She was everyone’s favorite witchy housewife, wreaking havoc with a twitch of her nose. But even when she wasn’t making mischief on Bewitched, Elizabeth Montgomery was a merry prankster.

“I remember going to the movies with her and her kids when I was 5,” Erin Murphy, who played daughter Tabitha, tells Closer. “Lizzie would sit up in the balcony and throw popcorn down at us. She thought it was so funny!”

elizabeth montgomery
Columbia Pictures Television

Elizabeth on Bewitched in 1968.

Thanks to Elizabeth’s magical appeal, Bewitched became the No. 2 show in America (second only to Bonanza) soon after it debuted in 1964. As Samantha Stephens, Elizabeth could make trouble go away with her famous twitch. But the blond beauty, who died in 1995 at 62, faced a starker reality behind the scenes.

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“She played the loving wife, Samantha, but she also played Serena, the dark, dangerous cousin,” says Herbie J Pilato, who has penned two books about the actress. “In real life, she was complicated, too.” Adds Erin, “She was more like Serena.”

To read the full story on Elizabeth, pick up the new issue of Closer Weekly, on newsstands now!