Elizabeth vs. Julie: Two Icons Share One Bewitching Episode

In the pan­theon of 1960s tele­vi­sion, two women left an indeli­ble mark on pop cul­ture: Eliz­a­beth Mont­gomery and Julie New­mar. One embod­ied the whole­some sub­ur­ban sor­cer­ess Saman­tha Stephens in Bewitched, while the oth­er defined feline seduc­tion as Cat­woman on Bat­man. But few remem­ber the brief yet fas­ci­nat­ing moment when their worlds col­lid­ed on the set of Bewitched.

By the time Bewitched pre­miered in 1964, Eliz­a­beth Mont­gomery was already an estab­lished name in tele­vi­sion and the daugh­ter of screen leg­end Robert Mont­gomery. She brought a mix of charm, wit, and sophis­ti­ca­tion to the role of Saman­tha Stephens—a witch try­ing to live a nor­mal life with her mor­tal hus­band, Dar­rin. With her twitch­ing nose and quick spells, she cast a spell over audi­ences and quick­ly became one of the most beloved stars of the decade.

Mont­gomery was not only the star but also close­ly involved in the cre­ative direc­tion of the show, espe­cial­ly after her hus­band, William Ash­er, took over as pro­duc­er and direc­tor. She was known for her pro­fes­sion­al­ism, her strong opin­ions, and her desire to ele­vate the show beyond typ­i­cal sit­com fare. She also took great care in shap­ing the por­tray­al of Saman­tha as intel­li­gent, strong, and independent—a pro­gres­sive char­ac­ter for the time.

Julie New­mar was some­thing entire­ly dif­fer­ent. Stat­uesque, exot­ic, and wicked­ly fun­ny, she was a stand­out in what­ev­er role she played, whether in My Liv­ing Doll or lat­er as Cat­woman. She pos­sessed a unique com­bi­na­tion of phys­i­cal grace—thanks to her back­ground in dance—and razor-sharp comedic tim­ing. She made one of her most unex­pect­ed TV guest appear­ances in a 1965 episode of Bewitched, titled “The Eight-Year Itch Witch.”

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In that episode, New­mar played a seduc­tive witch named Miss Kil­managh, who attempts to lure Dar­rin away from Saman­tha. It was a role tai­lor-made for Newmar’s sul­try brand of humor, and her pres­ence intro­duced a dif­fer­ent kind of ten­sion to the show—one that had more to do with rival­ry than the usu­al domes­tic mag­ic mishaps.

There were no reports of ani­mos­i­ty between Mont­gomery and New­mar dur­ing film­ing, but sources from the time describe a pal­pa­ble con­trast in ener­gy. Mont­gomery, metic­u­lous and ele­gant, approached her char­ac­ter with ground­ed real­ism. New­mar, mean­while, played Miss Kil­managh as a flam­boy­ant, mys­ti­cal temptress, com­mand­ing every scene with flair. Their dif­fer­ent styles may have been part of the rea­son why their scenes togeth­er siz­zled.

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How­ev­er, behind the scenes, there was a qui­et ten­sion. Mont­gomery was known to be cau­tious about guest stars who might over­shad­ow her role—especially glam­orous women who might steal the spot­light. Though nev­er unkind, she was report­ed­ly cool dur­ing Newmar’s brief time on set. Some crew mem­bers recalled that Mont­gomery pre­ferred to keep her dis­tance, main­tain­ing a lev­el of author­i­ty and focus on her work.

To her cred­it, New­mar didn’t over­step. She played the role with her sig­na­ture panache and left a mem­o­rable impres­sion, but she didn’t try to dom­i­nate the episode. Still, her pres­ence was so strong that some view­ers remem­ber the episode more for her per­for­mance than any­thing else that sea­son.

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It’s impor­tant to under­stand that while both actress­es were icon­ic, they were oper­at­ing in dif­fer­ent orbits. Mont­gomery was America’s sweet­heart, tied to the domes­tic fan­ta­sy of the Amer­i­can housewife—with a twist. New­mar was clos­er to the fringes of fan­ta­sy, a woman whose roles often flirt­ed with dan­ger, mys­tery, and sur­re­al sen­su­al­i­ty. While Mont­gomery anchored Bewitched, Newmar’s cameo added a dose of unpre­dictabil­i­ty that made her episode unfor­get­table.

Their careers also reflect these dif­fer­ences. Mont­gomery would go on to use her fame for polit­i­cal activism and seri­ous roles in TV movies tack­ling social issues. New­mar, ever the enchantress, remained a cult favorite, embrac­ing eccen­tric parts and even­tu­al­ly becom­ing a sym­bol of female empow­er­ment in LGBTQ+ com­mu­ni­ties.

Though Julie New­mar only appeared in a sin­gle Bewitched episode, her inter­ac­tion with Eliz­a­beth Mont­gomery was a moment when two worlds—glamour and domes­tic fan­ta­sy, dra­ma and camp—briefly over­lapped. The episode remains a fan favorite, not just for the humor and mag­ic but for the qui­et clash of two pow­er­ful screen per­sonas.

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There are no detailed behind-the-scenes tell-alls or major con­fronta­tions to report—Montgomery was far too pro­fes­sion­al for that, and New­mar too poised to pro­voke. But for fans of clas­sic tele­vi­sion, the brief moment they shared on-screen is pure gold. It was a time when one of television’s most ele­gant witch­es faced off with a mis­chie­vous rival, both played by women who under­stood the pow­er of charis­ma, con­trol, and time­less beau­ty.

In the grand tapes­try of 1960s TV, this encounter may have been brief—but like all good spells, its effect lingers long after the mag­ic ends.