Short Biography

Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was an American film and television actress whose career spanned five decades. She is best remembered for her roles as Samantha Stephens in Bewitched, as Ellen Harrod in A Case of Rape and as Lizzie Borden in The Legend of Lizzie Borden.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 Bord

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