'Bewitched' Star Elizabeth Montgomery Shared Troubled Relationship With Her Dad | He Didn't Want Her to Be an Actress

Trigger Warning: This article contains mentions of alcoholism and domestic abuse that some readers may find distressing.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Elizabeth Montgomery may have charmed viewers by playing the endearing witch Samantha Stevens on Bewitched, but she led a life that was anything from enchanted in real life. Elizabeth, a successful actress, had a difficult life.

Herbie J Pilato, a writer who wrote the biography of the late actress, shared with Closer Weekly that her problems stem from her troubled connection with her father. Elizabeth married four times and had affairs with a number of the most well-known leading men in Hollywood. Among others, she was connected to Dean Martin and Elvis Presley.

"She enchanted every man she ever met," Pilato said of Elizabeth, per Shared. Adding, "But she seemed drawn to troubled men, not nice guys."

"Her father, Robert Montgomery, was a movie star, and her mom, Broadway actress Elizabeth Allen, gave up her career to be his wife," said Pilato. "Robert never wanted his daughter to be an actress." Attempts to appease her dad, such as her 1954 year-long marriage to Frederick Cammann, were utter failures. "Fred was young, handsome, and rich," says Pilato. "He was of the upper crust of New York, and Robert Montgomery loved that." But the union was doomed from the start, Pilato shared, as she wanted to be a famous star while Fred wanted a wife.

For the majority of her life, Elizabeth's complex connection with her father influenced how she interacted with men. He continued, "She was conflicted, trying to please her father but also rebelling against him."

"He was her toughest critic as an actress and was very hard on her personal life too, from the way she walked and her posture to her penchant for older men. He was horrified. He thought she was trying to replace him with all her older lovers."

A year after her divorce, she wed Gig Young, a violent alcoholic actor who was twice her age. "She was just sticking it to her father with marrying Gig until finally, she wised up and just couldn't take the abuse anymore," says Pilato.

She fell in love with director William Asher while they were filming the 1963 crime drama Johnny Cool. He would later become her third husband and the father of her three children. But turmoil was developing in the foreground. "William had an affair that broke Elizabeth's heart."

Despite having a rocky personal life, Elizabeth managed to succeed professionally. As her reputation soared, she began to use her abilities for good, working on campaigns for queer rights and AIDS awareness as well as Amnesty International.

And in the end, she did meet the person who would genuinely adore her, per Closer Weekly. Her heart had healed when she met Robert Foxworth, her fourth husband. Up until her unexpected death from colon cancer in 1995, the pair had a blissful marriage.

If you are being subjected to domestic abuse or know of anyone else who is, please visit The National Domestic Violence Hotline website, call 1-800-799-7233 or text LOVEIS to 22522.

References:

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/bewitched-star-elizabeth-montgomery-never-155458605.html

https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/bewitched-star-elizabeth-montgomery-s-close-friends-dish-on-her-secret-heartbreaks-74967/

https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/heres-what-happened-to-bewitched-star-elizabeth-montgomery/

https://www.shared.com/bewitched-star-elizabeth-montgomery-troubled/

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Hulton Archive