Season of the Witch: Elizabeth Montgomery

Popular culture is littered with fantastical witches, but not all reside in the realm of horror. Back in the 1960s, American households thrilled to the domestic misadventures of Elizabeth Montgomery as Samantha on Bewitched.

Montgomery made witchcraft both sweet and sexy, with her signature nose twitch ensuring her place in the pop culture pantheon forever. Her wardrobe was class and glamour personified. She was as gifted a comedic actress as she was stunningly beautiful. And my god, was she beautiful. She seemed to radiate something truly special—kindness.

I adored her when I was a child watching reruns of Bewitched. Typical child, I’m sure I was both in love with her and wishing she was my mother. Over the last few months, I’ve been sporadically watching random episodes of the series again on Crackle, and it’s still as fun and clever as I remember, thanks in no small part to Montgomery. She has such an easy, gentle, and welcoming presence as Samantha the witch. And from all I’ve ever read, she was just as warm and friendly in real life. It’s wonderful when a childhood crush lives up to your dreamy expectations.

I’ll stop gushing now because I’ve actually committed to writing an appreciation of Elizabeth Montgomery for Pop Trash Museum already, and I don’t want to use up all my best material before that. Suffice it to say, Halloween always conjures Elizabeth Montgomery to mind for me, and I certainly could write volumes on the subject, in October or any other month, for that matter.