Elizabeth Montgomery's Husband Is the One Who First Noticed Her Nose Twitch — and Convinced Her to Use it inBewitched

Mar. 15, 2025

William Asher and Elizabeth Montgomery at home in 1966.Photo:ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

So much of Samantha Stephens' magic belonged toBewitchedstar Elizabeth Montgomery.

“When I first realized that would make good motivator for the witchcraft, I had told her about it and I tried to do it. And she said, ‘I’ve never done anything like that,’ " Asher, who died at 90 in 2012, recalled.

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Elizabeth Montgomery in the 1960s.Screen Archives/Getty Images

Screen Archives/Getty Images

“And the night before the show, she was at the bar making a drink and she spilled something or made some kind of mistake and she did it. And I said, ‘That’s it!’ and that’s how it was born.”

Montgomery was also responsible for the character’s name, which was initially supposed to be Cassandra.

When actress Tammy Grimes turned down the role, Asher then considered casting his wife. Montgomery was on board, but she had some conditions, among them changing the name to Samantha.

The actress and producer were married from 1963 to 1973. They shared three children, William, Robert and Rebecca.

Prior to that, Montgomery was married to Frederic Gallatin Cammann from 1955 to 1956; to actor Gig Young from 1956 to 1963; and Robert Foxworth, from 1993 until Montgomery’s death in 1995.

Before Montgomery, Asher was married to Danny Sue Nolan from 1951 to 1961. After his marriage to theBewitchedactress ended, he went on to marry Joyce Bulifant. They were married from 1976 to 1993. He married Meredith Coffin McMachen in 1996 and remained married to her until his 2012 death.

source: people.com