Twitch Upon a Star (4 page)

Rebecca has always been cordial in the few phone conversations we've shared, displaying her mother's sense of humor each time. When I first talked with her, it took her a few weeks to call me back—just as it had been with Elizabeth. When I mentioned this to Rebecca, she laughed and said, “It must be genetic.”

Genes had everything to do with it, especially when it came to Elizabeth's grandmother Becca, for whom her daughter was named—and whom she brought up at the close of our third interview in 1989—following my confession.

“You know who I really am, don't you?” I posed, if somewhat cryptically.

“No,” she said, followed by a cautious pause, “… who?”

“I'm your guardian angel.”

Surprised and relieved, she smiled sweetly and said, “The last person who referred to themselves that way was my Grandmother Becca. And if it's true—that you are indeed my guardian angel sent to replace her—well, then you better do one hell of a good job.”

More than twenty years after that exchange, I make an earnest attempt to do just that with this book, which could be described as part biography, part media history guide, part psychology book, part mystic primer, part political dossier, all trustingly compelling.

But Lizzie placed high expectations on biographies, in particular, referring here to the one-page actor profiles that publicists for the studios and networks put together to promote the TV show or film in which a given actor is currently starring:

Hopefully,
Twitch Upon a Star: The Bewitched Life and Career of Elizabeth Montgomery
, will mean something to someone—be it a member of Elizabeth's family, a friend, a fan—because it's a real story, a human story, an honest story—because sincerity was one of the many virtues which Elizabeth held dear. It's a profile in humility and generosity because such traits shaped who she was, strived to be, and became, and who she remains in the hearts and minds of millions. It's a portrait painted with reminiscences of her playful spirit, intelligent mind, and expansive resume; it's the sum of her intricacies and complexities.

I agonized over whether or not to present particular passages in this book; some may be disturbing to read; they certainly proved challenging for me to report. I'd type in specific paragraphs and then delete them; I'd paste them back in and then cut them out again. Finally, I decided to buckle down and include them because it was time to address the elephants in the room. The previous books were fan letters about a fantasy TV show, written as though seen through rose-colored glasses. With this book, I had a job to do. This time, it's not a fairytale, but a true love story, and all true love stories are earmarked with happy and sad elements. As a human being, I was forced to ponder those elements; as a journalist, I couldn't ignore what I heard, some statements of which were glaring. In previous books, as Elizabeth's “angel,” confident, friend, or fan, I regret ignoring those statements; had I found the courage to reveal them,
this
story may have had a different ending.

I also sensed that if I had not elected to write an honest biography about Elizabeth, eventually someone else might do so and not as delicately as I believe the material is presented within these pages.

In either case, it was clear to me that Elizabeth was multitalented, multi-faceted and multi-complex; reclusive and protective; generous to a fault but private. She was anything but easy to figure out, certainly more challenging to analyze than any of her performances, and she delivered diverse interpretations of a myriad of characters with what appeared to be total ease.

One of her more off-beat roles was that of private detective
Sara Scott
in the 1983 CBS TV-movie
Missing Pieces
, a mystery story that was adapted from Karl Alexander's novel
A Private Investigation
. Similarly, this book detects and connects the missing pieces of a clandestine and extraordinary existence as it expounds on the amazing journey of a public figure who employed her widespread image for a better world. It's for the multitudes who remain charmed by the contrasting work of an actress before, during, and after her superstar-making twitch as a witch named
Samantha
, a beloved character who retained a fiercely independent spirit amidst other unique roles that were brought to life by a majestic, courageous, and real-life heroine named Elizabeth Montgomery.

At its core,
Twitch Upon a Star: The Bewitched Life and Career of Elizabeth Montgomery,
is about a celebrated individual who, for the sake of clarity, simplicity, and intimacy, and in tribute to her unaffected demeanor, will from here on be mostly referred to as either “Elizabeth” or “Lizzie,” both which she so modestly and endearingly insisted on being known as at different times throughout her life and career.

PART I

“I just never had the desire to be a star.”

—Elizabeth Montgomery,
Look Magazine
, January 26, 1965

One

“I like to grow naturally instead of being pruned into formality.”

—Elizabeth Montgomery,
TV Radio Mirror Magazine
, November 1969

Elizabeth Montgomery literally grew up on television, making her small screen debut on December 3, 1951 in “Top Secret,” an episode of her father's heralded anthology series,
Robert Montgomery Presents
, which aired on NBC between 1950 and 1957. She'd appear in a total of twenty-eight episodes, but it was in “Secret” that she played none other than the apple of her father's eye. Written by Thomas W. Phipps and directed by Norman Felton, this episode also featured Margaret Phillips (as
Maria Dorne
), James Van Dyk (
Edmund Gerry
), John D. Seymour (
Dawson
), and Patrick O'Neal (
Brooks
):

The “Secret” title may have represented Elizabeth's off-screen desire for privacy, while other
Presents
headings also proved significant, such as “Once Upon a Time,” written by Theodore and Mathilda Ferro; airing May 31, 1954. This time, Elizabeth played a newlywed who contemplates how different life might have been had she married someone else.

In real life, Lizzie didn't just contemplate that notion, she lived it … four times, with Fred Cammann, Gig Young, Bill Asher, and Robert Fox-worth.

Ten years after the “Time” episode of
Presents
aired,
Bewitched
debuted with the Sol Saks pilot, “I
Darrin
, Take This Witch,
Samantha
,” narrated by Jose Ferrer. The show opened with his first line, “Once upon a time …”

Whether represented on
Robert Montgomery Presents
or recited on
Bewitched
, it was a fairytale phrase that Lizzie adored and which ignited her interest in both projects, especially
Bewitched
. As she recalled in 1989, Bill Asher was in the room when she first read that term in the initial
Samantha
script.

“Okay, I love it!” she said.

“That's it?” Bill wondered. “
Once upon a time
, and you love it?”

“Yeah!” she mused. “Anything that starts out that way can't be all that bad.”

It was a spontaneous decision that intrinsically represented the essence of her carefree spirit which, in turn, contributed in no small measure to the show's enormous success.

In fact, before Jose Ferrer got the job, she had asked her father if he would narrate the
Bewitched
pilot. In the interview she granted to Ronald Haven for the
Jordan
laserdisc, she referenced her dad's decline to speak life into
Bewitched
, calling his response, “very strange”:

“No … I don't think so.”

“Why not?”

“It's your show.”

“Ah, ok. All right.”

Elizabeth was disappointed, and she later told him so. She would have enjoyed him kicking off
Bewitched
, her new series in 1964, just as he had given a jumpstart to her TV career when she made her small-screen debut on
Robert Montgomery Presents
in 1951.

For Lizzie, success was at times a burden, especially when it came to public revelations. For one, her age was a sensitive issue, cloaked in a chicane. But as author and genealogist James Pylant explains, “Celebrity genealogies are always hard to trace.” In 2004, Pylant authored
The Bewitching Family Tree of Elizabeth Montgomery
for
genealogymagazine.com
. “Biographical data abounds,” he said, “yet there's no guarantee of accuracy.”

Elizabeth played into such wriggle room. Various studio and network press bios document her birth year as 1936 and 1938. In reality, it was 1933, as recorded in the State of California, California Birth Index, 1905–1995, published in Sacramento by the State of California Department of Public Health, Center for Health Statistics.

When she died in 1995, a few obituaries listed her age as fifty-seven, trimming five years off her birth date. Others offered conflicting details about her marital status: some said she was single at the time of her demise; some said she was survived by her fourth husband, Robert Foxworth.

But the “marital mystery,” as Pylant put it, was orchestrated by the self-protective Lizzie, who kept a step ahead of the press. She viewed her relationship with Foxworth as confidential. Even their marriage in 1993 was shrouded from the media. The event took place at the Los Angeles apartment of her manager Barry Krost and not a soul knew about it until after the fact.

Nevertheless, she appears on the Social Security Death Index as “Elizabeth Asher,” the surname of her third ex-husband,
Bewitched
producer/director William Asher. There, at least, her birth date is correct—April 15, 1933—although “Elizabeth A. Montgomery” is the name listed on her death certificate. The “A” is either for “Asher” or “Allen,” the maiden name of her mother, actress Elizabeth Allen.

According to A&E's
Biography, Elizabeth Montgomery: A Touch of Magic
(which originally aired on February 15, 1999), Lizzie's middle name was “Victoria,” a moniker sometimes linked with royalty, as is the name “Elizabeth” itself.

But that fits. From the mid-1970s until her demise in 1995, she was known as
Queen of the TV-Movies
. On
Bewitched, Samantha
was crowned
Queen of the Witches
(in the episode, “Long Live the Queen,” September 7, 1967); before that
Aunt Clara
's (Marion Lorne) bumbling magic mishaps forced Sam's introduction to
Queen Victoria
(Jane Connell in “Aunt Clara's Queen Victoria Victory,” March 9, 1967).