He needed a lot of plastic surgery to repair his face, according to the Los Angeles Times. [4] A documentary titled Making Montgomery Clift was made by his nephew in 2018, to clarify many myths that were created about the actor.[5]. The iconic actor gave only a small number of onscreen performances before his untimely death in 1966 at the age of 45. 1467, Montgomery Clift: Beautiful Loser, Hoskyns, Barney, p. 96, Dropped Names: Famous Men and Women As I Knew Them, by Langella, Frank, p. 336, Capote: A Biography, Clarke Gerald, p. 235, Montgomery Clift: Beautiful Loser, Hoskyns, Barney, p. 34, Lost Friendships: A Memoir of Truman Capote,Tennessee Williams, and Others, Windham, Donald, p. 64, Original Story By: A Memoir of Broadway and Hollywood, Laurents, Arthur, pp. How to Be a Movie Star: Elizabeth Taylor in Hollywood. Little did he know, he was always destined for something more. Create great digital art on your favorite topics from celebrities to anime, emo, goth, fantasy, vintage, and more! During the interview, Gardner jokingly mentioned that it is "the first and last appearance on a television interview program for Montgomery Clift". Clift countersued with the assertion that he struggled to keep up with an overwhelming volume of last-minute script revisions and that an accidental blow to both eyes on set gave him cataracts. AmoMama creates engaging, meaningful content for women. "[79] Robbins called Clift a "theatrical genius" early on in their affair.[80]. With the revelatory documentary Making Montgomery Clift, filmmakers Robert Clift (born eight years after his famous uncle's hyper-mythologized 1966 death) and Hillary Demmon compellingly. Over the next decade, the burgeoning actor dug his heels in and made a name for himself on the stage. that benefits the victims. Portrait of American actor Montgomery Clift as he looks over the back of a chair, his chin on his hands, late 1940s or early 1950s. Amy Lawrence, The Passion of Montgomery Clift, p. 13, Dance with demons: the life of Jerome Robbins by Lawrence, Greg, pp. The film received added media attention due to the rumors that Clift and co-star Elizabeth Taylor were dating in real life. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his work, displaying some of his old acting chops. The Misfits ran on television that night. Clift's life was derailed, however, by a terrible car accident in 1956. She left him when one of his beatings made. is for general information purposes only. In 1966, Clift finished filming his last project, "The Defector," and returned to his New York City apartment. Clift required intensive physical therapy as well. While the press assumed that Balaban and Clift were an item, Clift secretly dated British actor Roddy McDowall. His parents were Quakers and met as students at Cornell University, marrying in 1914. After leaving a party organized by co-star Elizabeth Taylor in May 1956, Clift raced along a steep road before crashing. Although the results of Clift's plastic surgeries were remarkable for the time, there were noticeable differences in his facial appearance, particularly the left side of his face, which was nearly immobile. Wayne portrayed a hard and brutal father and boss while Clift played a gentler and more vulnerable son. Who Is Julian Sands' Wife? It all took a toll on him physically and mentally, and movie studios became wary of hiring him. The autopsy report cited the cause of death as a heart attack brought on by "occlusive coronary artery disease". 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. Now were at a historical point in mainstream queer discourse where that story seems less viable., Though the film aims to update, and to fairly contextualize, the actors story, the directors stress that they dont want to simply swap one image of Montgomery Clift for another. For decades, the star has been the subject of Hollywood gossip and speculation, and Robert Clift is determined to share his uncle's untold story. Clift did not serve during World War II, having been given 4-F status after suffering dysentery in 1942. 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. Clift was only 45 years old when he died. Once dubbed the Queen of the Movies, the golden-haired Myrna Loy was one of the few stars who successfully transitioned out of the silent-film era into talkies. She went on to become one of the film industrys most adored and highest-paid leading ladies. Edward Montgomery Clift was born on October 17, 1920, in Omaha Nebraska. McCarthy had been driving in front of Clift when the crash occurred, and he thought that Clift had been killed. Clift first met Elizabeth Taylor in 1949, and she felt an immediate attraction to him, according to People magazine. He advanced a collaborative approach with his directors, working over scripts and making suggestions for edits. Clift's early foray into acting led him to a Broadway debut in 1935. Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor lounging on the grass during the filming of Raintree County in Indiana, 1956. Fred Zinnemann's "The Search" preceded "Red River" as his first film in 1948 and first Academy Award nomination. Taylor also threatened to end any photographer's career who dared to take a picture of the seriously wounded Clift. [12] At age 7, aboard a European ship, a boy forced Clifts head underwater in the swimming pool for so long that a gland in his neck burst from his struggle to breathe; he had a long scar from the resulting infection and operation. According to some reports, she reportedly held Clift and removed two teeth that had fallen out in the crash from his throat, as they were causing him to choke. [citation needed], Following a 15-minute funeral at St. James' Church on Madison Avenue in Manhattan, which was attended by 150 guests, including Lauren Bacall, Frank Sinatra, and Nancy Walker, Clift was buried in the Friends Quaker Cemetery, Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Montgomery Clift would've celebrated his 98th birthday on October 17, 2018. On January 13, 1963, a few weeks after the initial release of Freud, Clift appeared on the live television discussion program The Hy Gardner Show, where he spoke at length about the release of his current film, his film career, and treatment by the press. At the time, Clift was encouraged to hide his sexuality because it would destroy his career as a leading man in Hollywood. More, it analyzes the new view of masculine beauty he helped introduce to the screen. [63], Many of Clift's biographers note his relationships with men and some few women based on friends' accounts and interviews. is also about him. does not support or promote any kind of violence, self-harm, or abusive behavior. [85][86] McDowall devoted himself to Clift entirely, and he moved from Los Angeles to New York to be closer to his idol. The song "The Right Profile" by the English punk rock band The Clash, from their album London Calling, is about the later life of Clift. How Montgomery Clift Self-Destructed. [33], Clift's first film for Paramount was The Heiress (1949). Clift had shown an interest in acting and theatrics as a child living in Switzerland and France but did not take the initiative to go out for a part in a local production until age 13, when his family was forced to downsize and relocate from Chicago to Sarasota, Florida. A short while later, Taylor and some of the others rushed to the scene of the accident. He earned his first Academy Award nomination for best actor for "The Search," and yet "Red River" seems to be better remembered these days. Clift never fully physically or emotionally recovered from his car accident. The information in this article is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. He wasnt the only one who challenged such norms at the time. The accident changed. Despite the studio's concerns over profits, Clift correctly predicted the film would do well, if only because moviegoers would flock to see the difference in his facial appearance before and after the crash.[42]. The 2018 documentary Making Montgomery Clift, directed by Robert Clift (his nephew) and Hillary Demmon, offers a nuanced portrait of an actor at ease with his sexuality. Liz, caught up in filming and Richard Burton in Paris, sent flowers to the funeral. She was so. Angela (Elizabeth Taylor) is the rich, indolent young woman who. [45][46] His anguished performance (which earned him his fourth Academy Award nomination) was often thought to be due to his own nervous breakdown. [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. Ex-lover Larson said in the film that Clift actually preferred his work after the accident to his performances before. One of the few men on this list is actor Montgomery Clift. Marilyn Monroe, on the set of The Misfits, wearing costar Monty Clift's Lee Storm Rider denim jacket, ca. After a two-month recovery period, Clift returned to the set to finish the film. He and his private nurse, Lorenzo James, had not spoken much all day. 2023 Cond Nast. Observers also point out that Clift had sexual relationships with women. He represented the new wave of post-World War II actors who were handsome, intelligent, soft-spoken, introspective, and acted with intensity. [21] At age 20, he appeared in the Broadway production of There Shall Be No Night, a work which won the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He was found dead in bed in his New York apartment the morning of July 23, 1966; he was 45. The N.Y.P.L.s Montgomery Clift papers also contain several undated images of his Suddenly, Last Summer co-star Katharine Hepburn looking characteristically redoubtable and Waspy. Actor Montgomery Clift is best remembered for his striking good looks and his compelling dramatic performances in such films as "A Place in the Sun" (1951) and "From Here to Eternity" (1953), per IMDb. The following summer in 1949, Clift shot The Big Lift in Berlin: intended to be more of a semi-documentary, pro-America wartime film and less of an acting vehicle,[35] but still a welcome opportunity to portray a U.S. soldier. Thus, as long as Clift's father was able to pay for it, he and his siblings were privately tutored, travelled extensively in America and Europe, became fluent in German and French, and led a protected life, sheltered from the destitution and communicable diseases which became legion following the First World War. 11:50 AM. And Jack Larson suggests that Clift preferred his work after the accident. Montgomery Clift was not a well man when he agreed to co-star in The Young Lions. Her romantic interest in him evolved into an intense friendship after he revealed her that he was gay (some sources say he was bisexual). The 'antidote' to Monty was her first disastrous marriage, aged 18, to playboy hotel heir Nicky Hilton, an aggressive drunk who physically abused her. In "The Heiress" (1949), Clift took the role of romantic lead, playing up his charismatic good looks. The character has a tattoo of Mr. Clift and Elizabeth Taylor on his shaved head. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. 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. [66][67][68] Clift's longest relationships were with men. LeMassena remained a close friend to Clift until his death. Clift was there, as were actors Kevin McCarthy and Rock Hudson, and Hudson's wife, Phyllis Gates, per Vanity Fair. To help build their case, the film-makers had rare access to the actors archives, as well as to the familys story, courtesy of a special connection: the doc was co-directed by the stars nephew, Robert Clift, and his wife, Hillary Demmon. At the 2023 SAG Awards, stars opted to wear gowns in every shade of rose, from soft pastels to neon brights. 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. During the filming of the movie in 1956, Taylor and her then-husband, Michael Wilding, had guests over for a party one night. While she sounds apologetic, the changes were never made. At 6:30a.m., James woke up and went to wake Clift, but found the bedroom door closed and locked. Mini bio of the life of actor Montgomery Clift who is probably most famous for starring in "A place in the sun" and "From here to eternity".This video was ma. 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. The New York World-Telegram noticed Clifts "amazing poise and dexterity" while producer Theo Bamberger commended him for what he called a "natural histrionic instinct. Clift was driving a Chevrolet Bel Air sedan when the accident occurred. They went to London to see Laurence Olivier together, ate together, sat in front of the fire together, Clift said. I have visited him there. [89][90] One of Clift's first intimate relationships was with composer Lehman Engel. . At the time, audiences had rarely seen a type of masculinity softened with Clift's . On the evening of May 12, 1956, while filming Raintree County, Clift was involved in a serious auto accident when he smashed his car into a telephone pole after leaving a dinner party at the Beverly Hills home of his Raintree County co-star and close friend Elizabeth Taylor and her second husband, Michael Wilding. Lorenzo was one of the reasons.. A Place in the Sun was critically acclaimed; Charlie Chaplin called it "the greatest movie made about America". He suffered a concussion, broken jaw, broken nose, fractured sinuses, fractured cheekbones, and several facial lacerations which required plastic surgery. He was only 15 years old, but this wasn't just a fun pastimeit was serious business. But it was his next pairing with Elizabeth Taylor that proved to be his most dynamic on-screen. 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. He also helped bring a more natural acting style to film. 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. 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. He and his co-star Olivia de Havilland made an appealing couple in this film adaptation of a Henry James novel. Clift's next major films were "The Heiress" (1949) and "A Place in the Sun" (1951), cementing his romantic lead status. 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 . For the latter, Clift committed to building strength and endurance, jogging laps around Hollywood High School as well as learning how to imitate playing the bugle and reading sheet music from trumpeter Mannie Klein for the role of middleweight boxer and bugle-playing soldier Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt. 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. It took Clift months to recover from his injuries. The red carpet played host to a number of looks; some classic, some curious, some daring, and some just begging to be turned into memes. His body was discovered by his assistant. Early Years Hailed as one of Hollywood's first true Method actors,. In one instant Montgomery Clift's life changed forever. He owed his life to his close friend Taylor, who immediately went to help him when she learned of the incident. Monty brought a different masculinity to the screen, said Demmon. He insisted on performing his stunts himself, including swimming in the river Elbe in March. A studio portrait of Montgomery Clift before his accident on 01 January, 1940 | Photo: Getty Images. The crash caused severe damage to his face, and McCarthy noted in a 2018 interview that he thought Clift was dead when he saw the scene. [55], During this time, Peter Bogdanovich was working at a cinema in New York City when Clift came to see a revival screening of one of his early films I Confess (1953) and decided to show him the guestbook where a cinema patron had written in a film request for "Anything with Montgomery Clift!"[56]. From Making Montgomery Clift (2018) via YouTube screen-grab. [28] Although filmed in 1946, the film was delayed release until August 1948. Monty's post-accident career has been called "the longest suicide in Hollywood history." In 1966, ten years after his car accident, Montgomery Clift died alone in his New York apartment while watching "The Misfits" on TV. Elizabeth Taylor used her clout to get Clift cast on "Suddenly, Last Summer" (1959) with mixed results. 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. George Eastman (Montgomery Clift), the nephew of a wealthy industrialist, arrives in California in the hopes of making his way up in his uncle's company. Yet, according to a new documentary, titled Making Montgomery Clift, the stars substance abuse had nothing at all to do with his sexuality. ", The "Suddenly, Last Summer" star reportedly had the worse of experience with John Huston. [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. National Board of Review of Motion Pictures, Inc. "Elizabeth Taylor at the 11th Annual GLAAD Media Awards", "TCM Fest: West Side Story's Queer Origins and Other LGBTQ+ Highlights", "Montgomery Clift's Pedigreed Upper East Side Townhouse Could Be Yours", "A Star Is Born Is the Ultimate Hollywood Horror Story, and Lady Gaga Might Be Perfect Casting", "Clift Takes Role in Columbia Film: Will Portray Paul Morel in Adaptation of Lawrence's Novel, 'Sons and Lovers', "The 21st Academy Awards (1949) Nominees and Winners", Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "The 24th Academy Awards (1952) Nominees and Winners", "The 26th Academy Awards (1954) Nominees and Winners", "The 34th Academy Awards (1962) Nominees and Winners", New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Montgomery Clift papers, Additions, 19291969, Montgomery Clift: better than Brando, more tragic than Dean, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Montgomery_Clift&oldid=1140258718, Short description is different from Wikidata, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from January 2023, Articles with unsourced statements from February 2022, Internet Off-Broadway Database person ID same as Wikidata, TCMDb name template using non-numeric ID from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. This tragedy changed the course of his career and may have hastened his death a decade later. After midnight, shortly before 1:00a.m., James went to his own bedroom to sleep, without saying another word to Clift. [47] Director Stanley Kramer, later wrote in his memoirs that Clift "wasn't always close to the script, but whatever he said fitted in perfectly" and that he suggested Clift turn to Spencer Tracy to "ad lib something" when he struggled to remember his lines for his one scene. In one of the most evocative treasures in the Clift papers at the N.Y.P.L., this black-page scrapbook, titled My Trip West, details Clifts Depression-era visit to the American West. [96], Clift supported Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 United States presidential election.[97]. Clift's "Raintree Country" co-star Taylor remained with him at the accident scene and cradled his badly injured head till an ambulance arrived. He tended to funnel most of his energy into intense rehearsals with acting coach Mira Rostova who accompanied him on set. For his character's scenes in jail, Clift spent a night in a real state prison. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Guided by the key biographies of Clift, they reliably parrot a narrative which paints the actor as a startlingly attractive and prodigiously gifted man who, according to one notably overheated tabloid TV show became a drug-addicted alcoholic living in a self-imposed hell because he had a secret he couldnt live with. By the age of thirty, Montgomery Clift seemed to have everything: youth, beauty, talent, and the prospect of a lucrative film career with limitless possibilities. Photographer Vincenzo Dimino captures just a bit of the magic, he says, of New York Fashion Week with his Fuji Instax Mini 40 camera. Audiences turned out to see the movie and to catch a glimpse of the before and after versions of Clift on the big screen. It also stresses Clifts crucial role in changing the power balance between actors and studio chiefs in Hollywood, as well as the advancements he brought to film acting. He and actor Kevin McCarthy later wrote a screenplay for a film adaptation that was never made. Clift shared the stage with some of the leading performers of the day, including Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne in "There Shall be No Night" (via Playbill) and Tallulah Bankhead in "The Skin of Our Teeth" (also via Playbill), both in 1942. The cause of death was listed as a heart attack, but a major contributing factor was the cumulative effect of pain killers and liquor. Here was someone who was vulnerable and sensitive - and who actually listened to women.. He struggled to make through some of the longer scenes. 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. He wanted to be a free agent, and he did it successfully. Meeting veteran stage and screen actor Kevin McCarthy in a Hollywood restaurant was a thrilling experience. Clift's career might have continued to go strong if it wasn't for a 1956 car accident. 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. In a 1957 issue of McCalls magazine, Clift quipped, "My childhood was hobgoblin, my parents traveled a lotThats all I can remember."[15]. He had a small non-paying role. Edward Montgomery Clift (/mntmri/; October 17, 1920 July 23, 1966) was an American actor. kofender. 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. A fellow actor asserts that Clift was equally confident in his sexuality. He described their relationship with fondness and kept taped film reels of Clift and the company of There Shall Be No Night enjoying leisure time together. [84] During the two and a half years that Clift stayed away from films, McDowall's career was nonexistent. He starts in a blue-collar job in the factory, where he soon begins to date his co-worker Alice Tripp (Shelley Winters). Which gives that narrative a lot of traction. He earned an impressive four Academy Award nominations during his career. When he took his final curtain call, Clift was just 45 years old. After the car accident, Clift only took on a few more movie roles. Part of honoring someone is being open to that person not being just one, reductive thing., Making Montgomery Clift is showing at NewFest with a release date yet to be announced, Tab Hunter: how Hollywood's boy next door became a gay icon, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. 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. [87] It is said that McDowall took the breakup with Clift hard. Another adaptation of the novel had been filmed once before, as An American Tragedy, in 1931. [22] On May 24, 1944, he was part of the cast of Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness! According to the actor's lawyer, Jack Clareman, Clift was found by his secretary Lorenzo James, who claimed the actor went to bed "in good spirits.". Clift was nominated for. According to McCarthy, Clift told Taylor in a rather unregistered voice that his two front teeth were in his throat, suffocating him. American actor Montgomery Clift (1920 - 1966), circa 1950. "I love Marilyn Monroe," said designer Tommy Hilfiger, explaining why he splurged on the jeans she wore in 1954's River of No Return and the cowboy boots she donned in '61's The Misfits. Gardner recalled the 'rumours' of Clift's disfigurement following the car accident that occurred in May 1956 in the midst of filming for Raintree County (1957) as Clift drove away from a dinner party hosted by co-star Elizabeth Taylor. How? [13][14] The Wall Street Crash of 1929 and the Great Depression of the 1930s ruined Clift's father financially; Bill was forced to downsize and move to Chicago to take a new job while Sunny continued traveling with the children. Though Prince William and Princess Kate returned to the awards show for the first time since 2020, several other stars looked regal as they graced the red carpet too. "[32] Clift was on the cover of Life magazine by December 1948. Elegantly titled and captioned in white ink, the pages reveal that Clift had a filmmaker and photographers eye for framing, sense of place, and capturing action at its seminal moment. A still of Montgomery Clift. news.AmoMama.com does not take responsibility for any action taken as a result of reading this article. For the next nine years, Clift made nearly as many films after his traumatic car accident as he had previously. Loy responded to him almost visibly, an observer reportedly once said. Directed by George Stevens. Edward Montgomery Clift was born on October 17, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska. 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Fully physically or emotionally recovered from his injuries the car accident in 1956 a rather unregistered voice that two... After his traumatic car accident, Clift secretly dated British actor Roddy McDowall nine years, spent! Steep road before crashing was found dead in bed in his throat, suffocating him see Olivier! He represented the New wave of post-World War II actors who were handsome, intelligent, soft-spoken, introspective and... To People magazine bedroom door closed and locked derailed, however, by a terrible car accident as had. Acting led him to a Broadway debut in 1935 celebrities to anime, emo, goth, fantasy,,! Mcdowall took the role of romantic lead, playing up his charismatic good.! His shaved head 45 years old when he agreed to co-star in the young Lions needed a lot of surgery. In jail, Clift supported Adlai Stevenson in the factory montgomery clift before and after his accident where he soon begins to date co-worker. 'S Ah, Wilderness before his untimely death in 1966 at the time, audiences had rarely a. Nurse, Lorenzo James, had not spoken much all day get Clift cast on montgomery clift before and after his accident,! The novel had been killed Hollywood restaurant was a thrilling experience t just a fun pastimeit was serious..