Early Career Elizabeth Montgomery In Matador Costume Vintage 1950s Photograph
Item History & Price
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ITEM: This is a c. 1954 vintage and original early career photograph of film, stage, and television actress Elizabeth Montgomery. This dramatic and mood portrait shows Montgomery in a daring matador costume while posed next to a large poster advertising a bull fight. What an exciting view of the star from the early days of her career!
With a career that spanned five decades, Elizabeth Montgomery is best remembered for her leading role as Samantha Stephens on the television series "Bewitched." The daughter of actor Robert Montgomery, she began her career in the 1950s with a role on her father's television series "Robert Montgomery Presents", and won a Theater World Award for her 1956 Broadway debut in the production "Late Love." Her work on "Bewitched" earned her five Primetime Emmy Award nominations and four Golden Globe Award nominations. After "Bewitched" ended its run in 1972, Montgomery continued her career with roles in numerous television films, including "A Case of Rape" (1974), as Ellen Harrod, and "The Legend of Lizzie Borden" (1975) in the title role. Both roles earned her additional Emmy Award nominations. Throughout her career, Montgomery was involved in various forms of political activism and charitable work. She has been cited as one of the earliest celebrities to support gay rights and advocate for AIDS patients, volunteering with the AIDS Project Los Angeles and amfAR at the height of the AIDS epidemic.
Measures 8.25" x 10" on a glossy single weight paper stock.
Ink stamp and various handwritten notations on verso.
CONDITION: Fine condition with creasing at the corners, edge wear, and general storage/handling wear. Please use the included images as a conditional guide.
Guaranteed to be 100% vintage and original from Grapefruit Moon Gallery.
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Elizabeth Montgomery was born into show business. Her parents were screen actor Robert Montgomery and Broadway actress Elizabeth Allen. Elizabeth graduated from the Spence School in New York City and attended the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. After three years' intensive training, she made her TV debut in her father's 1950s playhouse series Robert Montgomery Presents (1950) and appeared in more than 200 live programs over the next decade. She once remarked, "I guess you could say I'm a TV baby." Notable early film roles included The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955) and Johnny Cool (1963). However, she is best remembered for her leading role as the witch Samantha in the top-rated ABC sitcom Bewitched (1964). Her family - mother Endora (Agnes Moorehead), look-alike cousin (Montgomery) and advertising executive husband Darrin (first Dick York then Dick Sargent) - tried to suppress her supernatural skills but often turned to her tricks to solve problems. The signal of impending witchcraft was a twitch of Samantha's nose. After her first and only TV series ended she turned to made-for-TV movies, many of which won critical praise: A Case of Rape (1974), The Legend of Lizzie Borden (1975), Black Widow Murders: The Blanche Taylor Moore Story (1993). She narrated the movie The Panama Deception (1992) which won an Academy Award in 1993. Reference works showed her as 62 when she died though the family said she was 57. The family did not disclose the type of cancer which caused her death.
- IMDb Mini Biography By: Ed Stephan
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