Born in 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, Clift was raised like an aristocrat, with a private tutor and frequent trips to Europe. With his next two films, The Misfits (1961) and Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Clift pivoted to somewhat smaller supporting or cameo roles that required less overall screen time while still delivering demanding performances. In 1964, he recorded for Caedmon Records The Glass Menagerie, with Jessica Tandy, Julie Harris, and David Wayne. Also in 1951, Clift was for the first time cast as Tom in the radio world premiere of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie, with Helen Hayes (Amanda) and Karl Malden (the Gentleman Caller), for The Theatre Guild on the Air.[25]. 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. Edward Montgomery Clift (/mntmri/; October 17, 1920 July 23, 1966) was an American actor. The film received added media attention due to the rumors that Clift and co-star Elizabeth Taylor were dating in real life. He summoned a doctor, but it was already too late. Why not have a musical about Romeo and Juliet but make it with gangs in New York?' Marlena Brause Self Employed. [87] It is said that McDowall took the breakup with Clift hard. [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]. By 15, Clift made his Broadway debut in Cole Porters Jubilee. Early Years Hailed as one of Hollywood's first true Method actors,. His father, William Brooks "Bill" Clift (18861964), was the vice-president of Omaha National Trust Company. Clifts papers include several undated, intimate, tender images of a young Elizabeth Taylor with one of her sons. Paramount executive Luigi Luraschi remembered that Taylor, just like many American teenagers, seemed "unmistakably in love" with Clift around the time of filming A Place in the Sun,[59] which commenced soon after their premiere outing. 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. Here was someone who was vulnerable and sensitive - and who actually listened to women.. After a two-month recovery period, Clift returned to the set to finish the film. When he took his final curtain call, Clift was just 45 years old. Clift was driving a Chevrolet Bel Air sedan when the accident occurred. The actor died there on July 23, 1966, of an apparent heart attack. [33], Clift's first film for Paramount was The Heiress (1949). that benefits the victims. With a man of such conflicted legacy, one can at least fall back on the basics. Onscreen and off, he was what the kids these days Actress Marilyn Monroe even warned him never to work with Hutson, whom she described as a "sadist. [85][86] McDowall devoted himself to Clift entirely, and he moved from Los Angeles to New York to be closer to his idol. Observers also point out that Clift had sexual relationships with women. Barred from feature films, Clift turned to voice work. James Franco's brother, Dave Franco, portrays Montgomery Clift in a short scene in the movie. For somewhat mysterious reasons, Robert Clifts father Brooks taped endless conversations with his famous brother, as well as with their mother and other figures relevant to the story. 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. The re-opening of the German market since WW2 put potential profits ahead of everything else and the picture suffered for it. After leaving a party at Taylor's house high in the Hollywood Hills and drowsy from two "downers" he'd taken before he left to help him sleep when he got home, Clift crashed into a telephone. They went to London to see Laurence Olivier together, ate together, sat in front of the fire together, Clift said. He earned an impressive four Academy Award nominations during his career. But, in general, his relationships with men had more to do with sex than with a deep emotional connection. 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. Clift, presumably an introvert, would have been super frustrated to know his physical look would be a topic for national speculation. But. [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. [37] Clift had veered off one of the twisting hairpin turns and smashed into a telephone pole and the surrounding cliffside. Edward Montgomery Clift was born on October 17, 1920, in Omaha, Nebraska. A short while later, Taylor and some of the others rushed to the scene of the accident. Six Hollywood Stars on the Good Life, With a Nod to a Classic Perfume. 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. On the evening of May 12, 1956, during the shooting of this movie, Montgomery Clift was involved in a serious car accident on his way back home from a party at the house of Dame Elizabeth Taylor. In 1959, Clift was slammed by film director Joseph Mankiewicz after Taylor noted that the star was still "vulnerable. He and his co-star Olivia de Havilland made an appealing couple in this film adaptation of a Henry James novel. 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. Elizabeth Taylor tried to seduce fellow screen legend Montgomery Clift and stood by him after coming out to her: 'They were soulmates' By Christopher Rogers For Dailymail.Com. news.AmoMama.com does not take responsibility for any action taken as a result of reading this article. Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in the 1951 film "A Place in the Sun" on 01 January, 1951 | Photo: Getty Images. He earned his first Academy Award nomination for best actor for "The Search," and yet "Red River" seems to be better remembered these days. Later that same year, he appeared in Cole Porter's "Jubilee." [66][67][68] Clift's longest relationships were with men. Taylor found him crushed under the steering wheel, his face a bloody pulp. 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]. Her romantic interest in him evolved into an intense friendship after he revealed her that he was gay (some sources say he was bisexual). He is best remembered for his role as Private Robert E. Lee Prewitt in the 1953 film From Here to Eternity. [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. Clift, who lived in Room 928 for three months while filming "From Here to Eternity" in 1952, was one of Hollywood's most appealing leading men, a slender Tom Cruise with edgy good looks. He played the adopted son of Wayne's character, and the two brought two different images of maleness to the big screen, as The Guardian newspaper pointed out. The schedule for Reflections in a Golden Eye was then set for August 1966, but Clift died in July 1966. 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. Clift's naturalistic performance led to director Fred Zinnemann's being asked, "Where did you find a soldier who can act so well?" He shifted his moods erratically, from a brooding pose to a bursting smile. These were extremely unorthodox, risky procedures, and had the effect of involving the audience with him, an exceedingly selfish aim if one thinks only in terms of the play, but a daring and stupendously courageous maneuver when one thinks of the ground he was breaking. advocates for a healthy discussion about the instances of violence, abuse, sexual misconduct, animal cruelty, abuse etc. While director William Wyler notably had difficulty with his poor posture, co-star Olivia de Havilland expressed difficulty with his seriousness, saying that "Monty was painstaking and I liked that about him, but I had a sense that Monty was thinking almost entirely of himself and leaving me out of the scene."[34]. Another adaptation of the novel had been filmed once before, as An American Tragedy, in 1931. He wasnt solely an actor, she said. Tellingly, theyre always pitched under working titles like Beautiful Loser and' Tragic Beauty. He was only 15 years old, but this wasn't just a fun pastimeit was serious business. Clift was willing to waive his fee entirely but accepted the supporting part with minimum compensation. He is best remembered for his roles in Howard Hawks's Red River (1948), George Stevens's A Place in the Sun (1951), Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity (1953), Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), and John Huston's The Misfits (1961). McCarthy had been driving in front of Clift when the crash occurred, and he thought that Clift had been killed. Lorenzo was one of the reasons.. [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. We believe that every person's story is important as it provides our community with an opportunity to feel a sense of belonging, share their hopes and dreams. In 2000, at the GLAAD Media Awards, where Taylor was honored for her work for the LGBT community, she made the first public declaration by anyone of the fact that Clift was gay and called him her closest friend and confidant. [63], Many of Clift's biographers note his relationships with men and some few women based on friends' accounts and interviews. Happy Birthday, Montgomery Clift. 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 only 12 years old when he appeared in a production of "As Husbands Go" in Sarasota. I think he was 12 or 13., Its obviously a non-issue for her, co-director Demmon said. She was so incensed by director Joseph Mankiewiczs poor treatment of Clift that she is said to have spat at him. AmoMama creates engaging, meaningful content for women. Hollywood's Montgomery Clift, who was highly wanted for his diverse acting skill in the industry, kept the public entertained during his time. 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. ", Montgomery Clift at London Airport from New York to make the new film "Suddenly, Last Summer" on 13 May, 1959 | Photo: Getty Images. He got him going again. Place in the Sun. [88], While filming for Vittorio De Sica in Italy, Clift had a romance with Truman Capote. [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. 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