When the duo finally met in Stevens' office, it was pretty magical for Taylor. 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. 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. Absolutely stunning. She developed an intense decade-plus obsession over the young actor, even financing an experimental play, "Mexican Mural" for him. . 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. A bout five years ago, filmmaking duo Robert Clift and Hillary Demmon Clift decided to make a documentary about Robert's long-dead uncle. Montgomery Clift, Nando Bruno. He was not worried [about being gay], Larson asserts in the film. But while Clift certainly seemed like a budding Hollywood heartthrob on the outside, in reality, he wasfar from it. Picture Information. Born in 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, Clift was raised like an aristocrat, with a private tutor and frequent trips to Europe. You see, the reason behind Montgomery Clifts barren dating life was rather simple: He was gay. 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. He had a holistic view.. Clift, of course, knew better. Edward Montgomery Clift (; October 17, 1920 July 23, 1966) was an American actor. Grasping at straws, the media decided to do what little they could to sensationalize the actors non-existent, One of Clifts closest friends was a woman named Myra Letts, and for the ruthless gossip columns, it wasnt a huge leap from friend to girlfriend. Clift didnt entertain this for a second and shot the sordid speculations down immediately, saying that there was zero intimacy between them: those romantic rumors are embarrassing to both of us.. . But while his siblings enrolled in prestigious schools, Montgomery Clift went hurtling in a completely different direction. 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. True or not, the resilience of the story is a testimony to what people wanted to believe about the bond between the two stars. It has a good rating on IMDb: 6.2 stars out of 10. Which gives that narrative a lot of traction. That, combined with his spiraling alcohol addiction, wrung the youth right out of the handsome actor. yo tambien hubiera tenido algo con el claro que si, Monty, I love you. 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. Some believe that Clifts romantic leanings were much less of a secret than originally thought. cocksucker. Then, sweetly, wide-eyed with little girl navet, she Clifts sexuality, like those other 50s idols Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter, was carefully concealed from the public. 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. The Big Lift (1950) Approved | 120 min | Drama, War 6.4 Rate Clift cared nothing for appearances: the Los Angeles Times called him the Rumpled Movie Idol; he infamously owned only one suit. Were not trying to give a definitive version of who Monty was, added Clift. He read books about Montgomery Clift and James Dean, and credited seeing "Taxi Driver" at age 13 with fueling his desire to be in movies. The Life and Sad Ending of Montgomery Clift The Life and Sad Ending 182K subscribers Subscribe 2.2K Share 106K views 2 years ago Mini bio of the life of actor Montgomery Clift who is. Author Christopher Isherwood tracked Clifts decline in his journals, and by August 1955, he was drinking himself out of a career; on the set of Raintree, the crew had designated words to communicate how drunk Clift was: bad was Georgia, very bad was Florida, and worst of all was Zanzibar. July 24, 1966 12 AM PT. 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? Or, as Bosley Crowther, taking the populist slant in The New York Times, explained, the characters were amusing, but they were also shallow and inconsequential, and that is the dang-busted trouble with this film.. [6] His mother was Ethel Fogg "Sunny" Clift ( ne Anderson; 1888-1988). Documentary Biography Classic film star and queer icon Montgomery Clift's legacy has long been a story of tragedy and self-destruction. Copyright 2023 by Factinate.com. Indiscrecin de una esposa: Dirigido por Vittorio De Sica. He advanced a collaborative approach with his directors, working over scripts and making suggestions for edits. Nearly all his good looks are gone, Isherwood wrote. The unhinged character he played in the film hit too close to home and psychologically drained him. Free Postage. Apparently, Burt Lancaster's From Here to Eternity co-star Montgomery Clift intimidated himso much so that in their first scene together you can see Lancaster shaking. Merv was a sexual predator who once tried to sexually assault Danny Terrio, then threatened to ruin his career if he talked. 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. Clift and Taylor would star again in another 1950s film, the Civil War-era drama, Raintree Countythe movie they were making when Clift almost died in the car wreck outside Taylors homeand would remain deeply attached to one another until Clifts death, at the too-young age of 45, in New York City in 1966. Taylor talked about the need for staunch support for gay people and their rights. Have I said something wrong? Clift detested Waynes antiquated male constraints. The old Hollywood system was breaking apart and he was a major part of that., The first role Clift took, opposite John Wayne in Red River in 1948, offered a stark contrast in masculine presentations. To help build their case, the film-makers had rare access to the actors archives. Sensitive, mysterious, brooding, and suspiciously single. Beautiful man. What finally brought him back to the screen? . Although he may not have realized it, Clifts horrific accident sparked the beginning of the end, intensifying his preexisting ailments and sending him down a dark path from which he could never return. She had always been there for him, and once said, Monty couldve been the biggest star in the world if he did more movies. But Taylors dedication to her friend went above and beyond. But this wasnt the actors first time at the rodeo. Monty brought a different masculinity to the screen, said Demmon. There were no wild outings for this reserved homebody. Tellingly, theyre always pitched under working titles like Beautiful Loser and' Tragic Beauty. If Paramount wanted him, theyd have to give him what he wanteda power differential that would go on to structure the star-studio relationship for the next 40 years. I wanted to figure out why there was such a difference., A deep trove of never-before-revealed evidence makes that disparity bracingly clear. But the facial reconstruction, heavy painkiller use, and rampant alcohol abuse made it look like hed aged a decade. His image was, more than anything else, confusingunmalleable to Hollywoods preexisting star categories. As his eyes drifted closed, Clift suddenly veered off the road and drove straight into a telephone pole. It was unheard of, especially for a young star, but it was a sellers market. Once on stage, Clift truly came into his own. Clift had a fraternal twin sister, Roberta, and a brother, William Brooks Clift Jr, who had an illegitimate son with actress Kim Stanley. He was, at least in the press, something approaching asexualthe title of a Motion Picture article, authored by Clift, declared simply, I Like It Lonely!. But the tragedies didnt end there. . It is a feature-length film with a runtime of 1h 3min. What a pity hes a She is completing her PhD in Toronto, Canada. But, in general, his relationships with men had more to do with sex than with a deep emotional connection. 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 off the Hollywood scene for four years, within which his career declined. Clift had a rather negative notion about Taylor even before meeting her. By the early 1950s he was exclusively homosexual, though he continued to hide his homosexuality and maintained a number of close friendships with theater women (heavily promoted by studio publicists).His film debut was Red River (1948) with John Wayne quickly followed by his early personal success The Search (1948) (Oscar nominations for this, A Place in the Sun (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)). Montgomery Clift was in 8 on-screen matchups, including Anne Baxter in I Confess (1953), Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun (1951), Dolores Hart in Lonelyhearts (1958), Donna Reed in From Here to Eternity (1953) and Jennifer Jones in Indiscretion of an American Wife (1953). Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement and Your California Privacy Rights. The subject matter, which involved him assisting in the cover-up of a dead mans apparent homosexuality, must have sparked mixed emotions. His leading lady, Olivia de Havilland, disappointed him in every wayand his criticisms were downright brutal. You`ve being alwasy an inspiration for me. But this was only the beginning. Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun. According to Clifts doctors, it was amazing that he was even alive. I am not one of Americas Angry Young Men. And then there was the physical toll. Oh dear. Even his diet was rather spartan: orange juice, steak, and eggs. 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. She made it known that it all boiled down to love. Suddenly, the Clift family was completely broke and had no choice to move to New York. Because of the accident, the studio worried about the success of Raintree County. Thats why his work doesnt feel dated, Demmon said. 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. 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. He could watch the real grit of humanity play out before himthe court a stage for some of the most sensational high-profile cases. This was entertainment at its finest. The film went on to win six Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Screenplay, and is now hailed as a (flawed) classic. He was the son of Ethel "Sunny" Anderson (Fogg; 1888-1988) and William Brooks Clift (1886-1964). In this exclusive excerpt from her forthcoming book, Anne. With his screenwriting suggestions, the film took home an Academy Award. He naturally gravitated to the theater. While his brother claimed that Clift was bisexual, writer Truman Capotes unpublished work alludes to Clifts gayness quite explicitly. As for Clift, the shoot was incredibly taxing, both mentally and physically: in addition to acquiring a scar across his nose from a stray bulls horn, severe rope burns while attempting to tame a wild horse, and various other rough-and-tumble injuries, he also performed what has widely come to be regarded as one of his best scenes, a stilted, heartbreaking conversation with his mother from a phone booth. He was set to play in Taylor's Reflections in a Golden Eye (1967), when he died in the early morning hours of July 23, 1966, at his home at age 45. 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. 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. A documented conversation between two stars, Tallulah Bankhead and Dorothy Parker, during a dinner party also showed that there was knowledge among stars that Clift was gay. When The Heiress came out, Clift's loyal fanatics came with their claws out and wrote vicious letters to Olivia de Havilland for rejecting Clift's character in the film. Clifts recuperation took months, and when he finally returned to set, there was more trouble afoot. Yet, according to a new documentary, titled Making Montgomery Clift, the stars substance abuse had nothing at all to do with his sexuality. At the age of 25, Clift made the leap to Hollywoodbut he was a rebel right from the get-go. The entire experience had a cursed tinge to it, and before long, it left disaster in its wake. In 1961, Montgomery Clift went on to star alongside some of Hollywoods greatest legendsMarilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. . A portrait of Montgomery Clift acting as Matt Garth in the western film "Red River" on 01 January, 1948 | Photo: Getty Images. 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. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. Clift couldnt get through longer scenes, having to split them up into two or three chunks. His injuries included a broken nose and jaw, a fractured sinus, and deep cuts across his face that called for extensive plastic surgery. 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. Whether he liked it or not, they were out for a storyAnd the one they wanted above all? Sumner Redstone in Love: The Cringey Sexcapades of a Horny Billionaire, The elderly media titan flexed his MTV ownership, rang his grandson at 3 a.m. for hookups with new women, and rewarded companions with stock options and TV shows. Horrified, James immediately called for help, but of course, it was already too late. He also sunk into alcoholism, of which Taylor and some other friends tried to help him. 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. Christine Tran is a history buff(ette) and media scholar. All Rights Reserved. His interests lay elsewhere. Directors Robert Anderson Clift Hillary Demmon Writers Robert Anderson Clift Hillary Demmon Stars In order to get him the part, she had to offer up some kind of insurance, and this time, she put her own salary on the line. But even Monroe reported that Clift was the only person I know who is in even worse shape than I am. The pictures from the set are as poignant as they are heartbreaking: its as if all three were meditating on their respective declines, and theres a sad, peaceful resignation at the difference between what their bodies could do and how people wanted to remember them. July 22, 1966, was a sweltering day in New York City, and Montgomery Clift had been languishing in his townhouse on 61st Street. Heres A Mystery: Why Did Arthur Conan Doyles Son Dress Up Like a Knight? He knew that people would flock to the cinema just to see his damaged face. "Monty," as the performer was known to family and . The long suicide was complete. 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. 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. It shows a different side to Clift, portraying him as a man who enjoyed life and love, and was comfortable enough with him being a gay man. Clift asserts that the actors use of alcohol and prescription drugs stemmed, primarily, from a near-fatal car accident in 1956. 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. 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. Montgomery Clift may have been one of the most self-aware actors of his day, and he certainly knew the name of the game. A young naive woman falls for a handsome young man who her emotionally abusive father suspects is a fortune hunter. . Clift wasn't one to hide a feeling, which made him a great actor and also a terrible straight man. / Is he alive? The director, John Huston, supposedly brought in Clift because he thought hed have a soothing effect on Monroe, who was deeply embroiled in her own addictions, with her own personal demons.