Montgomery Clift had an encounter with Marlon Brando. 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. The 'Red River star was then tagged a gay icon. Soon, Montgomery Clift became almost impossible to work with. Little did he know, he was always destined for something more. The entire scene was extremely unsettling as Clift still wore his eyeglasses, and had his hands rigidly clenched. James found his patient sitting up in bed and watching his film, The Misfits, but Clift clearly didnt want to be disturbed. Thats why his work doesnt feel dated, Demmon said. Were not trying to give a definitive version of who Monty was, added Clift. The truth didnt come out until the 70s. Adopted at the age of one, his mother was told by a well-intentioned doctor years later that she was the offspring of Southern aristocrats, so she chose to raise her own children accordingly. His decline was never explicitly evoked, but with his visage in Raintree County, it was there for all to see. Whether this captivating story is real or not remains to be seen. At Factinate, were dedicated to getting things right. It wasnt until years after his tragic passing that Clifts darkest secret finally came out. 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. Help us build our profile of Montgomery Clift! 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. 3.80. But the producer, Sam Spiegel, decided to go forward, no matter the risk. He told everyone that hed marry when he met the right girl, but that in the meantime, he was simply playing the field. Once, when questioned about his pastimes, he quipped, Yes, women. But where were they? Sealed, new. This would not only show off his range but allow him to sidestep any dangers of typecasting. The script wasnt necessarily that special, but it would give him a chance to re-unite with Elizabeth Taylor, and that, it seemed, was enough to pull him out of semi-retirement. Montgomery Clift Born: 1920-10-17, Omaha, Nebraska, USA Education: NA Ethnicity: Caucasian Death Date:-0001-11-30 Addition Websites. 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. After filming wrapped, she tracked him down and spat directly in his face. Oh dear. Next came "The Nutty Professor" as Lewis' student, Stella Purdy, who he is infatuated with. He was not worried [about being gay], Larson asserts in the film. More, it analyzes the new view of masculine beauty he helped introduce to the screen. And the cherry on top? Montgomery Clift may have been one of the most self-aware actors of his day, and he certainly knew the name of the game. Travel back in time with treasured photos and stories, sent right to your inbox. RIP GEORGOUS MONTY. Beautiful man. I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. The two met under the big tent where they performed together. Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando were in a . Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for The Search _ 1948 DVD Montgomery Clift Aline MacMahon Wendell Corey V Rare at the best online prices at eBay! His mother wanted all of her children to be raised as distinguished aristocrats, and as such, little Clift and his siblings received an elite upbringing: private tutors, extensive travel, and language lessons. Instead, he bided his time, and thankfully, luck was on his side. Whatever the case may be, Montgomery Clifts life was unbelievably impressive and distressing. Picture 1 of 12 . After the success of 1953sFrom Here to Eternity, Montgomery Clift suddenly stopped making films. When The Heiresscame out, Clifts loyal fanatics came with their claws out and wrote vicious letters to Olivia de Havilland for rejecting Clifts character in the film. 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 . That was really frightening to see., Penn Badgley Loves His Wife Too Much to Do Sex Scenes in, I askedSera Gamble, the creator, Can I just do no more intimacy scenes? the former, Oscar-winning producer Dede Gardner looks back at her many groundbreaking awards darlings, from the triumph of. I wanted to figure out why there was such a difference., A deep trove of never-before-revealed evidence makes that disparity bracingly clear. Hollywood began to see him as hostile and messy and frugal, and Clift wasnt having it. Looking back, the film had a legacy of darkness surrounding it: Gable died of a heart attack less than a month after filming; Monroe was only able to attend the films premiere with a pass from her stay at a psychiatric ward. It is a feature-length film with a runtime of 1h 3min. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. 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. His image was, more than anything else, confusingunmalleable to Hollywoods preexisting star categories. From here on out, however, he plunged even further into his addiction. On the set of 1958sLonelyhearts,Clift had a message for those that tried to fit him into a box. He could barely remember his lines and often didnt show up to set. By the time they shared the screen together for the first time, in the classic murder-romance-melodrama, A Place in the Sun (1951), both were bona fide box-office draws: Taylor had been onscreen since she was 10, and Clift a soulful, introverted Method actor who influenced countless others who came after him had already garnered the first of his four career Oscar nominations. Christine Tran is a history buff(ette) and media scholar. Their unique bond so evident in these pictures made on the Paramount lot during filming of A Place in the Sun, and never published in LIFE, was occasionally deepened even further by disasters visited upon them both through the years. Every actor was in the midst of fighting their own demons. What happened next is somewhat fuzzy: one version has Hudson pulling Clift from the car and Taylor cradling him in her arms, at which point Clift started choking and motioning to his throat, where, it soon became clear, two of his teeth had lodged themselves after coming loose during the accident. American Actor Montgomery Clift was born Edward Montgomery Clift on 17th October, 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, USA and passed away on 23rd Jul 1966 Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA aged 45. Because of the accident, the studio worried about the success of Raintree County. Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift goofed around during a break in filming A Place in the Sun. He advanced a collaborative approach with his directors, working over scripts and making suggestions for edits. As such, Taylors intervention only enhances the very real love story that existed between her and Clift. A still of Montgomery Clift. Clift wasn't one to hide a feeling, which made him a great actor and also a terrible straight man. Montgomery Blair (May 10, 1813 - July 27, 1883) was an American politician and lawyer from Maryland. Okay, if were being totally honest, Montgomery Clifts reserved lifestyle didnt exactly excite the press; it actually kind of stumped them. Peter Stackpole The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock. I thought he was dead. McCarthy ran to fetch Taylor, Wilding, and Rock Hudson and Hudsons wife, Phyllis Gates, who all raced to the site of the accident. But the troubled star. Determined to keep his gayness under wraps, Clift made sure that his masculine facade shone onscreen. Allegedly, Rock Hudson was there to pull Clift from the wreckage and it was Taylor who held the stricken actor in her arms. While filmingThe Search,he asked the director to reshoot a scene for one baffling reason: He called a boy dear. But that wasnt all. The pieces of the puzzle dont quite fit. 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?. You couldn't help but come. With alarm bells screaming in his head, James raced outside to fetch a ladder, climbing up toward Clifts bedroom window. These are just among the many words which have been used to describe Montgomery Clift, the enigmatic heartthrob of the 1950s. 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. I thought he was dead. He immediately returned to Taylors house to notify the party of the bloody disaster. 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. Clifts lifestyle had the press slotting him in with non-conformists of the dayright alongside hotshots like Marlon Brandobut the actor didnt respond well to being labeled and defined. When the duo finally met in Stevens' office, it was pretty magical for Taylor. Taylor immediately stuck her delicate, little hand down his throat and removed the obstruction. He was such a mess on the set of Freud (1962) that Universal sued him. 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. 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. His other side was mostly hidden and only became widely known after he passed on, thanks to his friend and colleague Elizabeth Taylor. But if you look at his own words, his testimonies about what acting did to him, youll see the culprit. Montgomery Clift Hid His Sexuality for Years but Elizabeth Taylor Knew His Secret & Revealed It after His Death By Olowokandi Fiyin Aug 14, 2021 04:00 P.M. Montgomery Clift made a name for himself in Hollywood with several awards and nominations. Please let us know if a fact weve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect its inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. The entire experience had a cursed tinge to it, and before long, it left disaster in its wake. Indiscretion of an American Wife 1953, 1h 3min - Romance , Drama Jennifer Jones is the American housewife on vacation in Italy who must choose between returning home to her husband and family in Philadelphia or her romance with an Italian academic played by Montgomery Clift. It was a huge wager: since everyone knew how much booze and pills Clift was on, he was virtually uninsurable on set. Montgomery Clift's full name is Edward Montgomery Clift and his nickname is Montgomery Clift. Lancaster's . It turned into John Cassavetes' "Too Late Blues," with Bobby Darrin. Where were these so-called women? Well, at the very heart of it all, Montgomery Clift hid a dangerous secretone that wouldnt emerge untilyears later. Factinate is a fact website that is dedicated to finding and sharing fun facts about science, history, animals, films, people, and much more. A four-time Academy Award nominee, The New York Times said he was known for his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men". 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. 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. He pointed out that she just let the director determine her every move. Taylor had married British actor Michael Wilding in 1952, but by 1956, their marriage was in decline. Sometimes it's hard to keep up with the latest celebrity news, but don't worry we have you covered. Montgomery Clift was in relationships with Sal Mineo, Paul Newman, Henry Willson, Jack Larson, William LeMassena, Libby Holman, Maurice Leonard and Arnold Saint Subber. You see, the entire healing process put Clift through the paces. 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. Ad Choices. During the peak period of his career, the actor and some Hollywood friends were returning from a party held at Taylor's home. cocksucker, isnt he, Tallulah? Miss Bankhead said: Well, In 1961, Montgomery Clift went on to star alongside some of Hollywoods greatest legendsMarilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. He got him going again. Montgomery Clift is a member of the following lists: American film actors, Actors Studio alumni and Bisexual actors. . He wanted to be a free agent, and he did it successfully. But even though his marred looks never made it to the headlines, for Clift, the horror was far from over. Not only did he rarely go out in public, but he also didnt date. When James offered to join him, the belligerent shot him down immediately, crying, Absolutely not.Sadly, this was Montgomery Clifts final interaction. About Free Postage. To Clift, however, he considered his humble home terrific.. ), William Brooks Clift, Jr. (19191986) (Aged 66 Or 67) (Who Had An Illegitimate Son With Actress Kim Stanley And Was Later Married To Political Reporter Eleanor Clift. ': 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. Fed up with the script, Clift desperately wanted to change her lines, saying, She isnt giving me enough to respond [to]. Of course, poor de Havilland soon had more than just her prickly love interest to contend with. While on his way back, he had an accident. All Rights Reserved. Thats not what people would expect from a mother in that period.. On the morning of July 23, 1966, Montgomery Clift's housemate couldn't wake the actor. 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. But right as filming began, he realized that hed made a terrible mistake. 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. But the drama didnt end there. A four-time Oscar nominee who died at 45, Montgomery Clift was a bright young talent, a tabloid fixture, and a posthumous gay icon. The accident changed his appearance, and many biographers assumed Clift felt ruined by it and, so, drank more. In one tape made by his father in the 1960s, we hear the stars mother tell him, with untroubled candor, that Monty was a homosexual early. He was a great talent but the male counterpart to Monroe, lonely, sad, and pitiful. However, his worry began to mount when the actor didnt respond to his insistent knocking. and his wife, the former Ethel Fogg. His father made a lot of money in banking but was quite poor during the depression. Contemporaries like James Dean and Marlon Brando also did. In the bathroom, James found Clift in his bathtub, undressed and obviously deceased. In fact, the attitudes he and his family held towards his relationships with men were strikingly modern. Montgomery Clift is American by birth. A Place In The Sun (1951) & From Here To Eternity (1953). Clift gained actual scars from some filming mishaps. Realizing that Clift was in mortal danger, McCarthy raced to the scene of the accident. Luckily, his isolated lifestyle gave him an advantage. The duo eventually got to know each other better, and according to Taylor, they liked each other. Upon closer inspection, Clifts career reveals notable clues as to who he genuinely was and the private struggles he faced. "Indiscretion of an American Wife" is currently available to stream on Fubo TV. Montgomery Clift was in relationships with Sal Mineo, Paul Newman, Henry Willson, Jack Larson, William LeMassena, Libby Holman, Maurice Leonard and Arnold Saint Subber. Directors Robert Anderson Clift Hillary Demmon Writers Robert Anderson Clift Hillary Demmon Stars 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. 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. Edward Montgomery Clift (; October 17, 1920 July 23, 1966) was an American actor. They were even called the most beautiful couple in Hollywood. As hard as the press tried, they couldnt seem to breathe life into this nonexistent romance. But for 12 years, he set Hollywood aflame. Born Edward Montgomery Clift on Oct. 17, 1920 in Omaha, NE, he was the son of Ethel Fogg and William Brooks Clift, a successful Wall Street stockbroker. 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. You see, the reason behind Montgomery Clifts barren dating life was rather simple: He was gay. He was one of Hollywoods most desirable leading men, but mystery shrouded his entire private life. She is completing her PhD in Toronto, Canada. Their claims were deemed reliable because one of the biographers was certified by one of Clift's confidants. But he was handsome and beguiling on-screen, creating an appetite for confirmation of that same Clift off the screen. What finally brought him back to the screen? Whether morally repulsive or philosophically compelling, The Misfits bombed, only to be recuperated, years later, as a masterpiece of the revisionist genre. Its impossible for us to know what happenedor if the two even had a relationship that went beyond the platonicbut it was returning from a party at Taylors house, mid-filming for Raintree County, that he smashed his car into a telephone pole. However, even with all the negative hubbub surrounding this shoot, it was nothing compared to the darkness of one of Clifts next projects. That secret, depending on your source, was that Clift was gay or bisexual. During the filming of Raintree County, Clift and Taylor seemed to have rekindled their is-it-or-isnt-it relationship; according to one of Clifts biographers, Some days he would threaten to stop seeing Elizabeth Taylorthen, the thought would make him burst into tears. Other apocryphal legend has Taylor sending Clift piles of love letters, which he then read aloud to his male companion at the time. Contact sheet from LIFE photographer Peter Stackpoles shoot on a Paramount lot with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1950. Montgomery Clift was an undeniably attractive man, and before long, he'd cultivated a rather passionate female fan base. Jack Larson, famous for playing Jimmy Olsen in the hit 1950s TV series Adventures of Superman, recalled how Clift gave him a full mouth kiss the first time they casually met. He worked on a summer production where his talents blossomed and it opened an auspicious doorone that would seal his fate forever.