'Bewitched' Star Elizabeth Montgomery shocked father Robert Montgomery with 'Lizzie Borden' Role

Photo byPinterest.com

[Note: Unless otherwise indicated, all commentary and quotes from Elizabeth Montgomery are from a direct interview the actress had with the author.]

Overview

Beloved actress Elizabeth Montgomery (who died from cancer in 1975) is best known for her magical role as Samantha Stephens, the witch-with-a-twitch, on the classic 1960s TV sitcom, Bewitched.

However, before and after that series, which originally aired on ABC from 1964 to 1972, Montgomery delivered over 200 other performances on television, on the big screen, and on the live stage.

A Closer Look

Beyond Bewitched, which this year marks its 60th Anniversary, Elizabeth Montgomery became particularly fond of acting in very non-Samantha roles, including the groundbreaking TV movies, A Case of Rape (NBC, 1974), and The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975).

It was Montgomery's performance in the Borden film that startled her legendary father, actor Robert Montgomery. Upon learning that Elizabeth would be playing the ax-murdering Lizzie Borden, the daughter said her father told her, "Oh, you would!"

As the daughter Montgomery also observed, "My father was not in the least pleased with my playing Lizzie Borden."

Robert Montgomery felt particularly uncomfortable, Elizabeth explained because he thought she was playing the role out of spite. When Robert divorced his first wife, Broadway actress Elizabeth Allen, Elizabeth Montgomery's biological mother, the daughter Elizabeth was not pleased. When Robert then married yet another Elizabeth, as in Elizabeth 'Buffy' Harkness (a New York heiress), Elizabeth Montgomery was also somewhat rattled.

Consequently, Robert Montgomery thought his daughter Elizabeth acted in spite to play the part of Lizzie Borden, who ax-murdered her father and stepmother.

The Big Picture

In the big-picture scheme of things, it's all rather bemusing, as Lizzie Borden was a distant cousin to the Montgomery brood.