Celebrate the 60th Anniversary of 'Bewitched' with Twin Biographies of Elizabeth Montgomery by Herbie J Pilato
TWITCH UPON A STAR and THE ESSENTIAL ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY
Writer/producer/TV personality Herbie J Pilato befriended the beloved, multi-Emmy-nominated Montgomery a few years before she succumbed to colon cancer in 1995. She granted him exclusive interviews, and Pilato went on to write twin biographies about the beloved actress best known as TV’s “twitch-witch” Samantha Stephens, just in time to celebrate the 60th Anniversary of Bewitched (September 17, 2024):
TWITCH UPON A STAR: THE BEWITCHED LIFE AND CAREER OF ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY, an intimate chronicle [in hardcover and trade paperback], and THE ESSENTIAL ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY: A GUIDE TO HER MAGICAL PERFORMANCES, an encyclopedia of her personal and professional life [in trade paperback].
Published by Taylor Trade Publishing (and available on HerbieJPilato.com, Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and wherever quality books are sold), TWITCH UPON A STAR and THE ESSENTIAL ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY are both fully illustrated with color and black-and-white photos, and compelling, straightforward, magical, and mesmerizing prose.
Both books explore:
Montgomery’s over 500 appearances on the big and small screens and the stage, including TV’s The Twilight Zone and The Untouchables (the latter on which she played a prostitute – and for which she earned her first of several Emmy nominations); and the ground-breaking 1970s TV-movies, A Case of Rape and The Legend of Lizzie Borden - both of which shocked her fans and infuriated her movie-star father Robert Montgomery.
Her four marriages (New York high-roller Fred Cammann, troubled actor Gig Young, Bewitched director William Asher, and actor Robert Foxworth).
Montgomery’s tumultuous relationship with her father/actor Robert Montgomery
Her relationships with Gary Cooper, Dean Martin, and Elvis Presley.
Her battles with Bewitched co-star Agnes Moorehead, and her affair with Bewitched director Richard Michaels (which infuriated her second husband and the show’s main creative force William Asher, Michaels’ mentor).
How she was a champion for several charities, advocated for the disabled, and was one of the first supporters of those suffering from AIDS.
When she received death threats for protesting the Vietnam War and was devastated, along with the rest of the world, when John F. Kennedy was assassinated - on the day Bewitched began rehearsals. JFK was a friend to both she and William Asher (who had produced the 1962 Democratic Rally at which Marilyn Monroe sang a breathy Happy Birthday to Kennedy). And that all fit as Kennedy rallied for civil rights and against prejudice (the main theme of Bewitched).
How she became the first "Queen of TV-Movies," but turned down the role of American royalty when she opted not to play Krystle Carrington on TV’s Dynasty nighttime soap.
Herbie J Pilato explores all of this and more, in both TWITCH UPON A STAR and THE ESSENTIAL ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY, each featuring Montgomery’s exclusive commentary, as well as rare memories from friends and co-stars like actors Florence Henderson, and Ronny Cox, Cliff Robertson, and Sally Kemp (Montgomery’s best friend), and more.
Of TWITCH UPON A STAR, SheKnows Book Lounge says: “Pilato’s respectful, yet truthful portrait of the woman who will forever be remembered as the beautiful witch Samantha Stephens.”
Entertainment journalist Matthew Worley calls the encyclopedic ESSENTIAL ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY, “the ultimate resource for Montgomery fans."
For more information, or to contact or schedule an interview with Herbie J Pilato, visit HerbieJPilato.com or email HJPilato@yahoo.com.