After Elizabeth Montgomery passed away, she gave a very special gift to New York State. She had owned a beautiful summer home in Patterson, New York. After her death, the estate was sold to the state of New York. It was a whopping 794 Acres! The enormous amount of land was turned into Wonder Lake State Park!
The park, like Elizabeth, is wonderful, it was expanded and now totals 1145 acres! The park boasts almost 9 miles of hiking trails and one scenic trail that has a pond and lines the entire lake! The park also helps to protect parts of the Great Swamp.
Off Limit Relationships
It was known that Elizabeth Montgomery was drawn to the bad boys, and found herself in many unsuitable relationships. There was even talk that she had a relationship with president John F. Kennedy. Not many details are known about their exact relationship, but what is known is that they were friends in the 1960s.
In the tell-all book, author Pilato adds that JFK was known for chasing beautiful women. Elizabeth Montgomery had affairs with many other famous men, including Dean Martin, Elvis, and other older men. Elizabeth was married four times, and it is rumored that during all of her marriages she had multiple affairs.
Her Legacy Lives On
Elizabeth Montgomery was always an activist for the people. Even after she had passed away, she continued to help people in need. A few years after she passed away, there was an auction held featuring all of her clothing. Her “Bewitched” on-screen daughter, Erin Murphy, who played the role of Tabitha, modeled all of the clothing for the auction.
The auction, of course, benefited one of the causes Elizabeth Montgomery was an activist for, the AIDS Foundation. They raised so much money with this auction which was so fitting for Elizabeth, as while she was alive, she fought so hard for the people living with AIDS.
“The Darrin Syndrome” - What?!
The role of Samantha's husband Darrin was originated by the actor Dick York. Unfortunately, Dick York had to leave the show due to severe back pain. He was on medication to help with the pain but, it was unbearable. Additionally, he had a seizure on set. After that, he never came back.
They replaced him with actor Dick Sargent. They never mentioned it on the show and basically just hoped that fans and the audience would not notice the change in actor, or at least would not care. This ridiculous Act of swapping actors without any explanation whatsoever got dubbed “The Darrin Syndrome.”
Bewitched Creator, Sol Saks, Reveals His Influence
The TV series “Bewitched” came to life after Sol Saks had a brilliant idea after watching two films. Sol watched ‘I Married A Witch’ and ‘Bell, Book, and Candle’, and that is how “Bewitched” was born! The two films were the inspiration he needed to create his hit show.
Sol created the script for the pilot episode and really just cloned the two films. He was not worried about any lawsuits or copyrights, he knew he was in the clear, since both films were owned by Columbia Pictures - this was not a problem since Columbia also owned Screen Gems, which was the company that was producing “Bewitched.”