When you hear the name, Elizabeth Montgomery, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Like many people, you likely automatically think about the role that she played as Samantha on the television show, bewitched.
Despite the fact that Elizabeth Montgomery was famous many decades ago, she still remains a household name for many today. She entertained us in so many different ways but unfortunately, the beautiful and talented actress passed away in 1995 unexpectedly.
One of the reasons why Elizabeth Montgomery was so popular was because she had natural beauty. Other actresses may need makeup and hair stylists to follow them around and make them look beautiful, but she did it without any help.
Since she played Samantha Stevens in the 1960 sitcom, she continued to be a popular and talented individual for many years. If she were still alive today, she would have been celebrating her 91st birthday but unfortunately, her untimely death took many by surprise.
Elizabeth Montgomery was born in 1933 to a Broadway actress. It was natural that she would grow up to do something similar. Her father, Robert Montgomery, was also a popular actor.
In an interview in 1954, she said: “Dad tells me I often climbed on his lap after dinner and remarked, ‘I’m going to be an actress when I grow up.’ I don’t know whether he encouraged me or not, but he told me he would humor me and would tell me to wait and see what happened when I grew up.
“I’ll be real honest and say that Daddy did help me get a break in TV and I’m really grateful for his assistance and guidance. He’s my most severe critic, but also a true friend as well as loving father.”
Elizabeth was a teenager when she first showed up on television. In this case, she was on her father’s show, Robert Montgomery Presents, and she would make a number of appearances. She got started in Broadway in 1953 and in 1955, she appeared in The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell, her first film.
She was married for one year to Frederick Gallatin Cammann but they were divorced in 1955, she would go on to marry Gig Young in 1956 and they were married until 1963.
It was in that year that she met William Asher, who was a TV producer and director. They were married and had three children together.
Bewitched was the crowning jewel in her repertoire, but she did play in a number of other shows, including Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Loretta Young Show, The Untouchables, and The Twilight Zone. Bewitched would go on to run for eight seasons from 1964 until 1972.
In 1965, she gave an interview, saying: “I’d never thought much about a series because I liked the idea of picking a script I liked with a character I thought I could sustain for an hour. In a series, you live with one character day in and day out – and you only hope it will be one that will not drive you crazy.”
After Bewitched was canceled, she went on to make a number of made-for-television movies. She starred in Mrs. Sundance (1973), A Case of Rape (1974), The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975), Black Widow Murders (1993), The Corpse Had a Familiar Face (1994), and Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan (1995).
She met Robert Foxworth while on the set of Mrs. Sundance. They stayed married until she passed away, but they had only married two years prior.
An author of two books on Elizabeth Montgomery, Herbie J Pilato said: “Before Jane Seymour, before Lindsay Wagner and before Valerie Bertinelli, Elizabeth was the first Queen of the TV movies; she went from queen of the witches to queen of the TV movie and it was no longer a struggle to break away from Bewitched.”
Unfortunately, she had a long fight with colon cancer and died on May 18, 1995. Her family said she was 57 but many others claim she was 62.
At one point, she even thought that she had beaten cancer but unfortunately, when she was tested again, the cancer had spread to her liver. She died in her sleep at her home in Beverly Hills with her family by her side.
We appreciate all that she offered to us and the many memories that she left behind. May she rest in peace.