Samantha had us at her first "witch twitch." This charming and beautiful girl surprised husband Darrin (Dick York) on their honeymoon when she informed him that she was a real live broom-riding witch, and the series took off.
To please her mortal husband, Sam pledged to forsake her magical powers and she cheerfully settled into a life of a suburban housewife. Samanta loved Darrin so dearly that she didn't even use her witchcraft to clean her house.
But there were times when she just couldn't resist twitching her nose to solve family matters or to rescue Darrin from trouble.
Samantha's twitch, a twist of the nose and upper lip, was actually a nervous habit Elizabeth didn't realize she had until producer William Asher,her husband at the time, pointed it out. "With all this finger pointing and zapping and arm waving [witches do], we tried to figure out something more interesting," Liz told interviewer Ronald Haver in 1991.
"Asher said, 'You remember that funny thing you do with your nose when you get perturbed?'
"I said, 'What funny thing? I don't have any idea what you're talking about. I don't do a funny thing with my nose.'
"He said, 'Next time I'll let you know when you do it.' And that's how we came up with the nose twitch."
Since the beginning of "Bewitched," Samanatha's fans approached Elzabeth wherever she went requesting her to twitch.
Even at the ballpark.
"When the Dodgers were in such terrible trouble, people would spot me in the stadium [and shout] 'Twitch! Twitch!'" she told Mike Douglas in 1966. "Unfortunately, it didn't do us any good."
Asked by Haver how many people asked her to twitch, Elizabeth replied. "That depends on how many people I run into every day. It doesn't bother me, I think it's kind of fun and little kids get a big kick out of it. But I can't do it if I have a glass of wine or if I'm tired."
Samantha fought to keep harmony between Darrin and her disapproving mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead), who hated her mortal son-in-law and purposely mispronunced his name.
Sam also had to cope with a wacky warlock Uncle Arthur (Paul Lynde), an absent-minded Aunt Clara (Marion Lorne), and a daughter, Tabitha, who was born with the powers of a witch.
Born in Los Angles, "Lizzie" was the daughter of actor Robert Montgomery and Broadway actress Elizabeth Bryan Allen. She acted in her father's "Robert Montgomery Presents," and early in her acting career she considered changing her name because she thought some people believed she was riding on her dad's coattails..
She appeared in several TV series, including "The Twilight Zone" and "Alfred Hitchcock Presents." She was nominated for an Emmy in an episode of "The Untouchables."
When Liz and Asher pitched ABC a show based on a millionaire heiress who marries a gas station attendant, the network instead offered them "Bewitched." The show was loosely based on the films "I Married a Witch" and "Bell, Book, and Candle."
Before Liz entered the picture, actress Tammy Grimes had been the first choice to play Samantha, but she was released from her contract to perform in a Noel Coward Broadway musical. "I didn't get the role because I beat out hundreds of women in some huge casting call," Liz said. "I was simply at the right place at the right time."
"Bewitched" became the highest rated series ever for the network at that time, and it was the No. 1 rated sitcom for four of its eight seasons. When a serious illness forced York to retire early, Liz and Asher decided to end the series. ABC, however, sweetened their deal and "Bewitched" continued for another four years with Dick Sargent as Darrin.
TV Land honored the character by creating a Samantha bronze statue and erecting it in Salem, Mass. in 1995. Liz died of colorectal cancer that same year. She was 62.
No. 8
Classic TV Beauties 1960s Countdown
ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY as Samantha Stephens in "Bewitched"
