Elizabeth Montgomery
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2007) |
Elizabeth Montgomery | |
|---|---|
| Born | Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery |
| Spouse(s) | Robert Foxworth (1993-1995) William Asher (1963-1973) Gig Young (1956-1963) Frederick Gallatin Cammann (1954-1955) |
Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery (April 15, 1933 – May 18, 1995) was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is best remembered for her famous roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.
Biography
Youth
Born in Los Angeles, California, Elizabeth Montgomery was the child of actor Robert Montgomery and his wife, Broadway actress Elizabeth Bryan Allen. She had an older sister, Martha Bryan Montgomery, who died before she was born, and a brother, Robert Montgomery, Jr., who was born in 1936. She attended The Spence School.
Early career
Montgomery made her television debut in her father's series Robert Montgomery Presents, and her film debut in 1955 in The Court Martial of Billy Mitchell.
Her early career consisted of starring vehicles and appearances in live television dramas and series, such as Studio One, Kraft Television Theater, The Twilight Zone, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1954 she lost out on co-starring with Marlon Brando in the seminal film On the Waterfront directed by Elia Kazan. Kazan in his autobiography says that although Montgomery tested well in the role, she had an air of "finishing school" that troubled him.[citation needed]
She was also featured in a role as a socialite with Henry Silva and Sammy Davis, Jr in the offbeat 1963 gangster film Johnny Cool and, the same year, with Dean Martin and Carol Burnett in the motion picture comedy Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed?, directed by Daniel Mann. Nevertheless, 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, but Montgomery was unavailable owing to her commitment to a new television show: Bewitched.
Bewitched
Montgomery played the central role of Samantha Stephens with Dick York (and later with Dick Sargent), in the ABC situation comedy Bewitched. The show became a rating success (it was, at the time, the highest rated series ever for the network[1]). It enjoyed an eight-year run from 1964 to 1972 and remains popular through syndication and DVD releases. She also provided the voice of Samantha for an episode of The Flintstones.
Montgomery received five Emmy Award and four Golden Globe nominations for her role. At its creative peak, Bewitched was considered one of the most sophisticated sitcoms on the air and cleverly explored contemporary themes and social issues within a fantasy context.
The series and Montgomery's portrayal of Samantha were paid homage in the 2005 movie, Bewitched, starring Will Ferrell and Nicole Kidman.
After Bewitched
Although Montgomery enjoyed enormous success with the show, she felt typecast and pigeonholed when she sought other roles after the show's run ended. Montgomery refused to do Samantha's famous nose twitch for fans after Bewitched went off the air, and was reluctant to discuss the show.
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 lucrative salary for Montgomery while remaining out of sight from non-Japanese fans and Hollywood industry. The commercials were posted on YouTube in 2007.
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:
- She received Emmy Award nominations for playing a rape victim in A Case of Rape (1974), for her portrayal of Lizzie Borden in William Bast's The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975), and for her role as a strong woman facing hardship in 1820s Ohio in the mini-series The Awakening Land (1978).
- In 1977, Montgomery turned heads when she played a police detective having an interracial affair with her partner, played by OJ Simpson in A Killing Affair.
- She also made a chilling villain in the 1985 picture Amos, playing a nurse in a state home who terrorized residents Kirk Douglas and Dorothy McGuire.
- One of her final roles was in an episode of Batman: The Animated Series entitled "Showdown," in which she played a barmaid.
- She also had a long run as a guest performer on the game show Password, and host Allen Ludden referred to her as the best Password player ever on the show.
- Her final television movies were the highly-rated Edna Buchanan detective series.
Montgomery was one of the first actresses to broaden their careers from series work with television movies, and she set the precedent for other TV series actresses, such as Farrah Fawcett, Jaclyn Smith, Melissa Gilbert, Carol Burnett, and Barbara Eden, to follow.
Personal life
Montgomery was first married to New York socialite Frederick Gallatin Cammann in 1954; the marriage lasted barely a year. She was married to actor Gig Young from 1956 to 1963, and then to Bewitched producer William Asher from 1963 to 1973, with whom she had three children: William Asher (July 24, 1964), Robert Asher (October 5, 1965) and Rebecca Asher (June 17, 1969). The latter two pregnancies were incorporated into Bewitched as Samantha's pregnancies with Tabitha and Adam Stephens. After cohabiting for nearly twenty years, she entered her fourth and final marriage, to actor Robert Foxworth, in 1993. She even approached comedian Dennis Miller about taking out a license to marry the couple. She remained married to Foxworth until her death.[2]
Political activism
In June 1992, Montgomery and her former Bewitched co-star Dick Sargent, who had remained a good friend, were Grand Marshals at the Los Angeles Gay Pride Parade. Montgomery had strongly liberal political views, being an outspoken champion of women's rights and gay rights throughout her life. She narrated a series of political documentaries in the late 1980s and early 1990s, including Coverup: Behind the Iran Contra Affair (1988) and the Academy Award winning The Panama Deception (1992).
Illness and death
Montgomery was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in the spring of 1995. She had ignored the flu-like symptoms during the filming of Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan, but acted too late. Unwilling to die in a hospital, and with no hope of recovery, she elected to return to her Beverly Hills home that she shared with Foxworth. She died there, in the company of her children and husband, on May 18, 1995, at age 62, only eight weeks after her diagnosis.[3]
A memorial service was held on June 18, 1995, 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. Other speakers included Robert Foxworth, who read out sympathy cards from fans, her nurse, her brother, daughter, and stepson.
Posthumous
- On April 19, 1998, an event auction/sale of her clothing was held by her family to benefit AIDS Healthcare Foundation of Los Angeles.
- In June 2005, a statue of Montgomery as Samantha Stephens was erected in Salem, Massachusetts.[4]
- A star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame was presented in honor of Montgomery's work in television on January 4, 2008.[5] The location of star is 6533 Hollywood Blvd.
Award nominations
| Year | Group | Award | Film or Series | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role | The Untouchables | Nominated |
| 1966 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series | Bewitched | Nominated |
| 1967 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series | Bewitched | Nominated |
| 1968 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series | Bewitched | Nominated |
| 1969 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series | Bewitched | Nominated |
| 1970 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress - Comedy Series | Bewitched | Nominated |
| 1974 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress - Drama Series | A Case of Rape | Nominated |
| 1975 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Special Program - Drama or Comedy | The Legend of Lizzie Borden | Nominated |
| 1978 | Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series | The Awakening Land | Nominated |
| 1965 | Golden Globe Award | Best TV Star (Female) | Bewitched | Nominated |
| 1967 | Golden Globe Award | Best TV Star (Female) | Bewitched | Nominated |
| 1969 | Golden Globe Award | Best TV Star (Female) | Bewitched | Nominated |
| 1971 | Golden Globe Award | Best Actress, Comedy/Musical | Bewitched | Nominated |
Selected filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Other notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951-1956 | Robert Montgomery Presents | Various roles | TV, 27 episodes |
| 1954-1957 | Kraft Television Theatre | Various roles | TV, 7 episodes |
| 1955 | The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell | Margaret Lansdowne | |
| 1955-1958 | Studio One | Various roles | TV, 3 episodes |
| 1958 | Alfred Hitchcock Presents | Karen | TV, 1 episode |
| 1960 | The Untouchables | Rusty Heller | TV, 1 episode, received an Emmy Award nomination |
| 1961 | The Twilight Zone | The Woman | TV, 1 episode |
| 1963 | Johnny Cool | Darien "Dare" Guinness | |
| Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed? | Mellisa Morris | ||
| 1964-1972 | Bewitched | Samantha Stephens | TV, 254 episodes |
| 1965 | How to Stuff a Wild Bikini | Bwana's Daughter, The Witches Witch | Uncredited |
| 1966 | The Flintstones | Samantha Stephens | TV, 1 episode, Voice |
| 1972 | The Victim | Kate Wainwright | Television movie |
| 1973 | Mrs. Sundance | Etta Place | Television movie |
| 1974 | A Case of Rape | Ellen Harrod | Television movie, received an Emmy Award nomination |
| 1975 | The Legend of Lizzie Borden | Lizzie Borden | Television movie, received an Emmy Award nomination |
| 1976 | Dark Victory | Katherine Merrill | Television movie |
| 1977 | A Killing Affair | Vikki Eaton | Television movie |
| 1978 | The Awakening Land | Sayward Luckett Wheeler | Miniseries, received an Emmy Award nomination |
| 1979 | Jennifer: A Woman's Story | Jennifer Prince | Television movie |
| Act of Violence | Catherine McSweeney | Television movie | |
| 1980 | Belle Starr | Belle Starr | Television movie |
| 1981 | When the Circus Came to Town | Mary Flynn | Television movie |
| 1982 | The Rules of Marriage | Joan Hagen | Television movie |
| 1983 | Missing Pieces | Sara Scott | Television movie |
| 1984 | Second Sight: A Love Story | Alaxandra McKay | Television movie |
| 1985 | Amos | Daisy Daws | Television movie |
| Between the Darkness and the Dawn | Abigail Foster | Television movie | |
| 1988 | Coverup: Behind the Iran Contra Affair | Narrator | Documentary film |
| 1990 | Face to Face | Dr. Diana Firestone | Television movie |
| 1991 | Sins of the Mother | Ruth Coe | Television movie |
| 1992 | With Murder in Mind | Gayle Wolfer | Television movie |
| The Panama Deception | Narrator | Documentary film | |
| 1993 | The Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story | Blanche Taylor Moore | Television movie |
| 1994 | The Corpse Had a Familiar Face | Edna Buchanan | Television movie |
| 1995 | Deadline for Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan | Edna Buchanan | Television movie |
| Batman: The Animated Series | Barmaid | TV, 1 episode, Voice |
Audio
- Craven Street: Ben Franklin in London, a five-part radio drama (1993, Narrator)
- Beauty's Punishment (1994, Narrator)
- Beauty's Release (1994, Narrator)
Two audio books in which Montgomery narrates the work of Anne Rice (writing as A.N. Roquelaure) are available as of 2005.
References
- ^ Mansour, David (2005). From Abba to Zoom: A Pop Culture Encyclopedia of the Late 20th Century. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 38. ISBN 0-740-75118-2.
- ^ R. E. Lee. "Elizabeth Montgomery Biography". Retrieved 2007-07-18.
- ^ Gliatto, Tom (June 5, 1995). "That Magic Feeling". People. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
{{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in:|publisher=(help) - ^ "History-minded not under spell of 'Bewitched' statue". The Associated Press. June 18, 2005. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
- ^ "Hollywood star is unveiled posthumously for TV's 'Bewitched' star Elizabeth Montgomery". The Associated Press. January 5, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-21.
External links
- Please use a more specific IMDb template. See the documentation for available templates.
- Elizabeth Montgomery at the TCM Movie Database
- Template:Tv.com person
- Elizabeth Montgomery at Find a Grave
- Elizabeth Montgomery web site
- Elizabeth Montgomery fanlisting