It has been 60 years since Bewitched first premiered, and an honorary independent documentary by Daniel Henares has uncovered interesting facts about the making of the series. The film featured a 2000 interview that revealed Elizabeth Montgomery was unaware of her twitching nose at first.
Her husband at the time, William Asher, was the show’s director and had initially cast Tammy Grimes to play the lead, but the actress turned him down. On the condition that Samantha’s name be changed from Cassandra, Elizabeth accepted her husband’s offer to replace Tammy.
William Asher encouraged Elizabeth Montgomery to twitch her nose on ‘Bewitched’
Asher noted during the chat with Archive of American Television that Elizabeth’s nose twitch stood out to him; however, she was not conscious of it at first. She was making a drink at their home bar when she suddenly did it, and Asher got the idea to include it in Bewitched.
He then encouraged her to do it while in character, and it went on to become Samantha’s signature move before activating her magic. Bewitched would go on to become Elizabeth’s most popular series, earning her accolades and multiple Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
Life after ‘Bewitched’
Elizabeth and Asher’s marriage ended a year after the series finale of Bewitched and three kids later. Asher went on to marry two more times— first to Joyce Bulifant and then to Meredith Coffin McMachen until his death in 2012. The filmmaker died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease.
Elizabeth took on more roles, some with a nod to her famous character, and got remarried to her fourth and final husband, Robert Foxworth, in the ‘90s. She also engaged in activism and charitable causes for the disabled and AIDS victims. After a long, undiagnosed battle with colon cancer, Elizabeth passed away in 1995, just a month after her 62nd birthday.