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Issue link: https://digital.macdirectory.com/i/798
54 MacDirectory INTERVIEW EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE JUST FINE > A LIFE-CHANGING CONVERSATION WITH AUTHOR TURNED DIRECTOR BILLY CLIFT The first life-changing experience Billy Clift can remember happened when he was 5 years old. That night, sitting in front of his family's black and white television set, he saw the debut episode of a sitcom called "Bewitched." He was immediately hooked. "I got a cat and I named her Samantha and I used to force the cat to watch the show with me," he laughed, adding, "I was a total Bewitched freak, and I loved (Bewitched star) Elizabeth Montgomery. Like so many people, I looked at her like my mom, like, you know, this was it, she was everything you wanted." MacDirectory got together with the hairdresser turned author turned director for a chat. MacDirectory > So how did you end up finally getting to meet her? Billy Clift > I became a hairdresser in 1980 and I was working in a salon in Beverly Hills. I had started doing little photo shoots for models and I had gotten along really well with one of the photographers, and he came up to me one day and said "You know, I have a client that I think you would get along really well with: Elizabeth Montgomery. Would you mind doing a photo shoot with her?" MD > And how did you react to this? BC > I was like "Would I MIND? My God!" Of course, I never told him I was an Elizabeth Montgomery freak. I just went and met her at her home and it just went from there. MD > And you eventually became friends. BC > I was fortunate enough to call her a very dear friend. But it took me a long time to get into that inner circle. That is very typical of celebrities in general, they are very cautious and it takes a while to get into their realm. So, it took me about five years to create real trust, but then we were going out to dinner once a week, we were taking little trips together, I got to meet her beautiful family… it was just – that was my pal, and I felt very fortunate that I was able to have that experience. MD > What were some of the things you most admired about her? BC > She was just so inspiring. Elizabeth Montgomery was the type of person who would never not be herself 100 percent, and she taught me how not to fear being myself no matter what people thought. In 1995, Montgomery passed away from cancer. Clift was with her until the end, and it was a very traumatic time for him. It was also, however, the beginning of an amazing spiritual journey and another life changing experience, one that he recounted in detail in his book, "Everything Is Going to Be Just Fine: The Ramblings of a Mad Hairdresser," which Clift is currently making into a film. MD > So what exactly happened after Elizabeth Montgomery's death, and how did you react? BC > It was quite a dramatic experience, and it was definitely and totally out of left field. It was not something I was necessarily into, or even looking for, but (Elizabeth's) death was a trigger that just catapulted me into having different experiences and questioning what this was all about. MD > So what has it been like, putting all that into this film, which is really about a very emotional time in your life? And how WORDS BY JONE DEVLIN > IMAGES PROVIDED BY BILLY CLIFT