Young, Dazzling & Destined for Magic

 Young, Dazzling & Destined for Magic — The Rise of Elizabeth Montgomery, Bewitched's Beloved Samantha!

Born on April 15, 1933, in Los Angeles, California, to screen legend Robert Montgomery and Broadway actress Elizabeth Allen, Elizabeth Victoria Montgomery was quite literally born into the spotlight — and from her very first years, she radiated a star quality that no Hollywood studio could manufacture. She graduated from the Spence School in New York City, attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts for three years of intensive training, and then made her TV debut on her father's playhouse series Robert Montgomery Presents, going on to appear in more than 200 live television programs over the next decade — once remarking with a twinkle, "I guess you could say I'm a TV baby." But young Elizabeth was fiercely her own woman from the very start — when studios discussed changing her hair, her eyebrows, and her chipped tooth, she refused every suggestion, saying "I didn't want a mouth full of Chiclets" — a quiet but fierce declaration that she would succeed entirely on her own terms. Her early career consisted of starring roles and appearances in live television dramas and series such as Studio One, The Twilight Zone, Boris Karloff's Thriller, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and in 1960, at just 27 years old, she earned her very first Emmy nomination for her portrayal of a southern nightclub performer in The Untouchables — proof that this was no ordinary ingénue. Then in 1963, while filming Johnny Cool with director William Asher, Elizabeth found both the love of her life and the creative partnership that would define a generation — a few months after their marriage in 1963, they began work on Bewitched, he as the producer and she as the star, launching what would become the highest-rated series in ABC's history at the time. From 1964 to 1972, Montgomery played the beloved witch Samantha Stephens through eight enchanting seasons, and in the second season she brilliantly took on the double role of Samantha's mischievous cousin Serena under the playful pseudonym "Pandora Spocks" — all while earning five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe nominations along the way. She was the only cast member to appear in all 254 episodes of Bewitched — every single one — pouring her heart, her humor, and her luminous beauty into every twitch of that unforgettable nose. From a fearless teenager who refused to let Hollywood change a single thing about her, to a 30-something superstar redefining what a woman on television could be, Elizabeth Montgomery in her young and mid-career years was nothing short of pure, unapologetic magic.