Elizabeth Montgomery

Early life

Montgomery was born on April 15, 1933, in Los Angeles, California to Broadway actress Elizabeth Daniel Bryan (née Allen; 1904–1992) and film star Robert Montgomery (1904–1981). Montgomery's mother was a native of Kentucky and her father was from New York. She had an older sister, Martha Bryan Montgomery (named after her aunt Martha-Bryan Allen), who died as an infant and a younger brother, Robert Montgomery, Jr. (1936–2000). Montgomery was of Irish and Scottish descent. Her great-grandfather, Archibald Montgomery, was born in Belfast and emigrated to the United States in 1849. Genealogical research conducted after Montgomery's death revealed that Montgomery and accused 19th-century murderer Lizzie Borden were sixth cousins once removed, both descending from 17th-century Massachusetts resident John Luther. Montgomery had played Borden, not knowing of their real-life relationship.

She attended Westlake School for Girls in Holmby Hills, California. After graduating from Spence School in New York City, she attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts for three years.

1951–1963: Early work

Montgomery made her television debut in her father's series Robert Montgomery Presents and later appeared on occasion as a member of his "summer stock" company of performers. In October 1953, Montgomery made her Broadway debut, starring in Late Love, for which she won a Theater World Award for her performance. She then made her film debut in Otto Preminger's The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955). Montgomery returned to Broadway in 1956, appearing in The Loud Red Patrick.

Montgomery's early career consisted of starring roles and appearances in live television dramas and series, such as Studio One, Kraft Television Theater, Johnny Staccato, Burke's Law, The Twilight Zone, The Eleventh Hour, Boris Karloff's Thriller, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1960, Montgomery was nominated for an Emmy Award for her portrayal of southern nightclub performer Rusty Heller in an episode of The Untouchables, playing opposite David White, who later portrayed Darrin's boss Larry Tate on Bewitched. She played the part of Rose Cornelius in the Rawhide episode "Incident at El Crucero" (1963).

In 1963, Montgomery was featured in a role as a socialite who falls for a gangster (Henry Silva) in Johnny Cool, directed by William Asher, and the film comedy Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed?, with Dean Martin and Carol Burnett, this time directed by Daniel Mann. After her appearance on Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Alfred Hitchcock had her in mind to play the sister-in-law of Sean Connery, who sees herself as a rival to the troubled heroine in the movie Marnie (1964), but Montgomery was unavailable.

1964–1972: Bewitched

In the ABC situation comedy Bewitched, Montgomery played the central role of lovable witch Samantha Stephens, with Dick York (and later with Dick Sargent) as her husband. Starting in the second season of the series, she also played the role of Samantha's mischievous cousin, Serena, under the pseudonym Pandora Spocks (a pun on Pandora's Box).

Bewitched became a ratings success (it was, at the time, the highest-rated series ever for the network). The series aired for eight seasons, from 1964 to 1972, and despite low ratings late in the series run, it was renewed for a ninth season to run from 1972 to 1973. However, Elizabeth Montgomery's marriage to Bewitched director William Asher was in trouble and the couple had separated by the end of the eighth season. This caused severe friction in their professional relationship and ended any possibility of another season. As a consolation to ABC, Montgomery and Asher (under their company name Ashmont, which produced Bewitched) offered a half-hour sitcom, The Paul Lynde Show, to the network for the 1972–1973 season. Lynde's series lasted only one year.

In a parody of her Samantha Stephens role, she made a cameo appearance as a witch at the end of the beach party film How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965). This was directed by William Asher, her husband at the time. That same year she also provided the voice of Samantha for an episode of the animated series The Flintstones.

For her role on Bewitched, Montgomery received five Emmy and four Golden Globe nominations.

The show added to the increasing popularity of the name Samantha. While its use was relatively rare until 1958, it has remained consistently popular since 1965 due chiefly to Montgomery's character.

1973–1995: Later career

Montgomery returned to Samantha-like twitching of her nose and on-screen magic in a series of Japanese television commercials (1980–83) for "Mother" chocolate biscuits and cookies by confectionery conglomerate Lotte Corp. These Japanese commercials provided a substantial salary for Montgomery while she remained out of sight of non-Japanese fans and the Hollywood industry.

In the United States, Montgomery spent much of her later career pursuing dramatic roles that took her as far away from the good-natured Samantha as possible. Among her later roles were performances that brought her Emmy Award nominations: a rape victim in A Case of Rape (1974), and the accused (but later acquitted) murderer Lizzie Borden in William Bast's The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975). Rhonda McClure, the genealogist who documented the Montgomery–Borden connection after Montgomery's death which revealed that Montgomery was Borden's distant cousin, said "I wonder how Elizabeth would have felt if she knew she was playing her own cousin."

Montgomery made many appearances on the game show Password. Allen Ludden, the show's longtime host, called her the "Queen of Password". Montgomery later played a pioneer woman facing hardship in 1820s Ohio in the Miniseries The Awakening Land (1978), which earned her an Emmy nomination.

In A Killing Affair (1977), Montgomery played the role of a police detective who has an affair with her married partner, played by O. J. Simpson. In the television movie Amos (1985), she played a rare villainous role, as a vicious nurse who abuses her wards in a home for senior citizens. The wards are played by, among others, Kirk Douglas and Dorothy McGuire. Montgomery returned to Broadway one last time in 1989 in a production of Love Letters, opposite Robert Foxworth. She played one of her last roles in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series entitled "Showdown", in which she played a barmaid; this was also her final work to be screened, since the episode aired posthumously. Her last television series was the highly rated Edna Buchanan detective series – the second and final film of the series received its first airing on May 9, 1995, only nine days before Montgomery died.

Personal life

In 1954, Montgomery married her first husband, New York socialite Frederick Gallatin Cammann; the couple divorced less than a year later. She was married to Academy Award-winning actor Gig Young from 1956 to 1963, and then to director-producer William Asher from 1963 until their 1973 divorce. They had three children: William Asher, Jr. (b. 1964), Robert Asher (b. 1965), and Rebecca Asher (b. 1969). The latter Two pregnancies were incorporated into Bewitched as Samantha's pregnancies with Tabitha and Adam Stephens. During the eighth year of the show, Elizabeth fell in love with director Richard Michaels. Their resulting affair ended both their marriages and the series as well. They moved in together at the end of shooting in 1972. The relationship lasted 2½ years. On January 28, 1993, she married for a fourth time to actor Robert Foxworth, after living with him for nearly twenty years. She remained married to Foxworth until her death.

Throughout the run of Bewitched, many references to Patterson, New York were made in the series . The Putnam County town was the site of the Montgomery homestead, and it was also where Elizabeth spent her childhood summers. In later years, her mother lived in the family farmhouse on Cushman Road.

Political activism

Montgomery was personally devoted to liberal political beliefs, and she "lent her name, along with a great deal of time, money, and energy to a wide variety of charitable and political causes". She had progressive political views and was an outspoken champion of women's rights, AIDS activism, and gay rights. Montgomery was also pro-choice throughout her life. She was an ardent critic of the Vietnam War, and in later years, she was an active advocate for AIDS research and outreach to the disabled community. Professionally, she lent her voice as narrator to two political documentaries critical of US foreign policy, Cover Up: Behind the Iran Contra Affair (1988) and the Academy Award-winning The Panama Deception (1992). In June 1992, Montgomery and her former Bewitched co-star Dick Sargent, who had remained good friends, were Grand Marshals at the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade.

Charity work

During the last year of her life, Montgomery was a volunteer for the Los Angeles Unit of Learning Ally, a nonprofit organization which records educational books on specially formatted CDs and in downloadable formats for disabled people. In 1994, Montgomery produced several radio and television public-service announcements for the organization's Los Angeles Unit. In January 1995, she recorded the 1952 edition of the best-selling book of poetry titled When We Were Very Young for Learning Ally.

After her death, the Los Angeles Unit of Learning Ally dedicated the 1995 Record-A-Thon to Montgomery and secured 21 celebrities to assist in the reading of the book titled Chicken Soup for the Soul, which was also dedicated to her memory.

Illness and death

For many years, Montgomery had struggled with colon cancer, which she believed she had beaten. In the spring of 1995, however, she was told that the cancer had returned. She had ignored the influenza-like symptoms during the filming of Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan, which she finished filming in late March 1995. By the time the cancer was diagnosed, it had spread to her liver and it was too late for medical intervention. With no hope of recovery and unwilling to die in a hospital, she chose to return to the Beverly Hills home that she shared with Foxworth. Early on the morning of May 18, 1995, Montgomery died at home, eight weeks after her diagnosis. She was 62 years old.

On June 18, 1995, a memorial service was held at the Canon Theatre in Beverly Hills. Herbie Hancock provided the music, and Dominick Dunne spoke about their early days as friends in New York City. Other speakers included her husband, Robert Foxworth, who read sympathy cards from fans; her nurse; her brother; her daughter; and her stepson. Her remains were cremated at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery.

Montgomery had a summer home in Patterson, Putnam County, New York. Following her death in 1995, the 794-acre (321 ha) estate was sold to New York State and became Wonder Lake State Park.

Legacy

Audio

In popular culture