Montgomery Clift: The Untold Story of Hollywood's Misunderstood Star He wasnt solely an actor, she said. 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. The actress had read many articles about Clift's acting prowess and thought she would not be the perfect match. Montgomery Clift - Wikipedia 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. He pleaded with her to make changes to her book to correct the mischaracterizations. Montgomery Clift was certainly one of a kind, and when he landed in Hollywood, it became extremely clear that he was going to do things his own way. Some of the greatest celebrities of the day came out to mourn Clift at his funeral, including Lauren Bacall and Frank Sinatra. In fact, Hepburn was so offended by Mankiewicz that she did something outrageous. The true story of Montgomery Clift, as told by his youngest nephew In truth, his face wasnt truly disfigured. But when his nephew dives into the family archives, a much more complicated picture emerges. 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. Although Clift and Montgomery were only good friends, their coupling inA Place in the Sunhelped drive its popularity. While she sounds apologetic, the changes were never made. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Montgomery Clift had an encounter with Marlon Brando. Their claims were deemed reliable because one of the biographers was certified by one of Clift's confidants. This was entertainment at its finest. His own mother, in a voice recording played in Making Montgomery Clift, said, "Monty was a . His leading lady, Olivia de Havilland, disappointed him in every wayand his criticisms were downright brutal. But if you look at his own words, his testimonies about what acting did to him, youll see the culprit. The most beautiful young man Ive ever seen. There were questions about the woman in his life and why he was single. And thus began what Robert Lewis, Clifts teacher at the Actors Studio, called the longest suicide in Hollywood history. Even before Raintree, the decline had been visible. There were even speculations that he was warned about being gay. Montgomery Clift was in relationships with Sal Mineo, Paul Newman, Henry Willson, Jack Larson, William LeMassena, Libby Holman, Maurice Leonard and Arnold Saint Subber. Her interests include the European Renaissance, popular culture, and Internet history. When the duo finally met in Stevens' office, it was pretty magical for Taylor. But even though his marred looks never made it to the headlines, for Clift, the horror was far from over. By 15, Clift made his Broadway debut in Cole Porters Jubilee. When he first arrived in Hollywood, he didnt sign a contract, waiting until after the success of his first two films to negotiate a three-picture deal with Paramount that allowed him total discretion over projects. Okay, if were being totally honest, Montgomery Clifts reserved lifestyle didnt exactly excite the press; it actually kind of stumped them. Contact sheet from LIFE photographer Peter Stackpoles shoot with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1950. 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. AmoMama creates engaging, meaningful content for women. That Clift was gay made little difference in the intensity and duration of the two stars adoration of one another: here, after all, were two talented, passionate artists who met at a young age (she was in her teens; he was in his late twenties) and immediately discovered that they were, for lack of a better phrase, soul mates. His father made a lot of money in banking but was quite poor during the depression. It wasnt until years after his tragic passing that Clifts darkest secret finally came out. 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! Montgomery Clift Filmography - IMDb 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 Free Postage. Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift goofed around during a break in filming A Place in the Sun. He started out in films in the late 1940's and immediately made a name for himself with his good looks and emotionally raw performances. But this wasnt the actors first time at the rodeo. The 'Red River star was then tagged a gay icon. 5 talking about this. "Monty," as his family called him, was the son of William Clift, a. Actor Montgomery Clift, 45, three times nominated for Academy Awards, died early Saturday of a heart attack in his plush East Side townhouse. Montgomery Clift | 20 Gay Hollywood Legends | Purple Clover Liz Ronk edited this gallery for LIFE.com. Dazzling Facts About Elizabeth Taylor, The Queen Of Hollywood, Stabbed In The Back: These Real-Life Betrayals Are Straight Up Brutal, The Truth Always Comes Out: Dark Family Secrets Exposed, Plot Twist: These Surprise Endings Made Our Jaws Hit The Floor, These Ultra-Spoiled Brats Made Our Eyes Roll Into Our Heads. Clift appeared in The Misfits, a revisionist western best known as the final film of Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. He had a close friendship with a woman named Myra Letts, whom the gossip columnists tried arduously to frame as a love interest. In the rife, overstuffed annals of Hollywood, few real-life love stories can match that of Liz Taylor and Montgomery Clift. An inside look at the actors secretive love life. Of course, as unusual as his lifestyle seemed, healso had a number of interesting routines. In Clifts eyes, de Havilland imparted nothing of herself into the role. 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. Of course, Clift didnt walk away unscathed either. This made him an A-list actor and a multi-award-winning star. In this exclusive excerpt from her forthcoming book, Anne. 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. Following The Misfits, Clifts disintegration continued. What does he inspire anyone to do drink, die young? [view couple] # 8 Carlo Fiore 12 28. He still drank, but not as heavily. Contact sheets from LIFE photographer Peter Stackpole's shoot on a Paramount lot with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1950. 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. 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. 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. Thats not what people would expect from a mother in that period.. Watch 'Indiscretion of an American Wife' Online Streaming (Full Movie 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. With Clift on board, Suddenly, Last Summer morphed into a verifiable mess. ", However, it became more eminent that his single status bordered on his sexuality as time went on. Clift detested Waynes antiquated male constraints. 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. In a new documentary, myths and assumptions about the Oscar-nominated heartthrob who struggled with his sexuality are replaced with the little-known truth. Whatever relationships Clift may have had, he was circumspect. If you have a story that tracks along that line, that will feel true to people. Unlike many of his handsome contemporaries, he never had a blonde bombshell hanging off his arm. We collect and tell stories of people from all around the world. 2023 Cond Nast. But her heroism didnt end there. His injuries included a broken nose and jaw, a fractured sinus, and deep cuts across his face that called for extensive plastic surgery. 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. She developed an intense decade-plus obsession over the young actor, even financing an experimental play, "Mexican Mural" for him. 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. 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. Contact sheet from LIFE photographer Peter Stackpoles shoot on a Paramount lot with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1950. But before the film could be released, Clift passed away, wholly without fanfare, at the age of 45, succumbing to years of drug and alcohol abuse. His father, William Brooks "Bill" Clift (1886-1964), was the vice-president of Omaha National Trust Company. With alarm bells screaming in his head, James raced outside to fetch a ladder, climbing up toward Clifts bedroom window. Like them, Clift was comfortable with the full contours, and consequences, of his beauty, playing the object in a way previously preserved for female stars. Soon, Montgomery Clift became almost impossible to work with. Carlo Fiore and Marlon Brando were in . He was one of Hollywoods most desirable leading men, but mystery shrouded his entire private life. He also won a nomination for Best Actor. Free shipping for many products! Taylor had married British actor Michael Wilding in 1952, but by 1956, their marriage was in decline. Elizabeth Taylor stuck by her friends, and Montgomery Clift undoubtedly claimed a special spot in her heart. In his first film, Red River, Clift had the chance to play opposite the western superstar John Wayne. Help us build our profile of Montgomery Clift! Above all, Clift was perpetually curious. More, it analyzes the new view of masculine beauty he helped introduce to the screen. Determined to make it better, he made some key changesand they made allthe difference. The Clift picture didn't pan out either, at least with her promised co-star. "Bobby was a very fine actor, but as you can imagine, he was no Montgomery Clift," she said. Of course, Clift took one of his greatest secrets to his grave. made. Picture 1 of 12 . The Life and Sad Ending of Montgomery Clift - YouTube Montgomery Clift Hid His Sexuality for Years but Elizabeth - AmoMama But that wasnt the wildest part of the story. Every actor was in the midst of fighting their own demons. 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. / Montys face is broken on a wheel. While working in New York in the early 1940s, he met wealthy former Broadway star Libby Holman. . One infamous fact about Montgomery Clift is that he only owned one suit. . Clifts sexuality, like those other 50s idols Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter, was carefully concealed from the public. Hollywood began to see him as hostile and messy and frugal, and Clift wasnt having it. Author Christopher Isherwood aptly illustrated Montgomery Clifts shocking transformation: Nearly all his good looks are goneHe has a ghastly, shattered expression. But remember, Clift was never one to dwell on his looks, and it must have been frustrating that everyone else cared so much. Peace. 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. His interests lay elsewhere. Throughout filming, members of the crew came up with code words to alert everyone about the lead actors level of intoxication. Clift wasn't one to hide a feeling, which made him a great actor and also a terrible straight man. 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. Not only are you not allowed to be smart, but you were not allowed to be funny in the 90s, the actor said of her career. Indiscretion Of An American Wife -- (Movie Clip) Open, Rome High-wattage credits in unusual combination, from David O. Selznick's short feature Indiscretion Of An American Wife, 1954, starring Jennifer Jones and Montgomery Clift, directed by Vittorio De Sica, dialogue by Truman Capote. The film-makers interviewed Bosworth extensively for the movie, but they contrast her words with old taped conversations she had with the actors brother. Which gives that narrative a lot of traction. All his life, it was misery," said McCarthy. Something was seriously wrong. Clift's brother would later come out to say that the actor was bisexual. Indiscretion of an American Wife (1954) - Turner Classic Movies

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