Herbie J. Pilato - The Essential Elizabeth Montgomery: A Guide to Her Magical Performances

Introduction

Elizabeth Montgomery (who died in 1995) was one of the most prolific and popular actresses of the twentieth century. Although best known as Samantha the witch-with-a-twitch Stephens in the classic 1960 TV series Bewitched , Montgomery delivered more than 230 additional performances on television, film, and the stage. She possessed a talent, charisma, wit, and personality that charmed millions for decadesand this book is a testament to it all.

The Essential Elizabeth Montgomery: A Guide to Her Magical Performances espouses, delineates, dissects, and celebrates the diversity and minutia of her career, while referencing just how much her personal life was spliced into her cascade of remarkable performances.

As an ideal companion to Twitch Upon a Star: The Bewitched Life and Career of Elizabeth Montgomery (Taylor Trade, 2012), this book, like its predecessor, features rare, never-before published commentary, insight, and information from Montgomery, all of which was mined from exclusive interviews with the actress in 1989. Also like its forerunner, The Essential Elizabeth Montgomery includes recollections and reflections from additional interviews that she and others closely associated with her granted through the years to magazines, newspapers, various TV shows, and documentaries (including comments from her father, Robert Montgomery, an esteemed actor in his own right).

Alternate and random commentary on Elizabeths main performances over four decades are provided by various co-stars and entertainment professionals, including all-new, never-before-published insight from the Oscar-nominated actress Juanita Moore (her co-star from the historic White Lie episode of 77 Sunset Strip ); prolific actor, director, and producer James Lydon (who produced Lie, and who was Elizabeths co-star from The Vittorio Bottecelli Story segment of Wagon Train , which he also produced); producer Dan Weaver (who paid tribute to Montgomery with a special segment on Entertainment Tonight ); and a host of other entertainment professionals. Still, more commentary is provided by various journalists, media, and classic TV historians, including Rob Ray, Randy Sketvedt, Thomas McCartney, Charles Tranberg, Jone Devlin, David Pierce, Fred Westbrook, Steve Randisi, Monika Cottrill, and more.

After opening with this Introduction, the book continues with an Authors Note, followed by a narrative biography of the actress as a Prologue to subsequent sections designated as Acts, detailing Montgomerys early and later live-stage performances; one-time TV guest appearances (before playing Samantha); then Bewitched , her TV-movies, theatrical motion pictures, personal appearances, and voiceover work. The book then closes with a brief Epilogue of general and summarized thoughts and observations, followed by a Timeline of all-inclusive benchmarks in Montgomerys on- and off-screen exploits.

Into this mix, two main illustrated sections, inserted as Intermissions, are culled from a blend of more than fifty rare and previously unpublished photos, which are showcased with detailed captions in separate, chronological order. The first section features black-and-white photos; the second batch of images is displayed in color.

As to the books more finite technical aspects, each of the performance outline sections feature plot summaries, airdates, credits, and behind-the-scenes notes and anecdotes of the select performances. A few of the synopses are less detailed than others as when, for example, addressing the twenty-eight guest appearances Montgomery made on Robert Montgomery Presents , her fathers successful TV anthology series. More particulars are provided when probing her singular guest shots on pre- Bewitched programs, like The Untouchables (for which she earned her first Emmy nomination), Alfred Hitchcock Presents , and her famous silent stint on The Twilight Zone . Because there are an expansive 254 episodes of Bewitched , each of the shows eight seasons are discussed at length, one-by-one, while the separate stories are described with only one or two sentences.

Her TV-movies and feature films are then explored with more detailed plot synopses and behind-the-scenes notes. A summation of each production includes its title, main credits, airdates, or performance dates, followed by the storyline for the given title. Additional credits follow the plot synopsis, and are grouped in specific lists pertaining to guest stars, writers, and directors. In all, the Notes and Credits sections vary for each TV, film, stage, or audio entry, depending upon the particular production. In some instances, they will be listed separately for each production; other times, they might be combined, placing such information directly within the plot synopsis of the given production. Also, certain entries are sparser than others because the work itself was not available for review or because specific core information about a given production had already been provided in Twitch Upon a Star (and an editorial choice was made not to present duplicate data).

Meanwhile, character names are placed in italics upon their first mention, whether they were portrayed by Montgomery or any one of her co-stars (from stage, film, or TV). Once introduced, they subsequently appear in roman type. Film and television show titles are also presented in italics when they are mentioned throughout the narrative portions of the book, as well as in the photo captions. Specific episode titles of television shows, along with song titles, are placed in quotation marks throughout those same sections. Television show episode titles only appear in italics when listed in full order, as with the sections specifically devoted to one series, such as with Robert Montgomery Presents and Bewitched .