Aug. 28, 1963 - A lovesick maid who said she didn’t want actor George Montgomery (top) running around “with those stupid glamour girls” tried to murder him last night in the bedroom of his home in Van Nuys, Calif. Ruth Wenzel (bottom), 37, got off one shot that came close enough to leave powder burns on the left cheek of the actor before he disarmed her and called the police. Officers said she had broken into his home Sunday and had waited in his bedroom without food until he returned home from New York yesterday at 5:30 p.m. Miss Wenzel, who listed her temporary address as a Beverly Hills hotel, was booked at the Van Nuys station on suspicion of assault with intent to commit murder. The German-born Wenzel also was treated at Valley Receiving Hospital for a swollen ear where Montgomery struck her in the struggle over the gun. In her purse, officers found a long note addressed to the police in which she said, “I am planning to kill George Montgomery and then myself, of course.” She said, “No one loves him like I do. I even went to practice pistol shooting so I won’t hurt him when I shoot him.” Police said Miss Wenzel had worked for Montgomery and his then wife, Dinah Shore, for eight months about five years ago and fell in love with the actor. Today, Montgomery refused to discuss the maid or her story of unrequited love, although police said he had complained three weeks ago that Miss Wenzel was harassing him.
