ELIZABETH MONTGOMERY - Variety

Elizabeth Montgomery, the second-generation Hollywood actress and first-generation TV star who tweaked her way to success on the ABC comedy series “Bewitched,” died May 18 of cancer.

The actress, who was 62, had a long and prosperous run in TV movies and miniseries. She was nominated for nine Emmys for her comedic and dramatic roles.

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The daughter of screen actor Robert Montgomery and stage actress Elizabeth Allan, Montgomery served a long apprenticeship in live TV and series guest spots before breaking through as Samantha, the glamorous and delightful witch in “Bewitched,” for eight seasons beginning in 1964. The success of the series, directed and produced by her then-husband William Asher, was a financial windfall and made her one of the most recognizable faces on TV.

Montgomery then embarked on an even longer career in dramatic made-fors such as “A Case of Rape,” “Amos,” “Mrs. Sundance” and “The Legend of Lizzie Borden,” garnering good notices and high ratings.

Earlier this month she appeared in “Deadline for Murder,” the second of two telepix in which she portrayed Pulitzer Prize-winning crime reporter Edna Buchanan. The first was “The Corpse Had a Familiar Face,” which aired in 1994.

Montgomery was born April 15,1933, in Los Angeles. She attended the Spence School in New York and later the Academy of Dramatic Arts. She made her professional debut in 1951 opposite her father in “Top Secret” – a segment on “Robert Montgomery Presents” – and continued to work on that series as well as “Studio One,” “Kraft Theatre” and “Armstrong Circle Theatre” throughout the decade.

Highlights included “Our Hearts Were Young and Gay” in 1954 with Cornelia Otis Skinner, “The Diamond as Big as the Ritz” in 1955, “Harvey” opposite Art Carney in 1958 and “The Spiral Staircase” with then-husband Gig Young and Lillian Gish in 1963.

Montgomery made a brief stop on Broadway in the 1953 comedy “Late Love,” and a couple of Off Broadway efforts such as 1956’s “The Lou Red Patrick” and the following year’s “Romanoff and Juliet.”

Later in life, Montgomery appeared in the epistolary “Love Letters” opposite her husband Robert Foxworth in both New York and Los Angeles.

Montgomery did not have much success on the bigscreen, appearing in only three films.

Television was where she reigned and played an amazing variety of roles for more than 40 years. Her first Emmy nomination came in 1960 in an episode of ‘The Untouchables” called “The Rusty Heller Story.” Montgomery appeared in many other series including “Rawhide,” “Wagon Train” and “Burke’s Law” before landing on the ABC series “Bewitched.”

In “Bewitched” Montgomery played Samantha, a good witch who falls for a bumbling mortal, Darren Stevens (Dick York and Dick Sargent at different times).

For eight years, “Bewitched” was a gem in ABC’s rather meager crown, winning an Emmy (although never for its star despite five nominations). The series continues airing in syndication.

Montgomery’s only problem after calling it quits on “Bewitched” was being too strongly identified with Samantha. She attempted to eliminate that problem by making an immediate and dramatic about-face by appearing in TV movies such as “The Victim” in 1972, “Mrs. Sundance,” and the controversial “A Case of Rape” in 1974, which earned her another dramatic Emmy nomination. Other nominations followed for “The Legend of Lizzie Borden” and “The Awakening Land.”

In a much less permissive TV era, Montgomery’s made-for projects include another dealing with a sensitive subject, miscegenation (“A Killing Affair” with OJ. Simpson in 1977).

Over the next two decades Montgomery also shone in such TV films as “Black Widow,” “Sins of the Mother,” “The Victim,” “When the Circus Comes to Town,” “Dark Victory,” “Rules of Marriage,” “Face to Face,” “Amos,” “Murder in Mind,” “Between the Darkness and the Dawn,” “Missing Pieces,” “Belle Starr” and “Second Sight: A Love Story.”

Montgomery was married several times. She was married to actor Robert Foxworth at the time of her death.

She was a longtime supporter of gay and lesbian civil rights, HIV-AIDS causes and animal rights organizations.

Montgomery previously had undergone surgery for colon cancer, and in April of this year she had surgery for the removal of a small malignant tumor.

Montgomery is survived by her husband and three children.

In lieu of flowers, The family suggested contributions to the William Holden Wildlife Assn. or the Los Angeles Zoo.