About 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. One infamous fact about Montgomery Clift is that he only owned one suit. July 22, 1966, was a sweltering day in New York City, and Montgomery Clift had been languishing in his townhouse on 61st Street. Jennifer Jones (Actor), Montgomery Clift (Actor), Vittorio De Sica (Director) Format: DVD 127 ratings IMDb 6.2/10.0 $797 Prime Video $0.99 $2.99 Blu-ray $14.99 DVD $7.97 VHS Tape $4.73 See More Frequently bought together + + Total price: $27.95 Add all three to Cart Some of these items ship sooner than the others. Born in 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, Clift was raised like an aristocrat, with a private tutor and frequent trips to Europe. John Wayne and Montgomery Clift in Red River. 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. Still, his second venture was perhaps even more of an impressive feat. Beautiful man. Clift, however, lived a two-faceted life concerning his sexuality. Help us build our profile of Montgomery Clift! With Clift on board, Suddenly, Last Summer morphed into a verifiable mess. Once on stage, Clift truly came into his own. ", A portrait of Montgomery Clift against a wooden backdrop on 01 January, 1948 | Photo: Getty mages. Were always looking for your input! Clift, of course, knew better. Oddly enough, when he died, the homocons on Gay Patriot praised him on . You see, the entire healing process put Clift through the paces. In fact, Hepburn was so offended by Mankiewicz that she did something outrageous. Whether platonic or not, these two actors shared an undeniable bond that was undeniably strengthened by this one unfortunate event. July 24, 1966 12 AM PT. . Itd be his only film with Brando, even though the two barely shared the screen. 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. Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun. But after an initial flurry of coverage, he retreated from public view entirely. Well, in 1955, he had a chance to reunite with his old friend and co-star, Elizabeth Taylor, in Raintree County. However, one salient fact remains: Clifts ruined face never made it to the papersIn fact, not one photograph of that night exists. Realizing that Clift was in mortal danger, McCarthy raced to the scene of the accident. The documentary was released at the Los Angeles Film Festival and . 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. We collect and tell stories of people from all around the world. Montgomery Clift | 20 Gay Hollywood Legends | Purple Clover "I love men in bed, but I really love women," Montgomery Clift is quoted as saying in a 1978 biography. 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. The actress had read many articles about Clift's acting prowess and thought she would not be the perfect match. 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. Marlon Brando girlfriend, wife list. This made him an A-list actor and a multi-award-winning star. RIP GEORGOUS MONTY. Teach, I loved the way how he played in A Place in the Sun. . And then there was the physical toll. Montgomery Clift is a member of the following lists: American film actors, Actors Studio alumni and Bisexual actors. Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor during the filming of A Place in the Sun. He was sick of being a symbol, a symptom, a testament to something. Show more . 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.. Lorenzo was one of the reasons.. Montgomery Clift as the confused, likable, rather stupid social climber; Shelley Winters as the dowdy working girl; Elizabeth Taylor as the dazzling rich girl. A four-time Oscar nominee who died at 45, Montgomery Clift was a bright young talent, a tabloid fixture, and a posthumous gay icon. Determined to keep his gayness under wraps, Clift made sure that his masculine facade shone onscreen. ufff q hombre tan guapo y atractivo, y grn actor ademas, como me hubiese gustado conocerlo con unos ojos maravillosos. His apartment, which he rented for 10 dollars a month, was described by friends as beat up and by him as terrific. He survived on two meals a day, mostly combinations of steak, eggs, and orange juice, and he eschewed nightclubs, instead spending his spare time reading Chekov, classic works of history and economics, and Aristotle, whom he praised for his belief in happiness, or the gentle art of the soul. When he wasnt reading or exhausting himself in preparation for a part, he liked to go to the local night court and attend high-profile court cases just to watch the humanity on display. 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 . 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. There were even speculations that he was warned about being gay. 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. There were questions about the woman in his life and why he was single. Hollywood began to see him as hostile and messy and frugal, and Clift wasnt having it. MONTY YOU WERE THE BEST!!! [view couple] # 8 Carlo Fiore 12 28. While she sounds apologetic, the changes were never made. James found his patient sitting up in bed and watching his film, The Misfits, but Clift clearly didnt want to be disturbed. 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. 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. Picture 1 of 12 . Please submit feedback to [email protected]. . He looked about ten years older than the Montgomery Clift audiences remembered and adored. Of course, Clifts words had always been futile in the face of Hollywood. Hailed as one of Hollywood's first true Method actors, Edward Montgomery Clift was born October 17, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska. The Big Lift (1950) Approved | 120 min | Drama, War 6.4 Rate Sadly, his greatest friend Elizabeth Taylor could only send flowers from Rome. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska on 1920-10-17. It turned into John Cassavetes' "Too Late Blues," with Bobby Darrin. 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. TAYLOR ON CLIFT'S SEXUALITY AFTER HIS DEATH. The view then about queer people was that they would be inherently conflicted or tormented about their sexuality, said Demmon. 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. He insisted on maintaining his residence in New York, spending as little time in Hollywood as possible. As his eyes drifted closed, Clift suddenly veered off the road and drove straight into a telephone pole. INDISCRETION OF AN AMERICAN WIFE 1953 DVD PUBLIC DOMAIN FILM MONTGOMERY CLIFT. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. Ad Choices. However, Clift's life was shrouded by a dark secret that became public after his passing, by actress Elizabeth Taylor. Montgomery Clift made a name for himself in Hollywood with several awards and nominations. Moments after the accident, actor Kevin McCarthy, driving in front of Clift, ran back to check on him, seeing that his face was torn awaya bloody pulp. His image was, more than anything else, confusingunmalleable to Hollywoods preexisting star categories. 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. And even more shocking? 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. 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 An inside look at the actors secretive love life. He could barely remember his lines and often didnt show up to set. There was a nonchalance to Clifts attitude in regards to women. 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. 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. "Monty," as his family called him, was the son of William Clift, a. Even his diet was rather spartan: orange juice, steak, and eggs. Montgomery Clift girlfriend, wife list. Montgomery Edward "Monty" Clift (October 17, 1920 - July 23, 1966) was an American movie, television, radio, and stage actor who is known for his roles in From Here to Eternity, A Place in the Sun, The Misfits, Red River, and in Judgement at Nuremberg.He was nominated four times for an Academy Award.His great-great-grandfather was politician Francis Preston Blair. The Clift picture didn't pan out either, at least with her promised co-star. In its May 28, 1951, issue, meanwhile, LIFE magazine wrote of A Place in the Sun: It is easy for an ambitious young man to get himself involved simultaneously with a simple-hearted girl who lives in a cheap boarding house and an extravagant rich girl who gives gay parties. 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. 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. 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. While his brother claimed that Clift was bisexual, writer Truman Capotes unpublished work alludes to Clifts gayness quite explicitly. Whether he liked it or not, they were out for a storyAnd the one they wanted above all? Whatever the case may be, Montgomery Clifts life was unbelievably impressive and distressing. She would wield considerable influence over the early part of his film career, advising him in decisions to decline lead roles in Sunset Blvd. You`ve being alwasy an inspiration for me. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Quite fittingly, he once said, The closer we come to the negative, todeath, the more we blossom. Even after his passing, his forever friend, Elizabeth Taylor, never forgot him. However, this was no quick fix. You see, when Clift sat down to read through the script for The Search,he was less than enthused with the writing. When James offered to join him, the belligerent shot him down immediately, crying, Absolutely not.Sadly, this was Montgomery Clifts final interaction. In 1951, Clift embarked upon one of his most famous roles as George Eastman inA Place in the Sun. Of course, by this time, Clifts drinking problems werent much of a secret, making him a liability to the studio. Of course, Clift didnt walk away unscathed either. Soon, Montgomery Clift became almost impossible to work with. I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. After the success of 1953sFrom Here to Eternity, Montgomery Clift suddenly stopped making films. 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. His parents were Quakers and met as students at Cornell University, marrying in 1914. He served in the Lincoln administration cabinet as Postmaster-General from 1861 to 1864, during the Civil War. One time when he was delivering his line on the set of "The Search," he mistakenly called a boy 'dear' and insisted that the director did a reshoot. The 'Red River star was then tagged a gay icon. 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. Edward Montgomery Clift (; October 17, 1920 July 23, 1966) was an American actor. But while his siblings enrolled in prestigious schools, Montgomery Clift went hurtling in a completely different direction. In 1961, Montgomery Clift went on to star alongside some of Hollywoods greatest legendsMarilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. Peace. Free Postage. And even then, he didnt live a glamorous movie star existence. These are just among the many words which have been used to describe Montgomery Clift, the enigmatic heartthrob of the 1950s. There are a few versions that detail the aftermath of Clifts accident, but one has all the drama of a motion picture itself. I mean, he is a But even as Clift consistently took the road less traveled, he still had some biting things to say about the media, especially its desire to pin down his image. 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. There were no wild outings for this reserved homebody. 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. The most beautiful young man Ive ever seen. A still of Montgomery Clift. Whether this captivating story is real or not remains to be seen. Soon, the washed-up actor was completely out of work. . cocksucker, isnt he, Tallulah? Miss Bankhead said: Well, yo tambien hubiera tenido algo con el claro que si, Monty, I love you. A portrait of Montgomery Clift acting as Matt Garth in the western film "Red River" on 01 January, 1948 | Photo: Getty Images. Montgomery Clift was an undeniably attractive man, and before long, hed cultivated a rather passionate female fan base. And the cherry on top? 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He knew that people would flock to the cinema just to see his damaged face. 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. But Clifts rebuttal was firm, emphasizing that they were neither in love nor engagedtheyd known each other for 10 years, she helped him with his work, and those romantic rumors are embarrassing to both of us. He was also close with stage actress Libby Holman, 16 years his senior, who had become a notorious feature in the gossip columns following the suspicious death of her wealthy husband, rumors of lesbianism, and her general practice of dating younger men.