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Show jmm-wmv ymy- S PLE Lirri -Tin iirtiiri iiir i MIMsMt,HIs Elizabeth Montgomery: legendary Belle Starr hower's media adviser for years. Her mother, too, was noted for her acting. She was on the stage as Elizabeth Allen. Miss Montgomery says she became determined to follow in her parents' footsteps when she was 4 and has not wavered from this early goal. She graduated from the American Academy of Dramatic Dra-matic Arts in New York, and appeared with her father on television in 1951. For the next 13 years she acted in one Broadway play after another, made several feature films, and was on some 250 television televi-sion programs. Then, in 1964, came "Bewitched" and stardom in her own right. The series lasted eight seasons on television, televi-sion, leaving her in the financial finan-cial position to do only what she really chose from then on. Among the televison roles she has chosen since then have been leads in "The Victim," "The Legend of Lizzie Borden," "Dark Victory," "A Killing Affair," f'Mrs. Sundance" and the CBS presentation pres-entation of "Act of Violence." Many of her roles have been emotionally and physically demanding, as i3 her role in "Belle Starr." Those demands have kept her in top physical condition, which she thinks is essential. "An actor has to have stamina," she says. To this end, she plays tennis, swims, bikes and is careful with her diet. And she loves horses, another personal trait that shows up in her choice of roles, including "Belle Starr." The legendary Belle Starr, by the way, led a very dangerous danger-ous life. "Picture Belle Starr playing play-ing the piano at local dances with a gun strapped to her side," says Miss Montgomery, "and you get an idea of how rough country life must have been in the West in those days." "The real Belle Starr is so clouded by legend and fiction that you can come up with several versions of her life, depending on which story of the Old West you study," said Elizabeth Montgomery, who stars as the so-called bandit queen in the title role of Belle Starr," to be rebroad-cast rebroad-cast on "The CBS Wednesday Night Movies," Wednesday, Aug. 26 on CBS. "One thing we do know for sure is that she was an exceptional excep-tional and amazing woman, if not a good one, and an important impor-tant figure in the history of the West," says Miss Montgomery. Mont-gomery. No such ambiguity is possible possi-ble when speaking about Miss Montgomery's life. As the daughter of famous parents, her life has been well documented docu-mented from birth. Her father, Robert Montgomery, is remembered for his acting in such film classics as "Night Must Fall," "Lady in the Lake" and "Here Comes Mr. Jordan." He also made his mark as a director and later as a producer of the television repertory theater, "Robert Montgomery Presents," from 1950 to 1957. To add further to his credentials, he was President Dwight D. Eisen- Elizabeth Montgomery |