Clift's reputation in the 1960s was coloured by the brutal comment of Robert Lewis, Clift's teacher at the Actors Studio, who called his late . It wasnt until years after his tragic passing that Clifts darkest secret finally came out. Travel back in time with treasured photos and stories, sent right to your inbox. He was, in his words, nothing more than an ordinary, second-class wolf., These anecdotes, and dozens like them, would establish Clift, along with Brando, as the embodiment of 50s youth culture, rebelling against conformity and all that postwar Americans were supposed to embrace. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? He served in the Lincoln administration cabinet as Postmaster-General from 1861 to 1864, during the Civil War. In truth, his face wasnt truly disfigured. Elizabeth Taylor (all of 17 years old) and Montgomery Clift posed together at Paramount Studios during a break in filming A Place in the Sun. Close friends, such as actor Kevin McCarthy and his wife, tried to get Clift to slow down and dry out, but their pleas . Montgomery Clift as Noah Ackerman Dean Martin as Michael Whiteacre Hope Lange as Hope Plowman Barbara Rush as Margaret Freemantle May Britt as Gretchen Hardenberg Maximilian Schell as Captain Hardenberg Dora Doll as Simone Lee Van Cleef as First Sergeant Rickett Liliane Montevecchi as Franoise Parley Baer as Sergeant Brandt Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn came to Clifts defense when the director tried to get rid of him. But just as Clift dove into this exciting new chapter, an unforeseen tragedy changedeverything. Montgomery Clift Filmography - IMDb Production resumed on Raintree County, which the studio feared would fail following Clifts accident. Montgomery Clift made a name for himself in Hollywood with several awards and nominations. Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift, Hollywood, 1950. At Factinate, were dedicated to getting things right. 'The longest suicide in Hollywood history': who was the real Montgomery But he was handsome and beguiling on-screen, creating an appetite for confirmation of that same Clift off the screen. He hated the criticism and the labels, and eventually, he just couldnt take it anymore. He spent a great deal of time and money on psychiatry.In 1956, during filming of Raintree County (1957), he ran his Chevrolet into a tree after leaving a party at Elizabeth Taylor's; it was she who saved him from choking by pulling out two teeth lodged in his throat. . While filming a 15-minute supporting role as a mentally handicapped victim of the Holocaust in Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), he had to ad-lib all of his lines. Still, unlike other notable gay actors, any affairs Montgomery Clift had were secured behind a lock and key. He pleaded with her to make changes to her book to correct the mischaracterizations. Other testimonies to Clifts gayness abound: early in his film career, he had purportedly been warned that being gay would ruin him; he was so conscious of being seen as feminine or fey in any way that when he ad-libbed a line in The Search, calling a boy dear, he insisted that director Fred Zinnemann reshoot the take. (The director himself never met his famous uncle, having been born eight years after his death). Edward Montgomery Clift (; October 17, 1920 July 23, 1966) was an American actor. Nearly all his good looks are gone, Isherwood wrote. Just look at the fan magazine titles: Making Love the Clift Way, Two Loves Has Monty, Montgomery Clifts Tragic Love Story, Is It True What They Say About Monty? Who Is Monty Kidding? Hes Travelin Light, The Lurid Love Life of Montgomery Clift, and, perhaps most flagrantly, Monty Clift: Woman Hater or Free Soul?. Montgomery Clift was in relationships with Sal Mineo, Paul Newman, Henry Willson, Jack Larson, William LeMassena, Libby Holman, Maurice Leonard and Arnold Saint Subber. Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark historyor the chilling secret shared by her and Louis. Monroe and Taylor are shadowed by Montgomery. Of course, Clifts words had always been futile in the face of Hollywood. The Search _ 1948 DVD Montgomery Clift Aline MacMahon Wendell Corey V Please fill in your e-mail so we can share with you our top stories! Once on stage, Clift truly came into his own. And even then, he didnt live a glamorous movie star existence. Clift was unperturbed by his apparent lack of a love life: he told the press that he would get married when he met a girl he wanted to marry; in the meantime, he was playing the field. When another columnist asked him if he had any hobbies, he replied, Yes, women. But as the years passed, it became more and more clear that Clift wasnt just picky. He also won a nomination for Best Actor. / Cut the applause and dim the light. It was, however, much olderby the time Raintree County made its way to theaters, hed been off the screen for four and a half years. And so he remains frozen in the popular imagination, circa From Here to Eternitythose high cheekbones, that set jaw, the firm stare: a magnificent, proud, tragically broken thing to behold. The next morning, James returned to Clifts room to rouse him but found the door locked. Thats not what people would expect from a mother in that period.. Con Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift, Gino Cervi, Richard Beymer. Whatever relationships Clift may have had, he was circumspect. I wanted to figure out why there was such a difference., A deep trove of never-before-revealed evidence makes that disparity bracingly clear. Of course, when it came to his appearance, this gorgeous star really didnt give a hoot. . But for Clift, there was just no escape, and it was only going to get worse. A way into the 70s, there was more clarification to his sexuality. But the tragedies didnt end there. Clift couldnt get through longer scenes, having to split them up into two or three chunks. But the drama didnt end there. He believed that the media often, and easily, twisted the truth until it disappeared entirely: I learned that most writers dont need interviews to write about me. ': What Happened to the Stars of the Iconic Series through the Years, Debbie Reynolds Called Elizabeth Taylor's Phone Yet Her Own Husband Eddie Fisher Picked Up, Rock Hudson & Jim Nabors Never Spoke Again after They Were Reportedly Seen Getting Married, Elizabeth Taylor Proposed to an Actor 20 Years Her Senior & Replaced Him with 25-Year Older Man. He summoned a doctor, but it was already too late. . Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIIIs rejected queenbut few people know her even darker history. Elizabeth Taylor Tried to Seduce Montgomery Clift Then Stood By Him After He Came Out to Her Despite his deep attraction to Taylor, at first Clift couldn't bring himself to tell her he was. Montgomery Clift's nephew, co-directing 'Making Montgomery Clift,' an eye-opening documentary about the great movie actor, excavates a treasure trove of family archives. Clift earned best-actor Oscar nominations for 1951s A Place in the Sun and 1953s From Here to Eternity; both times he lost to older actors (Humphrey Bogart and William Holden, respectively), and established his reputation, alongside Marlon Brando and James Dean, as a young outsider whose talent intimidated Hollywood. He played the desperate, the drunken, and the deceived, and the trajectory of his life was as tragic as that in any of his films. Carlo Fiore and Marlon Brando were in . In his eyes, he wasnt a rebel, he was simply an actor who wanted to portray a slice of life. Tired of being boxed in, he stated, I am notrepeat nota member of the Beat Generation. You see, Clift wasnt just a pretty face, he also had a bunch of quirks that made him incredibly singular in comparison to other leading men. The true story of Montgomery Clift, as told by his youngest nephew Making Montgomery Clift explodes the myths surrounding the Hollywood star and queer icon. Free delivery for many products! They seem to have their stories all written out beforehand., Clifts private life was boringhe didnt date, he didnt flirt, he didnt hang out in public. Next came "The Nutty Professor" as Lewis' student, Stella Purdy, who he is infatuated with. His parents were Quakers and met as students at Cornell University, marrying in 1914. By 1950, he was troubled with allergies and colitis (the U.S. Army had rejected him for military service in World War II for chronic diarrhea) and, along with pill problems, he was alcoholic. Hes so beautiful, murmured Miss Parker. Edward Montgomery Clift (nicknamed 'Monty' his entire life) was born on October 17, 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, just after his twin sister Roberta (1920-2014) and eighteen months after his brother Brooks Clift. Directors Robert Anderson Clift Hillary Demmon Writers Robert Anderson Clift Hillary Demmon Stars Born on October 17, 1920, Edward Montgomery Clift was born into a family with lofty ideals. But when his nephew dives into the family archives, a much more complicated picture emerges. His beat-up car was 10 years old, and his best friends were all outside of the movie business. But, in general, his relationships with men had more to do with sex than with a deep emotional connection. Yet Clift would come to hate the image that constrained him, just as he hated the suggestion that he was a slob, unfriendly, or loathed in Hollywood: after the story of his bare closet came out in the Saturday Evening Post, he worked arduously to set the record straight, underlining the ways in which publicity takes a kernel of the truth and expands it into legend. Thanks for your time! The duo eventually got to know each other better, and according to Taylor, they liked each other. Montgomery Clift didnt need much to keep himself happy and entertained. ufff q hombre tan guapo y atractivo, y grn actor ademas, como me hubiese gustado conocerlo con unos ojos maravillosos. But while Clift certainly seemed like a budding Hollywood heartthrob on the outside, in reality, he wasfar from it. Over the next decade, the burgeoning actor dug his heels in and made a name for himself on the stage. According to this version of the story, when photographers arrived, Taylor announced that she knew each and every one of them personally-- and if they took pictures of Clift, who was still very much alive, shed make sure they never worked in Hollywood again. Then again, nothing about Clifts life was expected. I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. He was lonely, yet with the help of his refusal to live in Los Angeles or participate in caf society, he was able to keep his private life private. Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. In this exclusive excerpt from her forthcoming book, Anne Helen Petersen recounts the actors lonely life, ferocious talent, and tragic decline. On the set of 1958sLonelyhearts,Clift had a message for those that tried to fit him into a box. A four-time Oscar nominee who died at 45, Montgomery Clift was a bright young talent, a tabloid fixture, and a posthumous gay icon. This would not only show off his range but allow him to sidestep any dangers of typecasting. Clift, of course, knew better. Peace. An interviewer once asked him what his hobbies were, Clift replied, "women. Were always looking for your input! Luckily, over time, they clawed their way back to financial security. Taylor opened his mouth, put her hand down his throat, and pulled out the teeth. With Clift on board, Suddenly, Last Summer morphed into a verifiable mess. A fellow actor asserts that Clift was equally confident in his sexuality. / Is he alive? Help us build our profile of Montgomery Clift! Some of the greatest celebrities of the day came out to mourn Clift at his funeral, including Lauren Bacall and Frank Sinatra. Taylor, at last free from her long-standing contract with MGM, next used her power as the biggest star in Hollywood to insist that Clift be cast in her new project, Suddenly, Last Summer (1959). She is completing her PhD in Toronto, Canada. Taylor immediately stuck her delicate, little hand down his throat and removed the obstruction. However, Clift soon realized that you cant always have your cake and eat it too. Years before, Clift had battled dysentery, which introduced him to the sinister side effects of pain management. Along with Marlon Brando and James Dean, he helped delineate a new paradigm for American cinematic heroes. Contact sheets from LIFE photographer Peter Stackpoles shoot on a Paramount lot with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1950. Months of surgeries, rebuilding, and physical therapy followed. d-d-darling, I r-r-really wouldnt know. When he came to visit storied fan-magazine author Elsa Maxwell at her home, she had her maid darn the elbow in his jacket. Many Hollywood stars have committed versions of the long suicide. He has a ghastly, shattered expression. And it wasnt just in private record: in October 1956, Louella Parsons reported on Clifts very bad health and Holmans attempts to clean him up. He died. He was not worried [about being gay], Larson asserts in the film. Indiscrecin de una esposa (1953) - IMDb Making Montgomery Clift is a 2018 American documentary film by directors Robert Anderson Clift and Hillary Demmon chronicling the life of the actor Montgomery Clift till his death in 1966. When he read the story that criticized his bare-bones wardrobe, the scandalized actor lashed out with a biting response. But even the troubled blonde bombshell recognized that her co-star was in dire straits. He may have been lonely but the distance he put between his public life and his work life helped keep his mysterious bachelorhood in check. While working in New York in the early 1940s, he met wealthy former Broadway star Libby Holman. He insisted on maintaining his residence in New York, spending as little time in Hollywood as possible. Whatever the case may be, Montgomery Clifts life was unbelievably impressive and distressing. That said, he kept his sexuality a secret: The prejudices of the time left him no choice. (1950), (originally written specifically for him; the story perhaps hitting a little too close to home) and High Noon (1952).His long apprenticeship on stage made him a thoroughly accomplished actor, notable for the intensity with which he researched and approached his roles. Born in 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, Clift was raised like an aristocrat, with a private tutor and frequent trips to Europe. Every actor was in the midst of fighting their own demons. Clift's last 10 years prior to his death from his 1956 car accident were called the "longest suicide in history" by famed acting teacher Robert Lewis. In 1961, Montgomery Clift went on to star alongside some of Hollywoods greatest legendsMarilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. He didnt want the studios to dictate the kinds of roles he would play, his nephew said. He gained excellent theatrical notices and soon piqued the interests of numerous lovelorn actresses; their advances met with awkward conflict. However, even with all the negative hubbub surrounding this shoot, it was nothing compared to the darkness of one of Clifts next projects. But the drama didn't end there. That secret that Clift was gay during an impossible era (the 1930s through the 60s) led many interpreters to conclude that the actor must have led a life riddled with fear and shame. But after an initial flurry of coverage, he retreated from public view entirely. Finally, Someone Gets Montgomery Clift's Biography Right But that didnt mean that the gossip press didnt hint at something different, something queer, in the broadest sense of the word, about him. A four-time Oscar nominee who died at 45, Montgomery Clift was a bright young talent, a tabloid fixture, and a posthumous gay icon. He was a great talent but the male counterpart to Monroe, lonely, sad, and pitiful. Making distraction rewarding since 2017. Little did he know, he was always destined for something more. Contemporaries like James Dean and Marlon Brando also did. Can he still feel?). It was ironic his relationship with the bisexual middle-aged Holman would be the principal (and likely the last) heterosexual relationship of his life and only cause him further anguish over his sexuality. His smashed face was rebuilt, he reconciled with his estranged father, but he continued bedeviled by dependency on drugs and his unrelenting guilt over his homosexuality.With his Hollywood career in an irreversible slide despite giving an occasional riveting performance, such as in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Monty returned to New York and tried to slowly develop a somewhat more sensible lifestyle in his brownstone row house on East 61st Street in Manhattan. For Clift, The Heiress was a mess from top to bottom, and he even walked out on the films premiere, disgusted with his own performance. Making Montgomery Clift: truth behind gay self-loathing myth He surely wasnt a suave Prince Charming, and yet, on-screen, he was a downright masterpiece. Unlike many of his handsome contemporaries, he never had a blonde bombshell hanging off his arm. Clifts sexuality, like those other 50s idols Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter, was carefully concealed from the public. But Clift knew the film would be a smash, if only because audiences would want to compare his long unseen face from before and after the accident. I do not count myself as a member of the ripped-sweatshirt fraternity. He wasnt a young rebel, an old rebel, a tired rebel, or a rebellious rebelall he cared about was re-creating a slice of life on the screen. His mother was born out of wedlock and spent much of her life and the family fortune finding her illustrious southern lineage and raising her children as aristocrats.At age 13, Monty appeared on Broadway ("Fly Away Home"), and chose to remain in the New York theater for over ten years before finally succumbing to Hollywood. Of course, by this time, Clifts drinking problems werent much of a secret, making him a liability to the studio. He wanted to be a free agent, and he did it successfully. You couldn't help but come. He was the son of Ethel "Sunny" Anderson (Fogg; 1888-1988) and William Brooks Clift (1886-1964). Montgomery Clift, Nando Bruno. Because of the accident, the studio worried about the success of Raintree County. One infamous fact about Montgomery Clift is that he only owned one suit. Montgomery Clift: the untold story of Hollywood's misunderstood star Horrified, James immediately called for help, but of course, it was already too late. He called it as he saw it, describing himself as an ordinary, second-class wolf.. To help build their case, the film-makers had rare access to the actors archives. Okay, if were being totally honest, Montgomery Clifts reserved lifestyle didnt exactly excite the press; it actually kind of stumped them. And the cherry on top? Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from Life to Compact Cars and Trucks to A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius. Well get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics youre interested in. But this wasnt the actors first time at the rodeo. Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) is one of the most tragic figures in Hollywood history. 2023 Cond Nast. Montgomery Clift Biography, Age, Height, Wife, Net Worth, Family Lorenzo came into the picture when Monty was at his lowest. He naturally gravitated to the theater. Clift appeared in The Misfits, a revisionist western best known as the final film of Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. Copyright 2023 by Factinate.com. .. While he never excelled at school, his extraordinary abilities as an actor. . Scandals of Classic Hollywood: The Long Suicide of Montgomery Clift Sal Mineo and Montgomery Clift were in a rela Montgomery Clift and Paul Newman were rumored Henry Willson and Montgomery Clift were in a Jack Larson and Montgomery Clift were in a re William LeMassena and Montgomery Clift were i Montgomery Clift and Libby Holman were in a r Maurice Leonard and Montgomery Clift are sepa Arnold Saint Subber and Montgomery Clift were Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando were in a Heart attack (brought on by "occlusive coronary artery disease"), Friends Quaker Cemetery, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York City, New York, USA. His injuries included a broken nose and jaw, a fractured sinus, and deep cuts across his face that called for extensive plastic surgery. Hitchcock's I CONFESS (DVD, 1953); M CLIFT, A BAXTER. Sealed, new Sometimes it's hard to keep up with the latest celebrity news, but don't worry we have you covered. When James offered to join him, the belligerent shot him down immediately, crying, Absolutely not.Sadly, this was Montgomery Clifts final interaction. His image was, more than anything else, confusingunmalleable to Hollywoods preexisting star categories. Hailed as one of Hollywood's first true Method actors, Edward Montgomery Clift was born October 17, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska. Montgomery Clift had an encounter with Marlon Brando. In Montgomery Clift: A Biography, author Patricia Bosworth describes Monty's father Bill as passive, good-natured, and very dependent on his charismatic wife, Sunny. Some believe that Clifts romantic leanings were much less of a secret than originally thought. "Indiscretion of an American Wife" romance and drama movie produced in Italy and USA and released in 1953. It was a huge wager: since everyone knew how much booze and pills Clift was on, he was virtually uninsurable on set. But this was only the beginning. Although Clift and Montgomery were only good friends, their coupling inA Place in the Sunhelped drive its popularity. [view couple] # 8 Carlo Fiore 12 28. made. A young naive woman falls for a handsome young man who her emotionally abusive father suspects is a fortune hunter. In fact, after the lovers have been separated for good and the young man is in the death house [Clifts character murders Winters after getting her pregnant], the face of the girl comes floating in via double exposure to give him a last unsubstantial peck before he goes out to be executed. We believe that every person's story is important as it provides our community with an opportunity to feel a sense of belonging, share their hopes and dreams. Tellingly, theyre always pitched under working titles like Beautiful Loser and' Tragic Beauty. cocksucker, isnt he, Tallulah? Miss Bankhead said: Well, Determined to keep his gayness under wraps, Clift made sure that his masculine facade shone onscreen. And then there was the physical toll. Contact sheet from LIFE photographer Peter Stackpoles shoot with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1950. He was the son of Ethel "Sunny" Anderson (Fogg; 1888-1988) and William Brooks Clift (1886-1964). RIP GEORGOUS MONTY. It was unheard of, especially for a young star, but it was a sellers market. This year the young man . He also detested the man. Montgomery Clift was an undeniably attractive man, and before long, he'd cultivated a rather passionate female fan base. Tellingly, theyre always pitched under working titles like Beautiful Loser and' Tragic Beauty. More, it analyzes the new view of masculine beauty he helped introduce to the screen. Taped interviews with his brother reveal that the actor felt those roles werent quite right for him and he didnt want to make the wrong first impression. It hardly helped lend nuance to that reading that Clift was a well-known and long-time abuser of pain killers and alcohol, actions which likely sped his death from a heart attack at 45 in 1966. Over the next 10 years, he earned prominent roles in plays by Tennessee Williams and Thornton Wilder, opposite stars like Fredrick March and Tallulah Bankhead. . Clifts teacher, Robert Lewis, called his gradual decline the longest suicide in Hollywood history. Although he had problems before filmingRaintree County, Clifts drinking was more pronounced than ever. They took a risk on the troubled actorand it endedbadly. What does he inspire anyone to do drink, die young? She developed an intense decade-plus obsession over the young actor, even financing an experimental play, "Mexican Mural" for him. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska on 1920-10-17. I do not count myself as a member of the ripped-sweatshirt fraternity.. According to two A-list biographers, the late star was gay. When Clift became a household name in the movie industry, his romantic life became a widely-discussed subject by the press. There were no wild outings for this reserved homebody. He also sunk into alcoholism, of which Taylor and some other friends tried to help him. Montgomery Clift - Turner Classic Movies In his first film, Red River, Clift had the chance to play opposite the western superstar John Wayne. Observers also point out that Clift had sexual relationships with women. Montgomery Clift, in full Edward Montgomery Clift, (born October 17, 1920, Omaha, Neb., U.S.died July 23, 1966, New York, N.Y.), American motion-picture actor noted for the emotional depth and sense of vulnerability he brought to his roles. From Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema by Anne Helen Petersen, to be published by arrangement with Plume, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC on September 30, 2014 2014 by Anne Helen Petersen. Although hed only been away from Hollywood for four and a half years, the handsome Montgomery Clift looked incrediblyoldand the reason was downright heartbreaking. Edward Montgomery Clift (nicknamed 'Monty' his entire life) was born on October 17, 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, just after his twin sister Roberta (1920-2014) and eighteen months after his brother Brooks Clift. Free Postage. Dazzling Facts About Elizabeth Taylor, The Queen Of Hollywood, Stabbed In The Back: These Real-Life Betrayals Are Straight Up Brutal, The Truth Always Comes Out: Dark Family Secrets Exposed, Plot Twist: These Surprise Endings Made Our Jaws Hit The Floor, These Ultra-Spoiled Brats Made Our Eyes Roll Into Our Heads. He worked on a summer production where his talents blossomed and it opened an auspicious doorone that would seal his fate forever. The 'Red River star was then tagged a gay icon. Montgomery Clift - Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Peter Stackpole The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock. He was the son of Ethel "Sunny" Anderson (Fogg; 1888-1988) and William Brooks Clift (1886-1964). In fact, Hepburn was so offended by Mankiewicz that she did something outrageous. Montgomery Clift - Hollywood Walk of Fame Many of the myths surrounding Clift sprang from two biographies: a salacious one by Robert Laguardia and another flawed work by Patricia Bosworth, titled A Life. After all, his leading lady was none other than the beguiling Elizabeth Taylor, and together, these two stars were pure fire. When the press talked about Clift, they talked about the skill and the beauty, but they also talked about what an offbeat, weird guy he was. or over 30 years, scripts have floated around Hollywood promising to tell the story of Montgomery Clift, one of the most innovative and handsome actors in history.
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