For such a small, slightly-built man Clift had an intensity and depth to his performance that could eclipse Brandoeven with all that actor's realistic improvisations, impressive physicality and "naturalistic body language." Clift and Brando, along with James Dean, were the three "Method" actors who revolutionized . More, it analyzes the new view of masculine beauty he helped introduce to the screen. Clift did not serve during World War II, having been given 4-F status after suffering dysentery in 1942. At the 2023 SAG Awards, stars opted to wear gowns in every shade of rose, from soft pastels to neon brights. Clift was there, as were actors Kevin McCarthy and Rock Hudson, and Hudson's wife, Phyllis Gates, per Vanity Fair. In a past interview, the star's friend, Kevin McCarthy, explained that Clift drove very high before the accident. Clifts papers include several undated, intimate, tender images of a young Elizabeth Taylor with one of her sons. SAG Awards 2023: See the 34 Best-Dressed Stars. That year, Clift voted for Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire. 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. Films like A Place in the Sun and From Here to Eternity made Clift a rare performer enjoyed by audiences and critics alike, but when he passed away in 1966 aged just 45, the actor had long since become best known for his personal dramas, in particular a disfiguring 1956 car accident that undid his once near-saintly beauty and accelerated his . "I was warned not to trust all the stories," Robert told . He spoke so quietly that at times he was practically inaudible. 1951. On July 22, 1966, Clift was in his New York City townhouse, located at 217 East 61st Street. [33], Clift's first film for Paramount was The Heiress (1949). In a new documentary, myths and assumptions about the Oscar-nominated heartthrob who struggled with his sexuality are replaced with the little-known truth. The story of Clift's devastating car crash varies somewhat from one account to the next. 1960. . [60] According to Clift's brother, Clift was either gay or bisexual. [48] In nephew Robert Anderson Clift's 2018 documentary, superimposed pages of Clift's own heavily annotated original script show that the actor was actually deliberately and consciously performing with his own rewritten dialogue as opposed to confused improvisation. 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. Clift's naturalistic performance led to director Fred Zinnemann's being asked, "Where did you find a soldier who can act so well?" 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. Nevertheless, he showed no bitterness and remained one of Clift's loyal friends. He was involved with the Adventures of Superman actor Jack Larson and theater actor William LeMassena,[69][70] with whom he had a three-year relationship. Edward Montgomery Clift (/mntmri/; October 17, 1920 July 23, 1966) was an American actor. When they left, they got into their . Meeting veteran stage and screen actor Kevin McCarthy in a Hollywood restaurant was a thrilling experience. He and his co-star Olivia de Havilland made an appealing couple in this film adaptation of a Henry James novel. The younger Clift serves the added role of narrator, voicing his journey to discover who the late actor really was, in contrast to what so many others have made him out to be. [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. 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. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. 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. [28] Although filmed in 1946, the film was delayed release until August 1948. 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 'antidote' to Monty was her first disastrous marriage, aged 18, to playboy hotel heir Nicky Hilton, an aggressive drunk who physically abused her. When I saw him entering his favorite restaurant Musso & Frank Grill, on Hollywood Boulevard, where he'd meet every Wednesday evening Karl Malden, Robert Wise, and a . 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. After midnight, shortly before 1:00a.m., James went to his own bedroom to sleep, without saying another word to Clift. He and actor Kevin McCarthy later wrote a screenplay for a film adaptation that was never made. 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. They starred together as romantic leads in a total of three films throughout the 1950s: A Place in the Sun, where, in their romantic scenes, they received considerable acclaim for their naturalness and their appearance, Raintree County and Suddenly, Last Summer, and remained close until his death. [91][92] He was also involved with Donald Windham and his partner Sandy Campbell. Montgomery Clift was not a well man when he agreed to co-star in The Young Lions. Still, the last half of his 20-year 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. He was only 45. Edward Montgomery Clift (October 17, 1920 - July 23, 1966) was an American film and stage actor. Sadly Clift had personal problems and after surviving a terrible car accident those problems only got worse. Part of Clift's mother's effort was her determination that her children should be brought up in the style of true aristocrats. Montgomery Clift would've celebrated his 98th birthday on October 17, 2018. 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. After a break, Clift committed himself to three more films, all of which premiered during 1953: I Confess to be directed by Alfred Hitchcock; Vittorio De Sica's Terminal Station; and Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity which earned Clift his third Academy Award nomination (his second of two nominations for films directed by Zinnemann). He pleaded with her to make changes to her book to correct the mischaracterizations. A PLACE IN THE SUN (1951) Directed by George Stevens. LeMassena remained a close friend to Clift until his death. The schedule for Reflections in a Golden Eye was then set for August 1966, but Clift died in July 1966. 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 had a brother named William Brooks Clift Jr., [44] Marilyn Monroe (in what was to be her last filmed role) was also having emotional and substance abuse problems at the time; she described Clift in a 1961 interview as "the only person I know who is in even worse shape than I am". "Georgia" meant bad, "Florida" very bad, and "Zanzibar" unworkable. He advanced a collaborative approach with his directors, working over scripts and making suggestions for edits. for The Theatre Guild on the Air. In addition to lingering effects of dysentery and chronic colitis, an underactive thyroid was later revealed during the autopsy. When Clift made his debut on Broadway at the age of 14 he began to realize how isolated and special his childhood had been, a fact he struggled with all his life. 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. Place in the Sun. 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. 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. The information in this article is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. [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. 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. (Photo by Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images) Happy birthday to Montgomery Clift, who would have turned 97 today. Clift also took to drinking, and his addiction was well known amongst his colleagues. [7][8] Clift had a twin sister, Roberta (who later went by "Ethel"), who survived him by 48 years, and an older brother, William Brooks Clift, Jr. (19191986), known as "Brooks," who had a son with actress Kim Stanley and was later married to political reporter Eleanor Clift. A seeming exception was one in his final years with a man named Lorenzo who had been hired to help him. It wasn't long before he made his way to New York City. Continued pain from his injuries led him to rely on alcohol and pills for relief as he had done after an earlier bout with dysentery left him with chronic intestinal problems. In "The Heiress" (1949), Clift took the role of romantic lead, playing up his charismatic good looks. To help build their case, the film-makers had rare access to the actors archives. 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 . Born in Omaha, Nebraska, just after his twin sister Roberta,. Thats not what people would expect from a mother in that period.. 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. [10][11] She spent the rest of her life trying to gain the recognition of her alleged relations. He owed his life to his close friend Taylor, who immediately went to help him when she learned of the incident. He was not worried [about being gay], Larson asserts in the film. [96], Clift supported Adlai Stevenson in the 1952 United States presidential election.[97]. In 1965, he gave voice to William Faulkner's writings in the television documentary William Faulkner's Mississippi, which aired in April 1965. Tellingly, theyre always pitched under working titles like Beautiful Loser and' Tragic Beauty. Happy Birthday, Montgomery Clift. In 1939, as a member of the cast of the 1939 Broadway production of Nol Coward's Hay Fever, Clift participated in one of the first television broadcasts in the United States: the Hay Fever performance was broadcast by NBC's New York television station W2XBS (the forerunner of WNBC) and was aired during the 1939 New York World's Fair. But, in general, his relationships with men had more to do with sex than with a deep emotional connection. Clift was willing to waive his fee entirely but accepted the supporting part with minimum compensation. [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. On the morning of July 23, 1966, Montgomery Clift's housemate couldn't wake the actor. This page was last edited on 19 February 2023, at 06:50. The condition (among other things) lowers blood pressure; it could have caused Clift to appear drunk or drugged when he was sober. Whether he was leaving from or arriving at Taylor's home, it is an undisputed fact that Clift drove his car into a telephone pole and suffered horrific injuries, including significant facial damage (via Vanity Fair). Along with Marlon Brando and James Dean, Clift was considered one of the original method actors in Hollywood (though Clift distanced himself from the term); he was one of the first actors to be invited to study in the Actors Studio with Lee Strasberg and Elia Kazan. His heavy drinking had already been a problem before his crash and the addition of taking painkillers afterwards only accelerated his decline, according to Vanity Fair. How Montgomery Clift Self-Destructed. In fact, the attitudes he and his family held towards his relationships with men were strikingly modern. The accident permanently damaged his looks and health, and his fortunes were further eroded by his abuse of drugs and alcohol. [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. [20] Clift proved to be a successful young stage actor working with, among others, Dame May Whitty, Alla Nazimova, Mary Boland, Cornelia Otis Skinner, Fredric March, Tallulah Bankhead, Alfred Lunt, and Lynn Fontanne. She was so. 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. During the filming of Raintree County (1957), Clift suffered a near-fatal automobile accident on his way home from a party at the home of his friend and costar Taylor. The New York Times' obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men". . Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor lounging on the grass during the filming of Raintree County in Indiana, 1956. [66][67][68] Clift's longest relationships were with men. No evidence was found that suggested foul play or suicide. It all took a toll on him physically and mentally, and movie studios became wary of hiring him. At his best, Montgomery Clift was a better actor than Marlon Brando. He earned an impressive four Academy Award nominations during his career. "[142] "Monty Got a Raw Deal" by rock band R.E.M. that benefits the victims. 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. is also about him. Clift was unhappy with the quality of the script, and reworked it himself. He had terrific roles in "The Misfits," "Confess," and he was last seen on screen in "Freud," which earned him his highest fee ever. Marlena Brause Self Employed. 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