Elizabeth Montgomery and Now Sol Saks, Creator of Bewitched, are Gone - But the Magical Legacy of Samantha the Witch-with-a-Twitch Stephens Lives On - Herbie J Pilato

Sol Saks TV39s veteran comedy scribe and creator of the longrunning and still extremely popular wituation comedy Bewitched ABC 196472 has passed away at 100yearsyoung Mr Saks died in Los Angeles on April 16th the day after what would have been the 78th birthday of Bewitched star Elizabeth Montgomery who succumbed to colon cancer in 1995The iconic writer penned just one episode of the Screen Gems sitcom the pilot episode titled I Darrin Take This Witch SamanthaAs the author of Bewitched Forever Tapestry Press 2004 and The Bewitched Book Dell 1992 I had the honor of interviewing Mr Saks at his home in Malibu CaliforniaIt was the spring of 1988 and at the time he was working on a screenplay for a Bewitched feature film The movie39s production changed hands over the years from Penny Marshall Laverne ampamp Shirley ABC 197683 producing with director Ted Bessell Don Hollinger on That Girl ABC 196671 to super wonderful producers Doug Wick and Lucy Fisher later partnering with director and cowriter Nora Ephron for what became 200539s Bewitched feature film starring Nicole Kidman Will Ferrell and Shirley MacLaine and on which I served as a consultantUltimately Mr Saks was not directly involved with the 2005 movie But according to harpiesbizzarecom the best Bewitched and Elizabeth Montgomery online community and the comments he made on Bewitched the E True Hollywood Story on which I served as a consultant and which remains the 7th highestrated True Hollywood Story in E39s history he drew inspiration for the original Bewitched TV pilot from the big screen Namely two classic motion pictures I Married a Witch 1942 starring Fredric March and Veronica Lake and Bell Book and Candle 1958 with James Stewart and Kim Novak both of which were about a supernatural woman who falls in love with and marries a mortal man just like on BewitchedBefore that sitcom Mr Saks wrote for such radio comedies as the longrunning Duffy39s Tavern and for early TV shows like My Favorite Husband Mr Adams and Eve which starred Ida Lupino and I Married Joan with Joan DavisThe New York native also wrote the screenplay for the 1966 feature film Walk Don39t Run starring Cary Grant served for a short time as a CBS executive in comedy development and wrote the 1985 book The Craft of Comedy Writing which includes the pilot script of BewitchedToday Bewitched remains immortal in syndicated reruns and in an astoundinglysuccessful DVD releaseCertainly Mr Saks39 genius premise and the show39s top writing and directing over its lengthy original run contributed to the show39s success But the core appeal of Bewitched rested with Ms Montgomery who went on to appear in some of the most popular TVmovies ever made including the groundbreaking A Case of Rape which has become one of the Top Ten highestrated TVmovies of AllTime and The Legend of Lizzie Borden which will soon be remade as a feature filmBefore and after Bewitched Ms Montgomery made her presence known on the bigscreen and small in live stage performances and in live appearances around the worldBut what exactly is it about Elizabeth Montgomery39s super popularityThe Classic TV Preservation Society the nonprofit organization for which I serve as Founder and Executive Director recently conducted a poll of its Facebook members and what better group of individuals to have comment on Ms Montgomery39s special quotmagicquot appealBelow is some of what they said and please feel free to add your thoughts in the Commentary section that follows this blogGreg Ehrbar wrotequotShe was not only a dream woman to those of us who grew up loving her she was also one the best actresses of the era She made Samantha Stephens look so easy you could forget that she was playing a role This may sound dumb but I often forget that Samantha and Serena were the same person even though I know it know what I mean When Ms M appeared on Password on the ABC daytime edition hosted by the late Allen Ludden throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s her personality seemed to be a combination of both And yet when she did dramatic roles there was yet another dimension not present in the comedic characters A superb artist and as Samantha truly magicalquotNeil J Weiner wrotequotFirst real crushquotAlice Miolamp233e wrotequotElizabeth Montgomery and Bewitched are a part of my childhood my adulthood and that of my children She had inward and outward beauty sparkling eyes and a beautiful voice Her range of dramatic talent knew no bounds Samanthaa rape victima murderess My current profile pic as taken in Salem A special unique loved and irreplaceable person receives a bronze statue in her most beloved memorable and 39bewitching39 rolequotTodd Selsky wrotequotI always thought of her as a little mysterious I felt like we never knew much about the real Elizabeth Sad that she died of cancer at 62 Aside from quotBewitchedquot I39ll always remember her in quotThe Legend of Lizzy Bordenquot I was about 11 or 12 when I saw itquotJudith Evers wrotequotI really liked Bewitched a lot But I thought Ms Montgomery did some wonderful work in all of her movies and not just playing the roll of Samantha Stephens She was one fantastic talent and we lost her much too soonquotPauline Martindale wrotequotShe is my favorite ever actress I love her movies and can39t wait to see the Samantha Statue in December And she is a great role model for women and very classy and refinedquotMelissa Byers wrotequotI39ve always loved Elizabeth When I was a kid I made my own 39witch book39 with pictures and articles about Bewitched I still have it I watched everything else I could find with Elizabeth in it as well She was a woman of talent and great classquotRay Caspio wrotequotBewitched was the first TV show I ever remember watching It was on a small color television at my grandma39s house when I was probably three years old if that I was a very precocious kid so it was used to keep me out of everyone39s hair The animated opening sequence combined with the music transfixed me and I39m still mad the theme from the syndicated episodes wasn39t used on the DVD and when Elizabeth appeared on the screen she did the same I don39t knowthere was something very accessible yet private about her even in that series I sensed it from an early age She managed to maintain an air of mystery while portraying such an endearing character You could tell there was something much deeper going on within her which is true of all good actors They39re much more than what they present on the surface Those secrets are part of their charisma You have to be really good to flesh out a character that39s written for a sitcom in order to present a full person She did that Elizabeth as Samantha represented possibility to me Anything I wanted I could have if I worked for it She had the abilities to have whatever she wanted whenever she wanted but she wasn39t satisfied with that Her power was in herself I wish that would have been more evident in the writing but hey it was the 3960s and a character like Samantha was a bit revolutionary I would have ditched the whole 39giving up powers to fit in39 mentalityperhaps if it was written today There are just so many happy thoughts I get whenever I read her name or see her on television Like Lindsay Wagner39s Jaime Sommers on The Bionic Woman ABCNBC 197579 or Lynda Carter39s Diana Prince Wonder Woman ABCCBS 197579 Samantha Stephens influenced me greatly I learned so much about being a good person from all of them I also learned that we don39t always succeed but we can always try Beyond Bewitched I remember some of Elizabeth39s television movies where she really got to shine I recently watched A Case of Rape and Lizzie Borden Phenomenal I39m glad these movies gave her the chance to really delve into what she could give as an actor and a person In Lizzie Borden I sympathized with her She played her phenomenally as a person not as a murderer Her performance in A Case of Rape is spectacular I39ll cut it off before I ramble too much As a child she taught me it was OK to be different As an adult through her work she has given me valuable acting lessons about individual truth and being present And she stood up for equality for all people An all around fascinating empowering endearing beautiful charming intelligent wellspoken mysterious compassionate complicated and complex woman I wish more of her work was available to the massesquotVince Staskel CTVPS Board Member wrotequotI loved watching Elizabeth Montgomery on Bewitched She had such a wonderful way to draw you into her character You knew right from the start that she was a quotgood witchquot who only wanted to do positive things for people Samantha has a great deal of power but only used it sparingly for only good purposes To me spiritually it showed the existence of true love in the world I followed her career and saw the full range of her acting ability Yes Ms Montgomery could also play 39bad39 excellently As her fan who grew so did she as an actor I was captivated by her Bewitched was and still is a major part of my life experience As a youngster television was a big part of my life and Bewitched was one of my favorite shows I followed the career of Elizabeth Montgomery and was thrilled to see her starring in her own sitcom Of course her beauty is one of the first things that catches your eye But in addition to that her acting versatilityquotSteve Randisi wrotequotIf I had to describe Elizabeth Montgomery in one word it would have to be wholesomeness Beauty aside she was a remarkably gifted actress who made the impossible seem possible When she twitched her nose to make magic happen you actually believed it would happen Her Samantha was the type of person you39d want for a friend kind understanding nonjudgmental Yet she was capable of being firm if and when the situation warranted it In later years I found out that Elizabeth was an activist for many causes that I support Like all spiritual teachers and I do believe she was one she left us way too soonquotDavid Raymond Morris wrotequotElizabeth had a combination of grace beauty down to Earth charm and sincerity Much of the success of Bewitched had to do with that critical likeability factor which she had big time Her gentle loyal demeanor played off perfectly against Darrin39s caustic and often reactionary behavior Elizabeth proved beyond that series however that she could also do gritty or unusual roles such as Lizzy Borden or A Case of Rape which surprised many people who had typecast her in their mind as Samantha Stephens I must confess personally that Liz will always be Samantha to me she seemed to BE SamanthaquotSo there you have it amp8211 and spoken by the people who know the deal true Bewitched fansOverall Bewitched remains immortal through the brilliance of Sol Sak39s original creation the show39s genius production team and superior cast including Dick York and Dick Sargent sharing the role of Samantha39s ohsohuman husband Darrin the legendary Agnes Moorehead as Endora Samantha39s feisty magical mother and of course the one and only Elizabeth Montgomery who39s endearing performance as Samantha the witch with a twitch amp8211 Stephens remains hypnotically timelessHerbie J Pilato is a producerdirectorwriter and author of a number of media tiein books including Bewitched Forever and The Kung Fu Book Of Caine Life Story amp8211 The Book of Life Goes On TV39s First And best Family Show of Challenge The Bionic Book and NBC ampamp ME My Life As A Page In A Book He39s worked for AampampE TLC Syfy and Bravo39s hit fivepart TV series The 100 Greatest TV Characters Herbie J is also the Founder and Executive Director of The Classic TV Preservation Society a nonprofit organization that helps to close the gap between popular culture and education For more information please see wwwClassicTVPSblogspotcom To contact Herbie J or to order any of his books email ClassicTVPSgmailcomRead all Herbie J39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Herbie J39s Classic TV CornerCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerMediaBizBloggers is an openthought leadership blog platform for media marketing and advertising professionals companies and organizations To contribute contact Jackmediadvisorygroupcom The opinions expressed in MediaBizBloggerscom are not those of Media Advisory Group its employees or other MediaBizBloggerscom contributors Media Advisory Group accepts no responsibility for the views of MediaBizBloggers authors

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Elizabeth Montgomery and Now Sol Saks, Creator of Bewitched, are Gone - But the Magical Legacy of Samantha the Witch-with-a-Twitch Stephens Lives On - Herbie J Pilato

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