tabitha found out about what Kay was doing and went to the hospital. Tabitha then put an act of being crazy and ended up in the psych ward. While being next to the room where Charity was, she overheard everything. When Charity's situation wasn't getting better, Tabitha overheard the doctors administrating a drug which, if given, will make anyone do what another person wants them to do. Tabitha used the opportunity and told Charity to kill Miguel. Simone, Kay's best friend, knew about her schemes and didn't want Charity to suffer anymore.
Simone removed the bird statue which stopped Charity’s visions. Charity was then released from the hospital while at home, still under the drug's influence, she tried to kill Miguel but was stopped. Tabitha's scheme failed once again. Tabitha made a very narrow escape from the hospital. While at home, Charity had continuous visions of Miguel being dead. She broke up with him for a while, fearing his life. Miguel decided to go on a ski trip. Charity sensed danger for Miguel. Tabitha, however, found out and tried to make Charity kill Miguel by making her send Miguel into a dangerous place while on the ski trip.
She started an avalanche which almost killed Miguel and Charity. Everyone survived and Tabitha's scheme failed. While scheme after scheme failed for Tabitha, the dark forces in her basement were becoming angry at her failure. Charity, while sleepwalking, approached the dark forces. They also tried to kill Charity but failed. Harmony high prom was coming up and Tabitha needed to find a way for Charity to become evil. Tabitha found a movie called Carrie and knew what to do. She told Timmy to take the movie and hide it under Kay's bed.
Tabitha knew if Kay watched the movie she'd know what to do. Kay got an idea from the movie and decided on prom night to spill fish guts on her. Tabitha, however, created an evil pendant which would possess Charity and make her use her powers for evil and kill Miguel. Tabitha gave the pendant to Charity and on the night of the prom Kay spilled fish guts on Charity, triggering her powers and making Charity evil. The pendant made her use her powers resulting in the prom boat being destroyed and almost everyone drowning. After the night of the prom Charity, possessed by the pendant, tried to kill Miguel but failed.
She cooked Ciche with poison mushroom but Grace gave the wrong mushroom to Miguel resulting in Tabitha eating poison mushroom but survived. Evil Charity told Timmy and Tabitha to remove all brakes and make the bike loose so when riding Miguel would die. This attempt failed since Theresa took the bike, which almost resulted in her death. Evil Charity planted snakes and tried to kill Miguel by trapping him in the shed. But Miguel escaped and evil Charity failed. Miguel was planning their high school trip and decided to take everyone to the woods.
Tabitha wanted to stop them but failed. When in the woods Charity went into a trance and tried to burn Tabitha at the stake but was interrupted. Tabitha then made Charity wear the pendant and then told her to go near the mining shaft and try and push Miguel into it. Miguel was pushed in it. Evil Charity also pushed Kay inside the shaft. Tabitha, angry at evil Charity, pushed her inside. While inside, Kay tried to pull Miguel away as she was doing so Miguel's foot kicked a box. The box had extreme powers of goodness that could destroy Tabitha and the evil in Charity. While the box was opened, saint Michael an angel tried to kill Tabitha but failed when Timmy closed the box. Evil Charity tried to kill Miguel while in mining shaft but failed continuously.
While in the mining shaft Kay and Miguel found the evil witch Hecuba's cave. Hecuba was an evil witch trapped in a cave by Tabitha. While leaving the cave Kay took a diamond not knowing it could break the curse. While in the shaft Miguel and Kay found the box used it and destroyed the pendant on Charity. Tabitha's scheme to destroy Charity once again failed. As money begin to dwindle in the witchcraft-free household due to Tabitha losing her powers, the impulsive Timmy submitted Tabitha's tell-all expose' of Harmony's citizens, Hidden Passions, to Harper-Collins publishers. Tabitha tried to stop the publication but couldn't. During that time Tabitha's old enemy rival Hecuba was free and was planning to destroy Charity and try to take over from Tabitha. She also learned that Hecuba had an ally in Kay who sold her soul to Hecuba. After that, they witnessed Hecuba summoning up ravens that attacked the Bennett house and blood dripping from the walls. They also witnessed Hecuba failing to send Charity in a closet to hell. After that, Tabitha and Timmy found out that their book had been published and released. When released, the book became an overnight best-seller, forcing Tabitha to flee Harmony before the fallout exposed her as a witch. Stumbling into a weather-beaten hotel out west, Timmy and Tabitha met Norma Bates, the proprietor of said hotel. In a gender-switching send-up of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho, it was discovered that Norma kept her deceased father's skeleton in the house, and talked to him as if he were still alive. At some point, both Tabitha and Timmy decapitated the father's skull off the skeleton, sending the deranged Norma into such a fury that she actually blamed Tabitha for her father's death, and still pursues her to this day.
Tabitha and Timmy eventually returned to Harmony, but their peace was short-lived, when they found out that Charity was trapped in a closet to hell. They then witnessed how everyone was trying to save Charity, but failed. They threw a ladder of Lucifer into hell but Miguel got knocked out and Hecuba cut the rope trapping Charity in hell. Hecuba was at her cave and called Timmy and Tabitha. They saw that Kay and Miguel were also coming there to try and destroy Hecuba to save Charity, but failed when Miguel closed the box not fully destroying Hecuba. Tabitha and Timmy then tricked Hecuba and trapped her in a bottle and threw it into the basement. When they returned, they started to know that Charity, Kay, and Miguel were in hell and they were being pulled to the 10th level of hell. Timmy however having a big crush on Charity wanted to save Charity when evil was starting to destroy the Bennett house. He found out from Tabitha that a demons claw could save Charity.
The little angel girl seeing Timmy's good nature approached him telling him to use it. Timmy then used it resulting in the demons in hell being destroyed and the Bennett house getting sucked in to hell. Tabitha, Timmy, Charity, Miguel, and Kay all survived. Hecuba's scheme to get rid of Charity failed just like Tabitha.
After that, Charity, Grace and Jessica stayed over at Tabitha's house and Kay stayed with Miguel. Charity afterwards was trying to remember what happened and she started to. She also started feeling that Kay didn’t have a soul. She prayed for Kay’s soul to return and Kay got her soul back when Timmy heard Charity pray. Shortly afterwards Kay decided she wanted to be good. Miguel was planning their high school trip and came across warlock island. They decided to go. As they went, Tabitha and Timmy followed them escaping from the axe killer named Norma who wanted to kill them. After entering warlock island Tabitha feared for her life that the warlocks would want her since she trapped them on the island. The warlocks had her, but when Norma came she disrupted them and Tabitha ran escaping. They all returned to Harmony safely. Upon returning, the dark forces in Tabitha's basement were angry at her failure for not destroying Charity. Tabitha then pleaded and said that once kay becomes evil she will tear Miguel and Charity. Tabitha knew that when Kay learned about her parents not being married, she would turn evil and so Kay was told about it and decided to become evil.
She then found a book of spells which Kay found and used a spell to trap Charity in a block of ice. Kay then created a zombie Charity who was in fact a succubus sent from the dark forces in Tabitha’s basement. The dark forces also gave zombie Charity Tabitha's powers.
Timmy wished upon a star to become mortal, and the angel girl granted his wish. Tabitha passed him off as her nephew and they continued to live in her house. In order to save the real Charity, the by-now human Timmy took it upon himself to save her. Making his way across an enchanted countryside with Julian Crane, he secured the Demon's Horn, a magical device that could destroy the zombie version of Charity and restore the real Charity. When Timmy escaped and ran away in search of the demon’s horn, zombie Charity, at times, would send assassins to try and kill Timmy. She sent a raven to find out where Timmy was but before it could tell zombie Charity anything Tabitha killed it.
She discovered where Timmy was through a crystal ball. She cast the spell of beldacrusta which made animals appear. She however failed since Timmy escaped. She also sent a scarecrow and an iron man but Timmy was saved by Julian, who escaped harmony since everyone was trying to kill him. She also sent a snake but this time however Timmy was saved by Tabitha.
Timmy then returned to Harmony. By that time zombie Charity stole the good essence of the real Charity and tried to use it but before she could zombie Charity started to realize that the real Charity was starting to get saved. Zombie Charity ran over to the cave and there the real Charity and zombie Charity were starting to fight. Timmy also reached there starting to use the Demon's horn. However, both zombie Charity and real Charity got into a scuffle and Timmy got struck by zombie Charity gravely injuring him. The real Charity wakes up and uses the horn, destroying zombie Charity.
Timmy and Charity were rushed to the hospital. In the hospital doctors discovered Timmy was too gravely injured and couldn't make it. He died later. Charity also died resulting in Tabitha getting her full powers. When she got them she realized that she signed a form that gave permission to donate Timmy's heart to Charity. At first, when learning this, she tried to put a stop to it but Timmy came and convinced Tabitha not to do so and Tabitha stopped. Charity survived, and thereafter Tabitha's hatred toward Charity was somewhat tempered by the knowledge that her beloved Timmy's heart was inside Charity.
Zombie Charity returned briefly as a ghost, just long enough to con Tabitha into bringing another doll to life to replace Timmy. The second doll, Cracked Connie, in turn brought another doll to life as a boyfriend for herself. Demented Cecil therefore briefly joined the "family", but these subsequent dolls were considered pests by Tabitha and quickly left the unhappy household. Concurrently, Tabitha and Julian Crane commiserated over the loss of Timmy, and wound up making love. The outcome of their liaison produced a daughter, Endora.
Endora, while initially being mocked by the magical community for having a mortal father, then showed that half-mortal or not, she was one powerful witch. In the summer of 2005, while innocently crossing magical forces with Tabitha's, the fallout inadvertently created a major earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Harmony, submerging the town for days and causing untold damage.
Julian, dimly aware that he was Endora's father, often offered to support Tabitha and Endora financially, stopping short of a public admission of her parentage. Tabitha, however, wanted nothing further to do with Julian and kept him at bay. In 2006, Julian's ex-wife Ivy Winthrop discovered the secret of Endora's parentage, but didn't tell anyone.
Kay Bennett, pregnant with Miguel's child and unhappy with her home situation, moved in with Tabitha. When Kay's daughter Maria was born, the two single mothers raised their daughters together. At some point, Kay discovered that Tabitha was a witch and often forced her to cast spells on her behalf, most of which eventually backfired. When Kay and Tabitha were unable to separate them, Tabitha cast a spell and made Kay into a dog. Tabitha and Endora created an evil Faith and made Charity go to Castletown where five years earlier the house burnt down.
Kay, transformed into a dog, went after Charity trying to kill her, but the real Faith appeared and gave Miguel a sign where Charity was and Miguel took a spear and speared Kay, resulting in her having an operation. Miguel and Charity were still unable to break up. Charity had a suggestion of leaving town. Tabitha, hearing this, showed Charity all the evil brought to Harmony from the time she came. Charity, after seeing this, left Harmony. Miguel also went after her but failed to find her.
Tabitha, having never fully recovered the loss of her own powers, often had Endora cast spells for her. In 2006, Endora's childish spell revolved around bringing a mermaid, Siren, to life from a doll in order to supply Miguel with a girlfriend after Charity had left town. The crowded Lenox household then consisted of Tabitha, Endora, with Kay, Kay's fiancé Fox, Miguel, and Siren. Eventually fed up with the mermaid's wanton ways, Endora zapped her back into a doll and currently keeps her hidden away in a fish tank.
After contracting a strange "witch's illness" in the fall of 2006, Tabitha left Harmony briefly for therapy on the rings of Saturn, returning very relaxed and much more powerful than before. In January 2007 a fake Charity Standish appeared in Harmony, and Tabitha thought she was the real thing. When Kay revealed to her that she saw Charity and Miguel having sex in the shed, Tabitha wondered why she and the Dark Forces hadn't been destroyed. Tabitha later found out that the Charity walking around town was fake, so she didn't have to flee Harmony with Endora and Fluffy on her personal spaceship located in Area 51.
Tabitha was nearly reclassified by the Witch's Council as a good witch. Loudly reaffirming her dedication to the Dark Side, Tabitha stood her ground. However, the Witch's Council declared her an unfit mother and kidnapped Endora, intending to raise her a real bad witch. Tabitha and Kay formed a rescue party, in which Kay finally discovered that she too had magic powers. However, Tabitha soon realized that Kay, while powerful, was utterly unskilled in the magic arts, as every spell she cast led to disaster. Eventually she conjured up an evil Demon Elf which plagued both the Lenox household and to mention the rest of Harmony. Tabitha, fearing reprisal from the Witch's Council and the elf's wicked mischief, decided to send Endora away from Harmony to her old nemesis Esmeralda's school for good witches.
Not long after, Tabitha went to check on Endora through a magic portal (secretly followed by Julian), and she discovered two of the Witch's Council members fighting Esmeralda with Endora in the middle. In the end, Tabitha, Esmeralda, Endora, and Julian used the power of love to destroy the two hags. That was when Julian discovered that Tabitha and Endora were witches.
Endora, along with Miguel, were sucked into Hell or some other evil dimension by the Boys in the Basement. Tabitha later received a ransom from the Dark Side saying she and Kay must become bad witches to get their loved ones back. So, Tabitha unleashed the rottenness within, trying to break up loving couples in Harmony.
Kay became angry with Tabitha's antics and responded by shrinking her and trapping her in a fast food bag. On Halloween 2007, she said she managed to escape the bag before Ivy squished it. In early 2008, Miguel, rescued from Hell along with Endora, finally discovered that both Tabitha and Kay were witches, and tried to make them vow not to use dark magic again.
Later on, Tabitha looked into her magic bowl and saw the future of Kay, Miguel, Noah, and Paloma wedding and knows the wedding is going to be a disaster. After she saw the future of the double wedding, her magic bowl showed her that Ethan and Gwen were going to renew their wedding vows and that someone is going to stop their wedding. When she saw Theresa, she realized that Theresa was still alive.
Meanwhile, with the death of Alistair Crane, Tabitha's Book of Disasters predicted that Harmony would be destroyed by Mother Nature when the ocean rises and takes Harmony away. She decides to leave town. She was able to postpone the disaster for a little while as she arranged to stay down south with Nurse Precious. She also told Edna and Norma to leave town as well. She enlisted the help of Esme, who discovered that Tabitha is a witch. Eventually, as Tabitha prepared to leave, Vincent Crane and Viki try to poison everyone in town. After the citizens of Harmony all die, Esme, being one of the few survivors, came to ask Tabitha for help. Although reluctant, Tabitha is convinced by Endora to save everyone, including Julian. Tabitha enters the church, and begins to pray. The forces of darkness and goodness battle, and Tabitha loses all of her powers to the Good side. She didn't tell anyone, because people would be scared of her. Tabitha was able to attend Kay Bennett's Wedding. She also performs a symbolic wedding for Edna and Norma. The Dark side, represented by the Demon elf, comes to destroy Tabitha for her ineffectiveness at killing Charity and embrace of goodness. However, Endora embraces her love for her mother and defeats the demon. Mt. Harmony, a volcano in Harmony, began to erupt. She and Kay tried to stop it. Tabitha is zapped to the Church. Kay, however, goes to heaven and meets with Timmy.
Timmy tells Kay that Tabitha must become a Christian. Tabitha reluctantly agrees and confesses over 400 years of sin to Father Lonigan. Father Lonigan baptizes Tabitha and she feels something new - a real happiness. She stated that she feels genuine happiness because it is of the Lord and that she will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Endora stated that she will have eternal life like Timmy. Tabitha stated that there is only good magic in Harmony now. She then reminisces about Timmy, and his hand reaches to her from heaven. Tabitha later looks on at the new life ahead of her.
The Bewitched connection
In the Passions universe, the television series Bewitched (1964–1972) is alternately presented as both fantasy and in-universe fact. Bewitched featured a witch named Samantha married to a mortal named Darrin, with their daughter Tabitha, Samantha's witch mother Endora, and Samantha's ditzy witch housekeeper Esmerelda. At times Passions' Tabitha is seen watching the program as if it is fictional; at other times she refers to the Bewitched characters as if they are all real to her. Tabitha is acquainted with Bewitched character Dr. Bombay, who has made two appearances on the show and in both cases implies that Bewitched storylines exist in the same reality as Passions. Tabitha claims that her mother had been named "Samantha" and been married to a mortal named "Darrin," and names her daughter "Endora."