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by: Marilyn Beck
TV Picture Life
August 1966
Willie Asher, going on two, toddled on unsteady legs across the hall, making his way eagerly towards a pile of gaily wrapped cartons heaped high against the wall. His cherub face split into a smile of sunshine and his mouth opened to emit a series of excited, animated sounds as he reached forward to touch first one package and then another.
The wrappings held his attention for several moments, and then he raced off, making his way precariously towards a bookcase on an opposite side of the room. He stretched forward, supporting himself on tiptoes, and with amazing care lifted down a small, ornately-framed portrait of a smiling, teenage boy.
“Brian,” he cooed, the word barely recognizable as it left his infant’s tongue. He giggled delightedly and repeated the word as if the sound alone caused him special pleasure.
Elizabeth Montgomery entered the room and gazed down lovingly at her young son.
She lifted him up into her arms, gently disengaging the treasure clutched in his hands, and crooned, “That’s right, Willie. That’s Brian. And soon, in just a few hours, he’ll be here to celebrate his birthday with us.”
She set Willie down, watching as he raced outside to the enclosed play area where sand box and glider awaited, then smiled, “He’s so crazy about Brian, absolutely adores him – and Liane, too, of course.”
The objects of Willie’s affections to whom Elizabeth was referring were two teenage stepchildren; husband Bill Asher’s offspring by an earlier marriage. Brian, 12, and his 13-year-old sister Liane live with their mother in nearby Malibu, but spend a great deal of time in the warm atmosphere of the Asher home where each and every member of the family vies for their attention and love.
“Willie went shopping with me today to buy Brian’s birthday presents and we came home with oh, so many different toys and games.” Her laugh was a golden peal as she confessed, “Poor Brian, every time we buy him any games, his father and I get hold of them and the poor kid never gets a chance to use them himself.
Brian and Liane are so much fun to have around,” she bubbled, racing breathlessly ahead as she spoke lovingly of the two older children who have become such an integral part of her life. “
“They’re at such a marvelous age. And you should see how they handle Willie, and even Robert, who’s only eight months old.
“I swear I could leave the children alone with Liane for hours on end, she’s that marvelous with them, that conscientious a babysitter.
“Brian and Liane are here at the house with us so often, frequently for a week at a time. And sometimes they’ll even bring their friends to stay with them, too. Then you should see the confusion around here. Complete chaos, I tell you!”
Though she lowered her voice dramatically as she uttered the last statement, from the smile on her face it was obvious that Liz Montgomery actually relished the pandemonium that ensued when the house was filled with young people.
She made that fact even more obvious when she said, “They’re such fun to have around. Well go out on the lawn for a family ball game, or spend an evening in the family room challenging one another to a game of Russian billiards or darts.”
Seated as she was now against the chintz floral tapestry of the living room couch, presenting a picture of complete contentment and satisfaction, it occurred to this reporter to ask if she didn’t consider herself lucky to have achieved such a warm, close friendship with her stepchildren, to have experienced none of the friction or strife that is frequently an integral part of such a relationship.
Liz seemed completely surprised and taken back by the question, as if such a thing as inner-family discord had never crossed her mind. And she said, “Lucky? I imagine so, but you see Brian and Liane and I have been close from the moment we first met. Right from the beginning we’ve been friends.”
Making it obvious that she would never attempt to take the place of their real mother in their hearts, she said simply, “I’m terribly flattered that they do consider me their buddy, flattered that they like it so well around here that they want their friends close to me, too.
“There’s never been any tension between us, everything has always been wonderfully casual and relaxed.”
If Brian’s name came up more often then his sister’s in Liz’s conversation concerning the children, it might have been merely because Elizabeth Asher is the type of woman whom she herself describes as “not cloyingly feminine, the sort who would rather play a good game of tennis than go out shopping and to luncheon with the girls.”
Having a step-mother who can swing a baseball bat with an admirable accuracy, who shows a remarkable amount of competitive spirit when engaged even in a family game of darts, could do little else but delight and thrill the average teenage boy. Undoubtedly, Brian Asher is no exception.
Her love of the sort of things that interests young males runs deep, so deep that Liz herself made it a point to boast that she is one of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ most ardent fans.
She laughed. “The family still talks about the way I behaved in the hospital while I was there last year giving birth to Robert. The nurses were wheeling me out of the delivery room just minutes after he was born and as I felt myself being glided down the corridor, I came out of my twilight sleep long enough to order, ‘You better make sure I have a television set near my bed so I can watch the World Series this afternoon – or I’ll check out and go home!’”
It seemed while she spoke that Liz Montgomery’s love of sports might possibly have developed like most other recent interests in her life to please her husband.
Though she might twitch her nose to get her own way as the charmingly beautiful witch on her top-rated Bewitched TV show, at home Liz’ life and interests revolve around Bill Asher’s. She’s become an expert tennis player-because he enjoys the game. She is taking up golf because he wants her to. And she admits that she even tries to do the best acting job possible at the studio simply because she wants to please him.
“I wouldn’t be anything without Bill,” she declared with an amazing lack of self-ego.
“I’m grateful for his love and want to be good because I know that is what will make him happy.”
The happy grin was now once more firmly in place as she allowed, “You should see us at the studio, the way Bill yells and raves at me if I’m just trying to walk through my lines. Believe me, he’s the toughest director I’ve ever had – but the best one too, of course.
“I remember a couple of weeks ago when I had goofed up a scene and Bill started screaming at me, some of the crew started teasing, ‘You’d better put on heavy padding, Liz you’re going to get some lashes when he gets you home.’
“But I told them not to worry, that, ‘You know we never fight when we’re alone – just at the studio in front of everyone.’”
That the star could relate the story with no trace of embarrassment seemed once again proof that Liz Montgomery is completely happy with her lot, that she accepts and actually enjoys the fact her husband is undisputed boss of their house and that things will be done in a manner to make him the most happy.
It’s more than probable that Liz Montgomery initially tried so hard to establish a relationship with her step-children in order to please their father. But regardless of the initial motive, this much is now abundantly clear; what she has succeeded in achieving is a wonderfully close family unit, where love flows freely and opening between the four handsome young Asher children. They are all her children – her sons and daughter – even though only two will ever be able to call her mother.
After five years of marriage, Liz Montgomery has emerged as a woman with complete self security and self-assurance. She is confident of her husband’s devotion, so secure of her stepchildren’s love that she has found she can be a disciplinarian to them as well as a friend, without fear they will resent her.
In a community where so many with so much have so little in the way of personal happiness, Elizabeth Montgomery stands out as a brilliant and shining light. “I’ve got everything in the world worth having,” she repeated numerous times during that golden afternoon as she readied the house for stepson Brian’s birthday party. “I’ve got everything in the world I’d ever want.”
She’s learned that such priceless things can be acquired if one wants them badly enough. Not by a twitch of the nose, of course, but with devotion and dedication and an attitude of self-less giving.
Thanks to Allison for this article.