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ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY BIOGRAPHY

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Elizabeth Montgomery was born April 15, 1933 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actor Robert Montgomery and stage actress Elizabeth Allen. Along with her younger brother, Skip (Robert, Jr., born 1936), Elizabeth had a privileged childhood, raised in Hollywood among the movie stars. Summers were spent at the Montgomerys' country house in New York state or in England. She attended the exclusive Westlake School for Girls where the daughters of affluent families were taught to be poised and ladylike young women. Her first acting role was at the age of five in a French language production of Little Red Riding Hood at the Westlake School; Elizabeth played the wolf.

Elizabeth being held by her mother, 1933

In 1950, the family moved to New York where her father was just beginning his television series Robert Montgomery Presents. When the Montgomerys divorced in December of that year, Elizabeth first stayed in the family home with her mother, but subsequently moved in with her father and his second wife. Elizabeth entered the Spence School, another exclusive educational establishment and after graduating in 1951, enrolled in the American Academy of Dramatic Art to foster her theatrical aspirations. She made her television debut on her father's series in 1951, in an episode entitled Top Secret. She and her father portrayed father and daughter in the production. Her opening line to Montgomery; "Hi, Pop," caused her father to forget his lines. He later said it wasn't until then that he realized it was his daughter he was acting with. She received favorable reviews for her work and in 1952 was engaged as a member of the summer stock company on her father's show. Afraid that people would think she was merely riding on her father's coattails, Elizabeth casually suggested she might change her name, to which her father replied downheartedly, "What's the matter, you ashamed?" Her name remained the same and she continued to find employment on both television and the stage. Far from fawning over his daughter's accomplishments, Montgomery would send her notes critiquing her performances, especially ones he didn't like. She tried to follow his advise; " Like Daddy," Elizabeth said, "I try to be neat, concise in my work..."

In October of 1953, Elizabeth made her Broadway debut in the play Late Love. She had previously appeared in summer stock productions of Brigadoon and Biography. The play closed in January, 1954 and in March Elizabeth married Frederic Gallatin Cammann, a New York blue-blood who was expelled from the Social Register for marrying an actress. The marriage lasted scarcely a year, and on December 28, 1956 Elizabeth married actor Gig Young. This marriage was a turbulent one; Young, the star of such films as Come Fill the Cup, Teacher's Pet and They Shoot Horses Don't They?, was a chronic alcoholic and 23-year-old Elizabeth was at a loss as to how to handle the problem.

Elizabeth and Freddie Cammann

During the 1950's and early 1960's Elizabeth appeared in over 200 television shows including an Emmy-nominated performance in The Untouchables. In 1955 she made her feature film debut in The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell with Gary Cooper. But she was still essentially known as Robert Montgomery's daughter. But that was all about to change...

Elizabeth and Gig Young

In 1963, at an audition for the feature film Johnny Cool Elizabeth met director William Asher whose credits included the ever-popular I Love Lucy. Elizabeth got the part and she and the director fell in love during the making of the film. Elizabeth flew to Mexico for a quickie divorce from Young and she and Asher were married in El Paso, Texas shortly after. Upon her third marriage Elizabeth expressed a desire to retire and start a family; Asher suggested that they could work together on a television series. This idea appealed to Elizabeth and Asher approached ABC with an idea for a sit-com about a rich girl, starring his new bride. ABC, however, already had the script for a television pilot by Sol Saks which they thought would be good for Elizabeth.  After making a few changes to the script, Asher decided this was indeed the show for them. Bewitched was a fantasy-comedy loosely based on the feature films I Married a Witch and Bell, Book, and Candle which dealt with the problems that arise when a mortal man marries a beautiful witch. As her co-stars Elizabeth had Dick York as her mortal husband and veteran actress Agnes Moorehead as her trouble-making mother. During the filming of the pilot which took place in December of 1963, Elizabeth was pregnant with her first child; William Allen Asher was born on July 24, 1964, and filming for the series commenced in September of that year. Six days later the pilot was aired. Needless to say, Bewitched proved a huge success and enjoyed an eight-year run on ABC. Elizabeth's two subsequent pregnancies were incorporated into the storyline of the show; Robert Deverell Asher was born October 5, 1965 and Rebecca Elizabeth Asher on June 17, 1969. These coincided with the TV births of Tabatha and Adam Stephens, respectively.

The Ashers and their two sons

In 1969, Dick York left the series due to illness; although the Ashers preferred to end the series rather than go on without York, the network offered them a deal they couldn't resist so they signed on for four more years and the show continued with Dick Sargent replacing York. In 1972 with the series and its star experiencing a bad case of burn-out, the show was ended a year earlier than planned.      Now Elizabeth found herself out of work for the first time since she was 18; Asher continued with other television and film projects and Elizabeth traveled to Europe. By 1973 the Asher's ten-year marriage was over and they were divorced that year.

After starring in the TV movie The Victim in 1972, Elizabeth returned to television in 1974 in the TV movie Mrs. Sundance. It was during the filming of Mrs. Sundance that she met actor Robert Foxworth and the two soon became a couple. Nervous about marrying for a fourth time, Elizabeth preferred that she and Foxworth simply live together. Also in 1974 she starred in the critically acclaimed TV movie A Case of Rape in which she portrayed a rape victim. In 1975 Elizabeth appeared in the title role in the TV movie The Legend of Lizzie Borden which has become a cult favorite. Most of her post-Bewitched roles were dramatic as opposed to comedic and her career in TV movies continued steadily until the mid-80's; she returned once again in 1990 after a five year absence from acting, in Face to Face.

Elizabeth and Robert Foxworth

On January 28 of 1993, after living together nearly 20 years, Elizabeth and Robert Foxworth were married in a simple, unpublicized ceremony. In the spring of 1995, after attributing her fatigue to overwork during the filming of her twenty-second TV movie, Deadline For Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan, Elizabeth finally visited a doctor where she was diagnosed with colon cancer; exploratory surgery proved it had spread too far and was beyond help. Just a few weeks later, on May 18, 1995, Elizabeth passed away with Foxworth and her children waiting in the next room at her request. She was 62 years old.

Elizabeth in 1994