Elizabeth Montgomery Recalled the Real Life Magic of 'Bewitched' co-star Marion Lorne ('Aunt Clara')

Marion Lorne (left) played the adored Aunt Clara on 'Bewitched' opposite leading lady Elizabeth Montgomery, who played the magical Samantha.Photo byClassic TV Preservation Society

[Note: Unless otherwise indicated, this article features commentary and quotes from Elizabeth Montgomery based on an interview conducted by the author.]

Finding Marion

She was a classically trained actress in appeared in prestigious feature films like Alfred Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train (1951). However, she is best remembered as the bumbling but lovable and magical Aunt Clara to Elizabeth Montgomery's twitchy-witch Samantha Stephens on Bewitched (ABC, 1964-1972). Her name is Marion Lorne, who died in 1968, and this is her magical story.

Doorknobs and Broomsticks

On Bewitched, Marion Lorne portrayed Aunt Clara, whose supernatural prowess was not always up to par. Aunt Clara was also an odd duck who collected specific items like doorknobs.

Off-screen, not only did Lorne also have a penchant for gathering doorknobs, but the beloved actress at one point thought she had somehow acquired Aunt Clara's magical powers in real life.

According to what Elizabeth Montgomery relayed in an interview from 1989, she one day received a strange phone call from Lorne while Bewitched was in production.

Lorne was staying at the Beverly Hills Hotel, which was close by to Montgomery's home. One day, Lorne in a panic phoneed Montgomery, who became concerned.

She Said, She Said

"She called me from her room," Elizabeth Montgomery recalled of Marion Lorne, "...and insisted that I come to see her. When I finally got to her room, she was awfully nervous, and she kept saying, 'I did it! I did it!' And she told me that I was the only one who would understand."

The issue at hand? Lorne's bracelets had created some form of electrical current that was aligned with the same frequency as her hotel room's television set.

"Every time her arm would move," Montgomery continued to recall, "the bracelets would clink and the channels would change."

Montgomery, who "adored Marion," wasn't about to burst Lorne's magically-thought bubble because the senior actress was "walking on air."

Marion Lorne's Artistic Craft vs. Aunt Clara's Fake Witchcraft

In recounting her charming memory of Marion Lorne's comically frantic magical powers assumption, Elizabeth Montgomery made sure to clarify that "Marion was a very smart lady, and a brilliant performer...who knew exactly what she was doing as Aunt Clara."