Elizabeth Montgomery's reported age

[TMC]

Elizabeth would've officially, turned 90 years old last month. But is it true that when she died back in 1995, reports initially had her age listed as either 62 or 57? It turned out that she was indeed born in 1933 (which was reported for years) but she apparently knocked off 5 years on her age when she entered the entertainment industry, listing her birth-year as 1938. Her death certificate confirmed the year of her birth to be 1933.

[maniaguy6]

Yes. I was very young when she passed, but I remember the news reports saying 57. It was corrected not long after. To me she looked to be younger in her 40s maybe when she portrayed Edna Buchanan even though she was ill with cancer.

[MichaelKeith]

I've been a fan of hers for a long time and have always read 1933 as her birth year for a long time now. When she died, I knew she was 62, too young to die.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by maniaguy6

Yes. I was very young when she passed, but I remember the news reports saying 57. It was corrected not long after. To me she looked to be younger in her 40s maybe when she portrayed Edna Buchanan even though she was ill with cancer.

This newspaper clipping from the time of her death, lists Elizabeth's age as being 57. Her family apparently said that she was 57 (which would've placed her birth as being around 1938) despite what several film anthologies otherwise said about her actually being born in 1933.

[TMC]

Originally Posted by maniaguy6

Yes. I was very young when she passed, but I remember the news reports saying 57. It was corrected not long after. To me she looked to be younger in her 40s maybe when she portrayed Edna Buchanan even though she was ill with cancer.

Deadline For Murder: From the Files of Edna Buchanan is now available to watch on YouTube in full. There are comments from people who pointed out how thin and pale Elizabeth Montgomery looked, especially with the benefit of hindsight. Elizabeth died less than nine days after that film was first broadcast on CBS. It's I think, commonly known now that Elizabeth was really ill while filming that movie. It turned out that unbeknownst to her, she was suffering from colon cancer and it had already advanced to her liver.