Elizabeth Montgomery's Stand-In/Stunt Double/Cast Extra

Melody McCord was Elizabeth Montgomery's stand-in. Stand-ins are helpful in the initial processes of production. Lighting setup can be a slow and tedious process; during this time the actor will often be somewhere else. Stand-ins allow the director of photography to light the set, the camera department to light and focus scenes. The director will often ask stand-ins to deliver the scene dialogue and walk through ("blocking") the scenes to be filmed. In this way, a good stand-in can help speed up the day's production and is a necessary and valuable cast member on a film. Stand-ins do not necessarily have to look like the actor, but they must be the same skin tone, hair color, height and build as the actor so that the lighting in a scene will be set up correctly. For example, if the lighting is set up with a stand-in shorter than an actor, the actor might end up having his head in relative darkness.

In Bewitched, we had the Serena character which also gave Melody an opportunity for some extra work - a body-double! She could be seen in a number of Serena episodes, usually with her head turned as she and Samantha walked into a room together - in the episode #161 "Marriage, Witches Style", she can be seen pretty clearly - especially when they show Sam and Serena peeking into the office of the Dating Service they are visiting. She played Sleeping Beauty in episode #129 and can be seen as McMann and Tate's secretary in "Toys in Babeland". Pretty much whenever there is a Serena/Samantha episode where you don't see both of their faces at the same time, you will find Melody standing in. Dick Michaels had a lot to do with the "double" effects as he had worked on The Patty Duke Show previously where the characters had a similar "cousin" situation, so he brought this knowledge with him to many episodes of Bewitched.

A lot of the fans over the years have thought that Melody played "Dusty" in "The Generation Zap", but that was a different actress named Melodie Johnson. I never thought the 2 actresses looked the same, but that story has floated around Bewitched circles for a while.

Melody was REALLY pretty, having a similar caliber of beauty as Elizabeth Montgomery, so she was a logical choice. She can be seen clearly in episodes 129 and 157 (giving a manicure) and check these episodes to see her in background walk-on parts: 60, 73, 81, 82, 90, 94, 102, 109, 203, 230, 236. See her as a Serena/Samantha double in: 24, 54, 142, 161, 189, 192, 205, 231, 244.

Melody was barely 20 when she began working on Bewitched and continued working throughout the whole series. She and Elizabeth Montgomery got along well and became friends on and off the set. Sadly, Melody died in 2004 from heart failure at the age of 58.


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