As the star of the classic 1960s sitcom Bewitched, actress Elizabeth Montgomery played Samantha Stephens, a witch who could get anything she desired with a simple twitch of her nose. Sure, it was cute and all, but it was all in the name of show biz in Hollywood’s La La Land. In reality, there was much more to the actress behind the adorable witch everyone waited to see on their television sets in the evenings.
Off-screen, the blonde beauty had her own personal struggles. “She had a dark side to her,” said author Herbie Pilato, who wrote “Twitch Upon A Star.” According to this tell-all book, Montgomery just couldn’t find happiness, running through four wild marriages and, like her character, bewitched many of Hollywood’s leading men of the time, like Elvis Presley, Dean Martin, and Gary Cooper.
Wanna hear some juicy facts about the woman behind Bewitched’s best character? Then you’re in the right place!
A Father Complex
According to Herbie Pilato’s biography of Elizabeth Montgomery, who was also the daughter of movie legend Robert Montgomery, Elizabeth suffered from what she called a “father complex,” in which she often fell for older men, seeking out troubled lovers who abused her physically and mentally. “She enchanted every man she ever met,” Herbie Pilato explained in her book.
“But she seemed drawn to troubled men, not nice guys.” Apparently, Elizabeth was always looking for the ‘bad boy,’ which may have been a complex that resulted from her broken relationship and rebellion against her father. While she had her Bentleys and Beverly Hills mansions, making millions from Bewitched alone, the actress had a dark side to her.
A Thing for Older Men
Elizabeth Montgomery was 62 when she died in 1995 of cancer. She had been married four times and had three children with her third husband, Bill Asher, the producer of Bewitched. Yet it seems as though she never found true happiness. “She was beautiful and alluring and looking for love,” said Pilato. “She worked with Gary Cooper on the movie The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell and he had a thing for her.”
Cooper was an older man, which as we know now, Elizabeth had a thing for. A stagehand had actually caught the duo alone in Cooper’s dressing room, which sparked an on-set scandal. There was also Dean Martin, who was smitten with her when they starred together in Who’s Been Sleeping In My Bed? He was romantic and surely loved women. For Elizabeth, it was another attraction of an older man.
Her First and Second Husbands
Elizabeth Montgomery’s first husband was a rich New York socialite named Fred Cammann, who was about a decade older than her. The two met while filming a TV show. But the problem was that he wanted her to quit acting and instead be a stay-at-home wife and mom in New York. Elizabeth, however, had other ambitions.
It didn’t take long for her to take off for California and for their marriage to go south. Her second husband was an Oscar-winning movie star, Gig Young, who was more than just a decade older – more like two and a half. Young, ironically, was much older than her. He was 25 years her senior at 48 years old – near to her father’s age. Her father, of course, was horrified.
A Lucky Escape
Elizabeth was 22 at the time and infatuated with the man, but Gig Young was troubled. He was an alcoholic, emotionally abusive and let’s face it – he was probably physically abusive as well. She tried to save him from his own demons, but their marriage soon broke down. Eerily, it was a lucky escape for Elizabeth. Gig Young shot his second wife to death and then took his own life.
Elizabeth’s third husband was Bewitched’s producer, Bill Asher, who was, obviously, another older man. But their marriage struggled for different reasons; he had affairs throughout their time on Bewitched. But that’s not to say that Elizabeth was an angel. She, too, had her affairs.
She Was No Angel
Despite the success of Bewitched, one of America’s top-rated TV shows of the time, boredom set in after only a few seasons. Montgomery found herself in an affair with one of the show’s directors, Richard Michaels, which ended up shattering both their marriages in 1971.
Toward the end of his life, Bill Asher really missed Elizabeth and basically cried his heart out for her. He would say, “It was all my fault.” He just couldn’t get over her. As for Elizabeth, she moved on, as she typically did. She met former Falcon Crest star Robert Fox worth, who was (shockingly) nine years younger than her. They were together 20 years before they ever got married.
A Tormented Lover
Her relationship with Robert Fox came soon after she ended her affair with Alexander Godunov. But not long after, she was diagnosed with cancer and died 18 months after they got married. Who’s Alexander Godunov? Well, he was one of her most tormented lovers. The former ballet star was also a successful actor (he was in Witness and Die Hard).
According to Pilato, Godunov was an alcoholic, and Elizabeth was drawn to him, perhaps hoping to rescue him… But he was abusive and self-destructive. She had an affair with him while with the man who became her fourth husband.” Then, when she split up with Godunov, he fell into a downward spiral, losing himself in “an alcoholic haze.” Sadly, he eventually drank himself to death.
A Conflicted Relationship with Her Father (aka Daddy Issues)
Elizabeth Montgomery spent her whole life trying to fix the conflicted relationship with her famous and overbearing father. Robert Montgomery was Hollywood royalty and her mother, Elizabeth Allen, was a Broadway actress. Montgomery grew up in their Beverly Hills family mansion. Some family friends included Bette Davis.
In 1951, Montgomery made her debut on her father’s weekly TV show. Robert was a famous movie star of the ‘40s and ‘50s and a major TV star in the ‘60s. According to Pilato, Elizabeth struggled to escape living in his shadow. Her father also didn’t want her to become an actress, which sparked the beginning of her resentment. He was also her toughest critic and was especially critical of her personal life, too.
A Bigger Star Than Him
From the way Elizabeth walked to her posture to her fondness for older men, Robert was horrified by her actions and choices. The way he saw it, she was just trying to replace him with all her older lovers. Elizabeth was a teenager when her parents divorced, and it took a toll on her already strained relationship with her father.
Her dysfunctional childhood home would haunt her for years to come; actually, for most of her life. She was conflicted, as one side of her would try to please her father, while the other side of her would-be rebelling against him. Pilato mentioned how Elizabeth wanted him to play her father on Bewitched, but he refused. Perhaps he resented the fact that his own daughter became a bigger star than him.
Republican vs. Democrat
When she acted in the TV movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden, which was about a woman accused of killing her parents with an ax, Robert Montgomery said to her: “You would!” He took her role in the film as a personal insult as if it was her way of secretly telling him that she wanted to kill her own father, according to Pilato.
Another clash between the father and daughter was regarding their political stances. Robert was a staunch Republican, and Elizabeth became a passionate Democrat, fighting for social causes that irritated her father. Elizabeth was one of the earliest stars who supported Aids victims and campaigned for gay rights. Despite her pampered upbringing, the woman was down-to-earth, with a head on her shoulders.
A Fling with JFK?
Speaking of politics for a moment, during the early ‘60s, Elizabeth became a close friend of President John F Kennedy, a president who was basically known for being something of a ladies man. Pilato noted that Kennedy would chase almost every beautiful woman he met, but if anything ever happened, Elizabeth never spoke about it
There’s a reason why Elizabeth Montgomery bewitched more than just the characters on her show. She also cast something of a spell on many of the men in her life. And considering her down-to-earth nature, she walked away from the Hollywood life. She disliked the fakeness of Hollywood and its people. And it’s most likely because she grew up in it.
The Queen of TV Movies
As it turns out, Elizabeth wanted to quit acting before she ever began filming Bewitched. But her then-husband, Bill Asher, told her: “Don’t quit – you have too much talent.” Pilato mentioned that she always had a love-hate relationship with acting. She would later end up picking and choosing the roles she really wanted after Bewitched was wrapped up.
She then became the queen of the TV movies, having been nominated for eight Emmy awards. Yet she never won. Montgomery had integrity and refused to play the whole Hollywood game – she didn’t go to the parties or take out ads asking for award consideration. Rather, she wanted her work to speak for itself. She had respect for herself – at least in the acting industry.
A Mere Six Weeks
For many years, she had struggled with colon cancer, which sadly, she believed she fought successfully. In the spring of 1995, she was told that the cancer returned. She ignored the flu-like symptoms while she was filming Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan. By the time her cancer was diagnosed, it already spread to her liver.
Unfortunately, it was too late for medical intervention. With no hope of recovery and the fact that she was unwilling to die in a hospital, she went back to her Beverly Hills home that she shared with her husband, Foxworth. Her death came quickly – only six weeks after she was diagnosed. On May 18th, 1995, she died at home at 62 years old.
Feuds on the Set
Elizabeth Montgomery didn’t get along with Dick York, the actor who played her husband, Darrin Stephens on Bewitched. According to Pilato, he was in love with her, yet she was married to the show’s producer. And it became really uncomfortable for her. York was addicted to painkillers and kept missing days of shooting. Eventually, they had to replace him with Dick Sargent.
But he wasn’t the only one Elizabeth had great battles with. There was also Hollywood veteran Agnes Moorehead, who played her mother on the show. Agnes, who was very fond of Dick York, didn’t want to see him go. She brought his replacement to tears on occasion. With time, Montgomery grew tired of the Bewitched game.
Leaving Bewitched for Good
She grew tired of Bewitched and had tried to quit after the 5th season, but ABC offered her a sum of money that she just couldn’t refuse. But by the final season, you can see a bit of rebellion on-screen as she plodded through each episode bra-less (as a nod to women’s liberation) and a sign that she didn’t want to be there.
When her contract with ABC was up, they offered her another large amount of money to stay, but she decided to turn it down. After eight seasons, she felt that she simply had enough. She wanted to get as far away from the role of Samantha Stephens as she could. She started looking for more challenging roles.
She Had the Last Laugh
She got a role as a sexual assault victim in A Case of Rape, as well as the ax killer in The Legend of Lizzie Borden. Montgomery had lined an entire wall of her home with photos from all her movies; none of them were from Bewitched. Though she was exhausted from her time on Bewitched, Montgomery had the last laugh.
She owned 20% of the show and made millions from residuals. After the show ended, multiple spin-offs were attempted and hit the airwaves. There was even a full-on remake, starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell. But none of the attempts could really capture what the original could. There was just something about Elizabeth…
That Little Nose Twitch
When the show first aired on September 17th, 1964, no one imagined the effect it would have on America. While the show lasted eight seasons, Samantha’s signature twitch of her nose is something almost everyone still recognizes today. That trademark nose-twitch was actually inspired by a quirk of Montgomery’s.
“She used to twitch her nose when she was frustrated,” said her former husband, Bill Asher. But I think we can all assume that those nose twitches weren’t accompanied by a xylophone sound effect.
Elizabeth Montgomery didn’t only star as the leading witch, by the way. For those who didn’t catch it, she also played Samantha’s cousin, Serena. As for the credits of the actress playing Serena, Montgomery used the pseudonym of Pandora Spocks.
Her Real-Life Pregnancies
Montgomery was pregnant three times. Her first was born in July 1964. Luckily for her, the producers of Bewitched were able to write two of her pregnancies into the script, which added Tabitha and Adam to the Stephens family. Montgomery’s three children were with Asher. Their kids’ names are William A. Asher (1964), Robert Asher (1965), and Rebecca Asher (1969).
Yes, she decided to name her second son after her father. In many cultures, people name their children after a loved one only after that person has already passed away. But that wasn’t the case with Elizabeth, who clearly had her own reasons for naming her son after her father. He was alive to see his grandchildren.
A Dirty Sense of Humor
In a 2017 interview, Erin Murphy, who played Tabitha on Bewitched, opened up about what the cast of the show was really like. She described how while Elizabeth Montgomery may have seemed like a wholesome girl-next-door, she wasn’t afraid to get a little dirty on set. “She had a really dirty sense of humor,” Murphy revealed.
“She was just one of those people who was so beautiful, but she wasn’t afraid to look silly – kind of like Lucille Ball… They could be really campy and funny. There was no fear there.” Speaking of being fearless, Montgomery was a chain smoker. In fact, many of the cast were heavy smokers. Heck, Dick York smoked as much as three packs a day!
The Secret Behind Her Magic
Since CGI didn’t exist back in the 1960s when Bewitched was being filmed, stagehands worked hard to produce Samantha’s signature “magic.” If she wanted to quickly clean up the living room, Montgomery would have to stand in place with her arms up as the director yelled, “Cut!” Then the stagehands would frantically run to remove the clutter.
Apparently, she was allowed to have crutch-like devices to help her keep her arms up for long periods of time. Montgomery was allowed to lower her arms and continue with the scene only when the director finally yelled, “Action!” Talk about an unconventional arm workout! That must have taken a toll on her arms. Now we know why she was so exhausted from the show.
Her Obituary and Death Certificate Were Wrong
Elizabeth Montgomery was a private person, and she never felt the need to make her health status public knowledge. When she passed away, her age was published as 57. But in reality, the actress was 62 when she died. Several other obituaries listed her as single, and that’s because she didn’t reveal her marriage to Robert Foxworth to the public.
The two were married for a few years before her death. In addition to these obituaries listing her incorrect age and incorrect marital status, her own death certificate got her name wrong! The death certificate listed her as “Elizabeth A. Montgomery,” even though her middle name was Victoria. You would think that something as official as a death certificate would be double-checked.
She Almost Didn’t Make the Cut
Sol Saks, the creator of Bewitched, really wanted the actress Tammy Grimes to play as his leading witch. And the initial thought was to name the character Cassandra, not Samantha. Saks liked Grimes’ look and the fact that she had a naturally “elfin” appearance. But in the end, Saks and producer Asher went with Elizabeth Montgomery for the series.
As for Tammy Grimes, the actress had auditioned for the original role, but she was still under contract with Screen Gems and wasn’t technically able to take the job on Bewitched. So Elizabeth Montgomery was cast, the character was then renamed Samantha, and the rest is history. And now, it’s practically impossible to imagine anyone else for the role.
A War of Witches
Word on the street has it that Elizabeth Montgomery wasn’t so pleased when the show I Dream of Jeannie debuted on NBC. It came just one year after Bewitched was aired for the first time on the rival network ABC. In fact, the two sitcoms were long compared while they were on TV, and the comparison remains even to this day.
Why? Well, both shows were about gorgeous blonde ladies with magical powers. Jeannie was a 2,000-year-old genie who fell in love with a NASA astronaut. Both shows even shared similar plot lines at times. But to give Elizabeth credit, she never felt any animosity toward the stars of I Dream of Jeannie’s; Barbara Eden or Larry Hagman.
Was the Show Cursed?
Some fans liked to think that there was a real-life curse on Bewitched. A high percentage of the cast ended causes relating to cancer-related. Even worse, many of them died young. Besides Montgomery, other major cast members who passed away at relatively young ages (under 65) include Paul Lynde (heart attack), Alice Pearce (cancer), Dick York (emphysema), and Dick Sargent (cancer).
This sad statistic can be either be attributed to “witchcraft” (for those who choose to believe) or to unhealthy lifestyle decisions (for those who tend to be on the more realistic side). I mean, when you think about it, considering how most of them were chain smokers, it’s no surprise that their health caught up to them.
A Human Rights Activist
We already know about Montgomery being a strong supporter of women’s rights and spending the last season without a bra towards in support of the women’s liberation movement. But she made history in other ways, too. She was one of the first stars to support gay rights and advocate for victims suffering from AIDS.
Montgomery also spent much of her free time volunteering with the AIDS Project Los Angeles and amfAR. Her support was valuable to the movement and came at an especially important time, which was at the height of the AIDS epidemic. It was a time when the illness was far from being understood. And so it gave her fans and those watching an idea as to what the illness is all about.
A Liberal Woman
Montgomery was also passionate about politics, and an outspoken pro-choice advocate as well as a critic of the Vietnam War. She volunteered for Learning Ally, in which she recorded the best-selling book of poetry called When We Were Very Young. Montgomery also produced many radio and public service announcements on TV.
As a major TV star, Montgomery participated in some controversial work as she wanted to use her talents for more serious jobs. Montgomery narrated two political documentaries reflecting her political beliefs. The first, in 1988, was called Coverup: Behind the Iran Contra Affair. The other, in 1992, was called The Panama Deception, which won an Academy Award, and that’s despite being such a controversial film.
A Legacy Beyond her Years
Even after her death, Montgomery helped people in need. Three years after she passed, there was an auction of her clothing. Her clothes were modeled by Erin Murphy, her on-screen daughter, who played Tabitha. The auction was held to benefit a cause dear to Montgomery’s heart – the AIDS Healthcare Foundation of Los Angeles.
Montgomery owned a summer house in Patterson, Putnam County, in New York. After her death, the 794-acre estate was sold off to the state of New York, which turned it into Wonder Lake State Park. In keeping with her legacy, the park is a magical place. They expanded it to a total of 1,145 acres, with 8.7 miles of trails, including one which passes a pond and encircles all of Wonder Lake.
In Memory of…
Elizabeth Montgomery was posthumously given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which was just one sign of gratitude for the late actress. For those who want to see it, the star is located at 6533 Hollywood Blvd. It was awarded to her for her work on television on January 4th, 2008, which came 13 years after her death.
She also has a statue in Salem, Massachusetts, (now infamous as the location of the Salem Witch Trials in the 17th century). In 2005, they erected a bronze statue of Montgomery as Samantha Stephens. It’s only a fitting spot for a famous witch to be memorialized if you ask me! With gestures like these, her legacy will live on.
A Family Affair
Montgomery’s third husband, Bill Asher, was a film producer, director, and screenwriter. They got married in 1963, and by 1964, Asher began producing and directing the show Bewitched. It was following the success he had with the TV shows Our Miss Brooks and I Love Lucy. Asher then won an Emmy in 1966 for his work on Bewitched.
Like Montgomery, Asher would go on to be married a total of four times. Montgomery was his second wife, and they had three children. But by 1973, the two were divorced, which came not long after the cancellation of Bewitched. The marriage came to an end after Elizabeth had an affair with Richard Michaels, the director who also worked on the set of Bewitched.
She Was Pregnant During the First Season
Montgomery wore progressively looser clothes in order to disguise her expanding waistline. But luckily for her, her next two pregnancies were written into the script and so she didn’t have to hide anything when Tabitha and Adam were introduced to the Stephens family. Speaking of her on-screen children, it was Montgomery’s idea to name her character’s daughter Tabitha.
“I loved it, because it was so old-fashioned,” Montgomery said in 1967. “I got it from one of the daughters of Edward Andrews, the actor. The two Andrews girls are named Tabitha and Abigail. But, somehow or other, her name came out ‘Tabatha’ on the credit roll, and that’s the way it’s been ever since. Honestly, I shudder every time I see it. It’s like a squeaky piece of chalk scratching on my nerves.”
Some Things You Didn’t Know About Bewitched…
The creator, Sol Saks, was inspired to make Bewitched after seeing two movies. He admitted in several interviews that his script for the pilot was inspired by the movies I Married a Witch and Bell, Book and Candle. Saks wasn’t worried about people possibly finding too many similarities between his show and those movies, though.
However, both films were owned by Columbia Pictures, which also owned Screen Gems, the company that produced Bewitched. At the time, Montgomery and Asher were looking for a TV project to work on together, and so Harry Ackerman encouraged them to have a look at Saks’ pilot script. The Ashers felt that the show had possibilities, and she signed on to be Samantha.
Why Dick York Really Left the Show
On the second-to-last day of filming the movie Cordura, Dick York was operating a railroad handcar that was carrying wounded men. The director yelled, “Cut” and one of the “wounded” extras pulled himself up and York unsuspectingly lifted the extra’s entire weight of 180 pounds. He ended up tearing most of the muscles on the right side of his back. His spine never healed correctly.
Back then, there was no type of surgery to repair his injuries, and so all specialists could do was give him a steady supply of strong pain medications. York managed to deal with his severe pain for the first four seasons, but in the middle of Season Five, he was run-down and it showed on-screen. One day, when filming a difficult scene, York went into a seizure. He was rushed to the hospital and never came back to the Bewitched set. Some episodes were filmed without him until Dick Sargent took over.
Alice Pearce Had Terminal Cancer When She Was on the Show
When Alice Pearce was nine, she fell from a swing in a playground and landed on her chin, stunting its further growth. Her jaw later prevented her from getting any leading lady roles when started acting, but she ended up being great for some comic relief. Four months before receiving a phone call from her agent telling her that Asher wanted her for a part on his new show, she had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
She had surgery done, but the doctors told her that her case was terminal. She never told her coworkers of her condition. Other than being a little tired on the set on some days, no one suspected that she was sick. Pearce died in March 1966 and was given a posthumous Outstanding Supporting Actress Emmy Award two months later.
Most of the Supporting Actors Wore Their Own Clothes
According to Kasey Rogers (aka “Louise Tate”), the supporting actors on the show would bring their own clothes to the set a week before filming and then the wardrobe department would clean and press them. Agnes Moorehead was often seen wearing a starburst brooch, which had 8.5 carats of old-mine diamonds. Montgomery really admired the pin, and when Moorehead died in 1974, she gave it to her TV daughter.
Speaking of Agnes Moorehead, she and Dick York were close off-screen. While her character, Endora, barely tolerated Darrin on the show, Moorehead was actually closer to York than any other cast member on the show. Moorehead was a religious Fundamentalist and admired York’s New Age spirituality. She also respected his acting talent and was far from glad to find out that he was replaced with Dick Sargent.