[66][67][68] Clift's longest relationships were with men. [95], Clift was also friends with Marlon Brando, who dropped by his home offering to accompany him to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings. His parents were Quakers and met as students at Cornell University, marrying in 1914. He wanted to be a free agent, and he did it successfully. Hollywood repeatedly came courting, but he put off offers for nearly a decade, even turning down roles in classic films like East of Eden and the co-lead in Sunset Boulevard. Early Years Hailed as one of Hollywood's first true Method actors,. After midnight, shortly before 1:00a.m., James went to his own bedroom to sleep, without saying another word to Clift. Clift, Robert Anderson and Hillary Demmon (2018). He struggled to make through some of the longer scenes. I have visited him there. He even appeared in the original production of Tennessee Williams' play "You Touched Me" (1945) (per Playbill). news.AmoMama.com speaks out against the above mentioned and news.AmoMama.com advocates for a healthy discussion about the instances of violence, abuse, sexual misconduct, animal cruelty, abuse etc. Clift received and declined offers for roles in the following films: In 1960, Clift was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6104 Hollywood Boulevard. To revisit this article, visit My Profile, thenView saved stories. For such a small, slightly-built man Clift had an intensity and depth to his performance that could eclipse Brandoeven with all that actor's realistic improvisations, impressive physicality and "naturalistic body language." Clift and Brando, along with James Dean, were the three "Method" actors who revolutionized . Every major Hollywood studio wanted to make a deal with Clift and was collectively shocked that a young actor could command such leverage after the release of a single film: "the death knell of the producers and the moguls, and the birth of Actor Power. The character has a tattoo of Mr. Clift and Elizabeth Taylor on his shaved head. A near-fatal auto accident in 1957 changed his looks and sent him into drug and alcohol addiction. Clift's next major films were "The Heiress" (1949) and "A Place in the Sun" (1951), cementing his romantic lead status. [33], Clift's first film for Paramount was The Heiress (1949). [37] Clift had veered off one of the twisting hairpin turns and smashed into a telephone pole and the surrounding cliffside. 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. [72] Clift and Robbins camouflaged their relationship by dating women. His post-accident career has been referred to as the "longest suicide in Hollywood history" by acting teacher Robert Lewis because of Clift's subsequent abuse of painkillers and alcohol. That same year, he had a small but powerful role in "Judgment at Nuremberg," playing Polish man who testified during the Nazi trials about being sterilized, per the Los Angeles Times. 108, 135, Jerome Robbins: Something to Dance About American Masters, Season 23, Episode 1, Somewhere the life of Jerome Robbins by Vaill, Amanda, p. 240, Jerome Robbins: his life, his theater, his dance by Jowitt, Deborah, pp. In 1957 however, he suffered from a terrible car accident and was pulled from the wreck by his friend Eizabeth Taylor. He spoke so quietly that at times he was practically inaudible. [85][86] McDowall devoted himself to Clift entirely, and he moved from Los Angeles to New York to be closer to his idol. Clift declined, and that morning, at the age of 45, he was dead. 1960. . He didnt want the studios to dictate the kinds of roles he would play, his nephew said. The Misfits ran on television that night. Clift was also a Hollywood maverick of sorts, choosing to remain independent at a time when most actors were under contract to the movie studios, per Vanity Fair. Clift was born in Omaha, Nebraska, a son . Clift gave a stronger performance in "The Misfits" (1961), a John Huston contemporary western that proved to be the last film for both his co-stars, Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe. 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. He spent months in the hospital and had major plastic surgeries. The secret life of legendary actor Montgomery Clift has been revealed by his nephew. [16] Close to a year later, around the time the family moved again, settling in New York City, Clift debuted on Broadway at 14 years old as Harmer Masters in the comedy Fly Away Home which ran from January to July 1935 at the 48th Street Theatre. He insisted on performing his stunts himself, including swimming in the river Elbe in March. kofender. Monty brought a different masculinity to the screen, said Demmon. Often, suicides are never fully understood. Clift did not serve during World War II, having been given 4-F status after suffering dysentery in 1942. [22] On May 24, 1944, he was part of the cast of Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! [23] In 1949, as part of the promotional campaign for the film The Heiress, he played Heathcliff in the one-hour version of Wuthering Heights for Ford Theatre. Clift reunited with Taylor for "Raintree County," a Civil war era romantic drama. "Red River," which has become a classic western, featured Clift starring opposite John Wayne. He pleaded with her to make changes to her book to correct the mischaracterizations. Before undertaking any course of treatment please consult with your healthcare provider. He also didnt want to sign a contract with a studio, then the only viable way into the business. He represented the new wave of post-World War II actors who were handsome, intelligent, soft-spoken, introspective, and acted with intensity. Amy Lawrence, The Passion of Montgomery Clift, p. 13, Dance with demons: the life of Jerome Robbins by Lawrence, Greg, pp. All content, including text, and images contained on. Were not trying to give a definitive version of who Monty was, added Clift. Photographer Vincenzo Dimino captures just a bit of the magic, he says, of New York Fashion Week with his Fuji Instax Mini 40 camera. She left him when one of his beatings made. Clift had a brother named William Brooks Clift Jr., [78], Robbins is said to have conceived the basic plot of West Side Story after Clift shared the idea with him, according to actor Russ Tamblyn. (1) Mann, William J. Monty Clift looking every bit his age. Clift required intensive physical therapy as well. Here, a primer on a little-understood ingredient, plus 15 products that address everything from wrinkles to dark spots. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images) Happy birthday to Montgomery Clift, who would have turned 97 today. The view then about queer people was that they would be inherently conflicted or tormented about their sexuality, said Demmon. Edward Montgomery Clift (/mntmri/; October 17, 1920 July 23, 1966) was an American actor. Clift's next role as the drifter George Eastman in A Place in the Sun (1951) is regarded as one of his signature method acting performances. Place in the Sun. "Georgia" meant bad, "Florida" very bad, and "Zanzibar" unworkable. [57] In preparation for the shooting of this film, Clift accepted the role of James Bower in the French Cold War thriller The Defector, which was filmed in West Germany from February to April 1966. 7 Books We Cant Stop Thinking About This Month, Great speculative fiction, a novel about bad mothers, and more favorite reads from the staff of, Peptides, Explained: How a Skin Care Supercharger Became Beautys Big Buzzword. During the filming of the movie in 1956, Taylor and her then-husband, Michael Wilding, had guests over for a party one night. He was only 15 years old, but this wasn't just a fun pastimeit was serious business. In addition to lingering effects of dysentery and chronic colitis, an underactive thyroid was later revealed during the autopsy. Films like A Place in the Sun and From Here to Eternity made Clift a rare performer enjoyed by audiences and critics alike, but when he passed away in 1966 aged just 45, the actor had long since become best known for his personal dramas, in particular a disfiguring 1956 car accident that undid his once near-saintly beauty and accelerated his . In one instant Montgomery Clift's life changed forever. During the interview, Gardner jokingly mentioned that it is "the first and last appearance on a television interview program for Montgomery Clift". news.AmoMama.com does not take responsibility for any action taken as a result of reading this article. The crew of Raintree Country even had code words about his state of intoxication. More about Her Life, Maddie Brown Shares Her Postpartum Journey Weeks after Giving Birth to Third Child, Jamie Lee Curtis Admits 'Saying Goodbye' to James Corden Was Harder than She Thought as His Show Ends, Tom Brady & Pregnant Bridget Moynahan Split - She Wed Husband at Secret Ceremony 9 Years Later, Ron Howard Was Most Concerned about His Kids' Values Inside His Decision to Protect Them, Susan Saint James Put Her Career on Hold to Be a Mom - She Was Struck with Death of Younger Son, The information in this article is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. "[142] "Monty Got a Raw Deal" by rock band R.E.M. The iconic actor gave only a small number of onscreen performances before his untimely death in 1966 at the age of 45. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his work, displaying some of his old acting chops. Most critics, in fact . There' s more to Clift than hiding homosexuality, there s pain and romance and passion and hopelessness . It tells the story of a working-class young man who is entangled with two women: one who works in his wealthy uncle's factory, and the other a beautiful socialite. At 6:30a.m., James woke up and went to wake Clift, but found the bedroom door closed and locked. speaks out against the above mentioned and. After a two-month recovery period, Clift returned to the set to finish the film. Clift was willing to waive his fee entirely but accepted the supporting part with minimum compensation. The film's success at the box office brought numerous awards for screenwriting and directing, but none for Clift himself. The movie, which plays at the LGBTQ movie festival NewFest in New York, refutes scores of oft-repeated assumptions about Clifts life, from his motivations as an actor, to his relationship with his mother to the characterization of his later years. But it was his next pairing with Elizabeth Taylor that proved to be his most dynamic on-screen. that benefits the victims. [6] His mother was Ethel Fogg "Sunny" Clift ( ne Anderson; 1888-1988). A monthly influx of fashion close-ups, as interpreted by artists and photographers across the globe. [26] By this time, Clift had developed what would come to be regarded as his signature acting style and biggest impact on the future of modern film acting, as told by biographer Robert LaGuardia: He managed to convince the audience that he was unmitigated male sexuality without making a vulgar display of himself, as most other actors of his age and type would have. In 1963, when the "Red River" star recalled the traumatic incident, he mentioned a long day's shoot as the reason he was asleep during the crash. The accident permanently damaged his looks and health, and his fortunes were further eroded by his abuse of drugs and alcohol. [40][41] In a filmed interview years later in 1963, Clift described his injuries in detail, including how his broken nose could be snapped back into place. But the documentary notes Clift made as many movies after the accident as before, and that those projects included some of his most acclaimed performances. Ad Choices, The elegant Montgomery Clift once reigned as one of Hollywoods most sought-after leading men, best remembered as the star of iconic films *From Here to Eternity *(1953) and, Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Fragile Snowflake Donald Trump for Allegedly Trying to Censor Him, SAG Awards 2023 Red Carpet Fashion: See All the Looks. Montgomery Clift's Disastrous Car Wreck Changed His Career Forever. [48] In nephew Robert Anderson Clift's 2018 documentary, superimposed pages of Clift's own heavily annotated original script show that the actor was actually deliberately and consciously performing with his own rewritten dialogue as opposed to confused improvisation. Continued pain from his injuries led him to rely on alcohol and pills for relief as he had done after an earlier bout with dysentery left him with chronic intestinal problems. She was so. Actress Marilyn Monroe even warned him never to work with Hutson, whom she described as a "sadist. His 15 minute funeral was at attended by 150 mourners, including Lauren Bacall and Sinatra. [24] In January 1951, he participated in the episode "The Metal in the Moon" for the series Cavalcade of America, sponsored by the chemical company DuPont Company. 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. Directed by George Stevens. He used them to numb his physical pain. Ah, Monty in just about anything (even after his face-scarring accident). Audiences turned out to see the movie and to catch a glimpse of the before and after versions of Clift on the big screen. For his character's scenes in jail, Clift spent a night in a real state prison. Clift's second film role, though it premiered first that same year, was The Search which earned him his first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor. [43] He began to behave erratically in public, which embarrassed his friends. Kevin McCarthy: "Montgomery Clift was brilliant in every way". [7][8] Clift had a twin sister, Roberta (who later went by "Ethel"), who survived him by 48 years, and an older brother, William Brooks Clift, Jr. (19191986), known as "Brooks," who had a son with actress Kim Stanley and was later married to political reporter Eleanor Clift. Clift asserts that the actors use of alcohol and prescription drugs stemmed, primarily, from a near-fatal car accident in 1956. After completing John Huston's Freud: The Secret Passion (1962), Universal Studios sued him for his frequent absences that caused the film to go over budget. His next four films were The Young Lions (1958), which is the only film featuring both Clift and Marlon Brando, Lonelyhearts (1958), Suddenly, Last Summer (1959) and Elia Kazan's Wild River, released in 1960. Montgomery Clift would've celebrated his 98th birthday on October 17, 2018. Above is a photo of American actor Montgomery Clift's automobile after it skidded off a dark road and smashed into a telephone pole. Taylor found him crushed under the steering wheel, his face a bloody pulp. His heavy drinking had already been a problem before his crash and the addition of taking painkillers afterwards only accelerated his decline, according to Vanity Fair. 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. Clift was recovering from a car accident during the movie's shoot (the actor was "dying on his feet," according to one biography), but Hepburn treated him with great kindness. Liz, caught up in filming and Richard Burton in Paris, sent flowers to the funeral. From Making Montgomery Clift (2018) via YouTube screen-grab. They went to London to see Laurence Olivier together, ate together, sat in front of the fire together, Clift said. [96], Clift supported Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 United States presidential election.[97]. Elizabeth Taylor used her clout to get Clift cast on "Suddenly, Last Summer" (1959) with mixed results. He was born Edward Montgomery Clift on October 17, 1920. As to why Bosworth drew on the gay-self-hate narrative, and why that view took hold, the directors blame the homophobia of the time the book was written, in the 1970s. The stars first worked together in the 1951 drama 'A Place in the Sun,' leading to a close bond that lasted until the actor's death in 1966 at age 45. Clift would appear in one last film, The Defector, before dying, apparently in his sleep, in 1966, at the age of 45 a culmination of years of drug and alcohol abuse. He was in the middle of making "Raintree County," a movie that reunited him with his "A Place in the Sun" co-star Elizabeth Taylor, and his accident took place after Clift had been a guest at Taylor's Beverly Hills home. Judy Balaban, his daughter, has stated that she had an immediate connection with Clift and the two were "joined at the hip," dating for many months following. A native of Omaha, Nebraska, Clift got his start on Broadway as a teen and, after turning down film roles for nearly a decade, finally accepted a part in 1948's . It took Clift months to recover from his injuries. By Zoe Papadakis | Tuesday, 25 August 2020 11:49 AM EDT. Posted on October 17, 2012 by sheila. Paramount Pictures Montgomery Clift was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and was a contemporary of Marlon Brando (also born in Omaha) and James Dean. Lawrence, Amy (2010) "The Passion of Montgomery Clift", Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press. In this classic version of Theodore Dreiser's novel "An American Tragedy," George Eastman (Montgomery Clift), the nephew of a wealthy industrialist, is excluded from high society and given a blue . "Monty," as the performer was known to family and. The accident changed his appearance, and many biographers assumed Clift felt ruined by it and, so, drank more. (1936), Titled Marnie the Victor, in Clifts handwriting. Paramount Pictures ended up offering him the best of any incoming studio offer (which he accepted): a three-film deal (down from the typical seven-year contract) that came with the freedom to turn down any script and any director, as well as the ability for either himself or the studio to terminate the agreement at any time. The film-makers interviewed Bosworth extensively for the movie, but they contrast her words with old taped conversations she had with the actors brother. James then used the bedroom telephone to call some of Clift's personal physicians and the medical examiner's office before an ambulance arrived.[99]. [100] Underactive thyroids also raise cholesterol, which might have contributed to his heart disease. Then again, nothing about Clifts life was expected. Clift also had participated in radio broadcasts early in his career, though, according to one critic, he hated the medium. Over the next decade, the burgeoning actor dug his heels in and made a name for himself on the stage. How? Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor star in A Place in the Sun. "His life has. Clift was able to appear in more Hollywood movies after he recuperated from the accident, but he was deeply affected by the decline in his career. Yet, according to a new documentary, titled Making Montgomery Clift, the stars substance abuse had nothing at all to do with his sexuality. Still, the last half of his 20-year career has been referred to as the "longest suicide in Hollywood history" by acting teacher Robert Lewis because of Clift's subsequent abuse of painkillers and alcohol. In studying Clift's output, one can easily see a before-and-after version of the actor, with the line between the two marked by his near-fatal accident on a break from filming "Raintree County" in 1956. [18][19] He instead continued to flourish onstage and appeared in works by Moss Hart and Cole Porter, Robert Sherwood, Lillian Hellman, Tennessee Williams, and Thornton Wilder, creating the part of Henry in the original production of The Skin of Our Teeth. A result of reading this article returned to the funeral woke up and went to wake Clift, but wasn... Biographers assumed Clift felt ruined by it and, so, drank more first film for Paramount was the (... Give a definitive version of who Monty was, added Clift Taylor on his shaved head Paris sent! 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