When it came to the lengthier scenes, the actor just couldnt deliver; they had to be divided into smaller cuts just so he could see them through. 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. 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. ", A portrait of Montgomery Clift against a wooden backdrop on 01 January, 1948 | Photo: Getty mages. Contact sheets from LIFE photographer Peter Stackpole's shoot on a Paramount lot with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1950. Clift had a fraternal twin sister, Roberta, and a brother, William Brooks Clift Jr, who had an illegitimate son with actress Kim Stanley. The director, Joseph Mankiewicz, was appalled by this wavering professionalismbut when he tried to fire Clift, two angels intervened. . (1950), (originally written specifically for him; the story perhaps hitting a little too close to home) and High Noon (1952).His long apprenticeship on stage made him a thoroughly accomplished actor, notable for the intensity with which he researched and approached his roles. Luckily, although the public was out for blood, there was one woman on his side. He was sick of being a symbol, a symptom, a testament to something. 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. made. From here on out, however, he plunged even further into his addiction. Follow her on Twitter @lizabethronk. 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. Determined to make it better, he made some key changesand they made allthe difference. He also won a nomination for Best Actor. Not only would this film win him respect for his impeccable acting performance, but it would also fuel a brand new cycle of romance rumors. Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun. 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. The two met under the big tent where they performed together. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. After Eternity he dropped out of Hollywood for several years, and signed a three-year contract with MGM in 1955 to make Raintree County, which re-united him with his Place in the Sun co-star Elizabeth Taylor. However, one salient fact remains: Clifts ruined face never made it to the papersIn fact, not one photograph of that night exists. A year and a half away from her own tragic end, Marilyn Monroe described Clift as the only person I know who is in even worse shape than I am. Together, this cast truly reflected a band of withering misfits. Clift was unperturbed by his apparent lack of a love life: he told the press that he would get married when he met a girl he wanted to marry; in the meantime, he was playing the field. When another columnist asked him if he had any hobbies, he replied, Yes, women. But as the years passed, it became more and more clear that Clift wasnt just picky. 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. Montgomery Clift was in relationships with Sal Mineo, Paul Newman, Henry Willson, Jack Larson, William LeMassena, Libby Holman, Maurice Leonard and Arnold Saint Subber. Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor during the filming of A Place in the Sun. Fed up with the script, Clift desperately wanted to change her lines, saying, She isnt giving me enough to respond [to]. Of course, poor de Havilland soon had more than just her prickly love interest to contend with. 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. Merv was a sexual predator who once tried to sexually assault Danny Terrio, then threatened to ruin his career if he talked. His father made a lot of money in banking but was quite poor during the depression. Born in 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, Clift was raised like an aristocrat, with a private tutor and frequent trips to Europe. Sal Mineo and Montgomery Clift were in a rela Montgomery Clift and Paul Newman were rumored Henry Willson and Montgomery Clift were in a Jack Larson and Montgomery Clift were in a re William LeMassena and Montgomery Clift were i Montgomery Clift and Libby Holman were in a r Maurice Leonard and Montgomery Clift are sepa Arnold Saint Subber and Montgomery Clift were Montgomery Clift and Marlon Brando were in a Heart attack (brought on by "occlusive coronary artery disease"), Friends Quaker Cemetery, Prospect Park, Brooklyn, Kings County (Brooklyn), New York City, New York, USA. 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. Of course, as unusual as his lifestyle seemed, healso had a number of interesting routines. There were no wild outings for this reserved homebody. This would not only show off his range but allow him to sidestep any dangers of typecasting. 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. While filmingThe Search,he asked the director to reshoot a scene for one baffling reason: He called a boy dear. But that wasnt all. Allegedly, hed been forewarned that the truth would destroy his career, and as a result, the actor became increasingly wary of appearing feminine in any way. Firstly, he didnt even like Hollywood, preferring to stay in New York as much as he could. Contemporaries like James Dean and Marlon Brando also did. At the age of 25, Clift made the leap to Hollywoodbut he was a rebel right from the get-go. I do not count myself as a member of the ripped-sweatshirt fraternity.. Heres A Mystery: Why Did Arthur Conan Doyles Son Dress Up Like a Knight? But the troubled star. 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. Not only did he rarely go out in public, but he also didnt date. 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. He may have been lonely but the distance he put between his public life and his work life helped keep his mysterious bachelorhood in check. Montgomery Clift had the most earnest of faces: big, pleading eyes, a set jaw, and the sort of immaculate side part we havent seen since. Horrified, James immediately called for help, but of course, it was already too late. He got him going again. "Indiscretion of an American Wife" is currently available to stream on Fubo TV. What happened next has since become the stuff of Hollywood legend. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. She noted that they needed to live a life of equality while being able to get married and adopt kids. 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. Free delivery for many products! Even the press seemed to unintentionally hit upon the one thing he wanted to keep hidden, with titles like Two Loves Has Monty and Monty Clift: Woman Hater or Free Soul?. They seem to have their stories all written out beforehand.. ufff q hombre tan guapo y atractivo, y grn actor ademas, como me hubiese gustado conocerlo con unos ojos maravillosos. Clift detested Waynes antiquated male constraints. He played the desperate, the drunken, and the deceived, and the trajectory of his life was as tragic as that in any of his films. In fact, the attitudes he and his family held towards his relationships with men were strikingly modern. Taylor opened his mouth, put her hand down his throat, and pulled out the teeth. Observers also point out that Clift had sexual relationships with women. As his eyes drifted closed, Clift suddenly veered off the road and drove straight into a telephone pole. For example, in 1956 Taylor likely saved Clifts life when, after he crashed his car leaving a party at her home, she raced to the wreck and literally pulled from his mouth broken teeth on which he had begun to choke. This year the young man . 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 The unspoken truth was that Clift was gay. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. 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. Finally, Clift had a chance to climb out of his slumpbut before he made it over the top, tragedy struck. But something of the old talent remainedor at least enough to earn Clift a nomination for best-supporting actor, playing, in the words of film critic David Thomson, a victim irretrievably damaged by suffering. Plans for Clift to play the lead in the film adaptation of Carson McCullerss The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter fell through, in large part due to his uninsurability on set, and promises of a fourth collaboration with Taylor, this time with producer Ray Stark, never came to pass. Montgomery Clift, Nando Bruno. Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? Thanks for your time! But that wasnt all. Every actor was in the midst of fighting their own demons. Hes so beautiful, murmured Miss Parker. In his eyes, he wasnt a rebel, he was simply an actor who wanted to portray a slice of life. Tired of being boxed in, he stated, I am notrepeat nota member of the Beat Generation. Of course, Clifts words had always been futile in the face of Hollywood. While his brother claimed that Clift was bisexual, writer Truman Capotes unpublished work alludes to Clifts gayness quite explicitly. In 1925 Theodore Dreiser [told such a tale in his] long, oppressively powerful novel, An American Tragedy, which in turn made only a fair movie in 1931. 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. Sensitive, mysterious, brooding, and suspiciously single. Because of the accident, the studio worried about the success of Raintree County. He hated the criticism and the labels, and eventually, he just couldnt take it anymore. 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. He pointed out that she just let the director determine her every move. It wasnt until years after his tragic passing that Clifts darkest secret finally came out. Suddenly, the Clift family was completely broke and had no choice to move to New York. I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. Soon, Montgomery Clift became almost impossible to work with. Clift was so protective of Holman that when offered the plum role of the male lead in Sunset Boulevard, he turned it downreportedly to avoid any suggestion that Libby Holman was his own delusional Norma Desmond, using a handsome young man to pursue her lost stardom. Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIIIs rejected queenbut few people know her even darker history. He had a holistic view.. American actor Montgomery Clift was spectacular on the big screen for his portrayal of sensitive male characters. Benign to most but, in hindsight, highly suggestive. Clift was off the Hollywood scene for four years, within which his career declined. True or not, the resilience of the story is a testimony to what people wanted to believe about the bond between the two stars. Lancaster's . I wanted to figure out why there was such a difference., A deep trove of never-before-revealed evidence makes that disparity bracingly clear. Director: William Wyler | Stars: Olivia de Havilland, Montgomery Clift, Ralph Richardson, Miriam Hopkins Votes: 16,212 4. Above all, Clift was perpetually curious. . Charles Castillo, author of "Elizabeth & Monty: The Untold Story," shared that the actress tried to seduce Clift. Sal Mineo and Montgomery Clift had a relationship Montgomery Clift is rumored to have hooked up with Paul Newman Henry Willson and Montgomery Clift had a relationship Jack Larson and Montgomery Clift had a relationship William LeMassena and Montgomery Clift had a relationship Montgomery Clift and Libby Holman had a relationship Maurice Leonard and Montgomery Clift had a relationship Arnold Saint Subber and Montgomery Clift had a relationship Montgomery Clift had an encounter with Marlon Brando shared a link: https://www.allmovie.com/artist/montgomery-clift-p13682, I never used to like him until I saw 'The Heiress' he really was gorgeous, it's such a shame his life was unhappy. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. "Monty," as the performer was known to family and . Montgomery Clift was an undeniably attractive man, and before long, hed cultivated a rather passionate female fan base. His decline was never explicitly evoked, but with his visage in Raintree County, it was there for all to see. It was reported that Taylor even tried to help him find a partner. Even his diet was rather spartan: orange juice, steak, and eggs. But the drama didnt end there. Oddly enough, when he died, the homocons on Gay Patriot praised him on . Clift wasn't one to hide a feeling, which made him a great actor and also a terrible straight man. In The Young Lions (1958), released just two years after the accident, the pain and resentment seem almost visible. 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. 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. Perkins, who once fended off the advances of Brigitte Bardot, later went to a shrink who maintained that homosexuality could be "cured," and in 1973 he married photographer Berry Berenson. 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. 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. Picture Information. 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. It has a good rating on IMDb: 6.2 stars out of 10. A bout five years ago, filmmaking duo Robert Clift and Hillary Demmon Clift decided to make a documentary about Robert's long-dead uncle. Show more . Unlike many other actors, he didnt jump straight into a contract. .. Allegedly, Rock Hudson was there to pull Clift from the wreckage and it was Taylor who held the stricken actor in her arms. His . It also stresses Clifts crucial role in changing the power balance between actors and studio chiefs in Hollywood, as well as the advancements he brought to film acting. and his wife, the former Ethel Fogg. Okay, if were being totally honest, Montgomery Clifts reserved lifestyle didnt exactly excite the press; it actually kind of stumped them. As such, Taylors intervention only enhances the very real love story that existed between her and Clift. Montgomery Clifts sexuality finally emerged with the help of two biographers, and before long, the public turned him into a gay icon. 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. A still of Montgomery Clift. Clift was there, as were actors Kevin McCarthy and Rock Hudson, and Hudson's wife, Phyllis Gates, per Vanity Fair. I thought he was dead. He immediately returned to Taylors house to notify the party of the bloody disaster. 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. . The film went on to win six Academy Awards, including Best Director and Best Screenplay, and is now hailed as a (flawed) classic. Their claims were deemed reliable because one of the biographers was certified by one of Clift's confidants. He gained excellent theatrical notices and soon piqued the interests of numerous lovelorn actresses; their advances met with awkward conflict. Hepburn was reportedly so incensed by Mankiewiczs treatment of Clift that when the film officially wrapped, she found the director and spat in his face. But 1961 audiences were too close to the day-to-day deterioration of its stars to see the meditative genius of The Misfits. . Suddenly, Last Summer (1959), Columbia Pictures, Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress, Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIIIs First Wife, Larger Than Life Facts About Milton Berle, The King Of TV, Vulgar Facts About Lenny Bruce, Stand-Up Comedys Virtuous Villain, Daring Facts About Gina Lollobrigida, Golden Hollywoods Last Survivor, Stunning Facts About Yvonne De Carlo, The Technicolor Queen. It is a feature-length film with a runtime of 1h 3min. 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. The revelation of his sexuality did not emerge until the 70s, when two high-profile biographers, one endorsed by his close confidants, revealed as much, rendering him a gay icon within the span of two years. Clifts sexuality, like those other 50s idols Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter, was carefully concealed from the public. The most beautiful young man Ive ever seen. Then again, nothing about Clifts life was expected. In 1961, Montgomery Clift went on to star alongside some of Hollywoods greatest legendsMarilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. Whether platonic or not, these two actors shared an undeniable bond that was undeniably strengthened by this one unfortunate event. 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 didnt want the studios to dictate the kinds of roles he would play, his nephew said. 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). Whether morally repulsive or philosophically compelling, The Misfits bombed, only to be recuperated, years later, as a masterpiece of the revisionist genre. When Clift became a household name in the movie industry, his romantic life became a widely-discussed subject by the press. 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. However, the filming of The Misfits had a shadow lurking over it. Contact sheet from LIFE photographer Peter Stackpoles shoot with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1950. Following The Misfits, Clifts disintegration continued. By the time they shared the screen together for the first time, in the classic murder-romance-melodrama, A Place in the Sun (1951), both were bona fide box-office draws: Taylor had been onscreen since she was 10, and Clift a soulful, introverted Method actor who influenced countless others who came after him had already garnered the first of his four career Oscar nominations. However, this was no quick fix. 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. Montgomery Blair. The long suicide was complete. Indeed, it was his apparent lack of romantic attachments that confounded the gossip press the most. Until it sinks into a sentimental quagmire the end, the second movie excels first in being remarkably faithful to Dreisers tale of three pitiful youngsters and in telling the story with the same earnestness and breadth that have made the novel survive as a classic. The documentary was released at the Los Angeles Film Festival and . His interests lay elsewhere. He was the son of Ethel "Sunny" Anderson (Fogg; 1888-1988) and William Brooks Clift (1886-1964). In remembering Clift, McCarthy said, his face was torn awaya bloody pulp. Taylor and Clift: Photos From the Set of A Place in the Sun. There are a few versions that detail the aftermath of Clifts accident, but one has all the drama of a motion picture itself. The unhinged character he played in the film hit too close to home and psychologically drained him. Montgomery Clift Hid His Sexuality for Years but Elizabeth Taylor Knew His Secret & Revealed It after His Death By Olowokandi Fiyin Aug 14, 2021 04:00 P.M. Montgomery Clift made a name for himself in Hollywood with several awards and nominations. In this exclusive excerpt from her forthcoming book, Anne. 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. Montgomery Clift made a name for himself in Hollywood with several awards and nominations. We want our readers to trust us. Throughout filming, members of the crew came up with code words to alert everyone about the lead actors level of intoxication. His leading lady, Olivia de Havilland, disappointed him in every wayand his criticisms were downright brutal. Some of the greatest celebrities of the day came out to mourn Clift at his funeral, including Lauren Bacall and Frank Sinatra. All Rights Reserved. His first two films were smashing successesand for veryimpressive reasons.
