I thought he was dead. McCarthy ran to fetch Taylor, Wilding, and Rock Hudson and Hudsons wife, Phyllis Gates, who all raced to the site of the accident. Clift simply wasnt cut out for school, and unlike his siblings, turned his back on higher education. 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. He also sunk into alcoholism, of which Taylor and some other friends tried to help him. 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. The next year, Taylor used her status to wrangle an acting part for Clift; she demanded that he be a part ofSuddenly, Last Summer. Some sources have the crash occurring when Clift was leaving the event, while others state he was on his way there. Were always looking for your input! 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. His body was found by his live-in personal secretary/companion Lorenzo James, who found Clift lying nude on top of his bed, dead from what the autopsy called "occlusive coronary artery disease." From the start, Clift was framed as a rebel and an individual. But 1961 audiences were too close to the day-to-day deterioration of its stars to see the meditative genius of The Misfits. Clift once said, The closer we come to the negative, to death, the more we blossom. He took himself to that precipice, but he fell straight in. Universal Studios actuallysued him for the losses they incurred because of his troublesome behavior. Who is Montgomery Clift dating? Montgomery Clift girlfriend, wife Hes never sucked my cock.. Picture 1 of 12 . Montgomery Clift was an undeniably attractive man, and before long, he'd cultivated a rather passionate female fan base. In fact, the attitudes he and his family held towards his relationships with men were strikingly modern. 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. After all, his leading lady was none other than the beguiling Elizabeth Taylor, and together, these two stars were pure fire. Of course, by this time, Clifts drinking problems werent much of a secret, making him a liability to the studio. When he read the story that criticized his bare-bones wardrobe, the scandalized actor lashed out with a biting response. Clift gained actual scars from some filming mishaps. From Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Sex, Deviance, and Drama from the Golden Age of Hollywood Cinema by Anne Helen Petersen, to be published by arrangement with Plume, a member of Penguin Group (USA) LLC on September 30, 2014 2014 by Anne Helen Petersen. at the best online prices at eBay! There were no wild outings for this reserved homebody. . A successful man in the business world, Bill nevertheless deferred to this strong-willed, opinionated woman at home. A fellow actor asserts that Clift was equally confident in his sexuality. Montgomery Clift didnt need much to keep himself happy and entertained. 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. As such, Taylors intervention only enhances the very real love story that existed between her and Clift. All Rights Reserved. Even his diet was rather spartan: orange juice, steak, and eggs. Peace. Because of the accident, the studio worried about the success of Raintree County. He wasnt solely an actor, she said. Montgomery Clift girlfriend, wife list. During the peak period of his career, the actor and some Hollywood friends were returning from a party held at Taylor's home. He advanced a collaborative approach with his directors, working over scripts and making suggestions for edits. His parents were Quakers and met as students at Cornell University, marrying in 1914. Marlon Brando girlfriend, wife list. to add information, pictures and relationships, join in discussions and get credit for your contributions. 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's ancestry was English, as well as more distant Scottish, Dutch, German and French. 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. Tellingly, theyre always pitched under working titles like Beautiful Loser and' Tragic Beauty. He also won a nomination for Best Actor. Carlo Fiore and Marlon Brando were in . According to this version of the story, when photographers arrived, Taylor announced that she knew each and every one of them personally-- and if they took pictures of Clift, who was still very much alive, shed make sure they never worked in Hollywood again. 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 unspoken truth was that Clift was gay. 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. In Truman Capotes unpublished novel Answered Prayers, for example, the author imagines a dinner party between Clift, Dorothy Parker, and flamboyant stage actress Tallulah Bankhead: . Clift and Taylor would star again in another 1950s film, the Civil War-era drama, Raintree Countythe movie they were making when Clift almost died in the car wreck outside Taylors homeand would remain deeply attached to one another until Clifts death, at the too-young age of 45, in New York City in 1966. . 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. Travel back in time with treasured photos and stories, sent right to your inbox. "Monty," as the performer was known to family and . A way into the 70s, there was more clarification to his sexuality. His smashed face was rebuilt, he reconciled with his estranged father, but he continued bedeviled by dependency on drugs and his unrelenting guilt over his homosexuality.With his Hollywood career in an irreversible slide despite giving an occasional riveting performance, such as in Stanley Kramer's Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), Monty returned to New York and tried to slowly develop a somewhat more sensible lifestyle in his brownstone row house on East 61st Street in Manhattan. It wasnt until years after his tragic passing that Clifts darkest secret finally came out. According to two A-list biographers, the late star was gay. That secret that Clift was gay during an impossible era (the 1930s through the 60s) led many interpreters to conclude that the actor must have led a life riddled with fear and shame. Elizabeth Taylor and Katharine Hepburn came to Clifts defense when the director tried to get rid of him. Lorenzo was one of the reasons.. 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. But even the troubled blonde bombshell recognized that her co-star was in dire straits. Observers also point out that Clift had sexual relationships with women. Have I said something wrong? On the morning of July 23, 1966, Montgomery Clift's housemate couldn't wake the actor. And even then, he didnt live a glamorous movie star existence. Making distraction rewarding since 2017. Assistir 'Indiscretion of an American Wife' online - ver filme completo That, combined with his spiraling alcohol addiction, wrung the youth right out of the handsome actor. Clift was there, as were actors Kevin McCarthy and Rock Hudson, and Hudson's wife, Phyllis Gates, per Vanity Fair. 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Scandals of Classic Hollywood: The Long Suicide of 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. While filmingRaintree County, Clift attended a dinner party at Taylors housebut sadly, he didnt make it home in one piece. 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. Okay, if were being totally honest, Montgomery Clifts reserved lifestyle didnt exactly excite the press; it actually kind of stumped them. John Wayne and Montgomery Clift in Red River. He was not worried [about being gay], Larson asserts in the film. There were questions about the woman in his life and why he was single. 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. Directors Robert Anderson Clift Hillary Demmon Writers Robert Anderson Clift Hillary Demmon Stars 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. They seem to have their stories all written out beforehand., Clifts private life was boringhe didnt date, he didnt flirt, he didnt hang out in public. A bout five years ago, filmmaking duo Robert Clift and Hillary Demmon Clift decided to make a documentary about Robert's long-dead uncle. . Director Joseph Mankiewicz tried to replace Clift, but Taylor and co-star Katharine Hepburn defended and supported him. 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. Clift asserts that the actors use of alcohol and prescription drugs stemmed, primarily, from a near-fatal car accident in 1956. 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. Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? 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. Or, as Bosley Crowther, taking the populist slant in The New York Times, explained, the characters were amusing, but they were also shallow and inconsequential, and that is the dang-busted trouble with this film.. His father, William Brooks "Bill" Clift (1886-1964), was the vice-president of Omaha National Trust Company. The Clift picture didn't pan out either, at least with her promised co-star. But the producer, Sam Spiegel, decided to go forward, no matter the risk. Liz Taylor, Montgomery Clift: Rare Photos, 'A Place in the Sun,' 1950 Unlike many other actors, he didnt jump straight into a contract. But right as filming began, he realized that hed made a terrible mistake. Not only did he rarely go out in public, but he also didnt date. Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? He was, at least in the press, something approaching asexualthe title of a Motion Picture article, authored by Clift, declared simply, I Like It Lonely!. It was a huge wager: since everyone knew how much booze and pills Clift was on, he was virtually uninsurable on set. Nothing could have prepared him for what he discovered. And the cherry on top? Teach, I loved the way how he played in A Place in the Sun. It is a feature-length film with a runtime of 1h 3min. The duo eventually got to know each other better, and according to Taylor, they liked each other. He didnt want the studios to dictate the kinds of roles he would play, his nephew said. 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. 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. 3.80. His mother wanted all of her children to be raised as distinguished aristocrats, and as such, little Clift and his siblings received an elite upbringing: private tutors, extensive travel, and language lessons. Something was seriously wrong. He could barely remember his lines and often didnt show up to set. When the press talked about Clift, they talked about the skill and the beauty, but they also talked about what an offbeat, weird guy he was. He was a great talent but the male counterpart to Monroe, lonely, sad, and pitiful. The subject matter, which involved him assisting in the cover-up of a dead mans apparent homosexuality, must have sparked mixed emotions. 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. 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. I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. While she sounds apologetic, the changes were never made. A seeming exception was one in his final years with a man named Lorenzo who had been hired to help him. Contact sheet from LIFE photographer Peter Stackpoles shoot on a Paramount lot with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1950. Clifts recuperation took months, and when he finally returned to set, there was more trouble afoot. "Bobby was a very fine actor, but as you can imagine, he was no Montgomery Clift," she said. Some of the greatest celebrities of the day came out to mourn Clift at his funeral, including Lauren Bacall and Frank Sinatra. If you have a story that tracks along that line, that will feel true to people. ), Elizabeth Taylor, Roddy McDowell, Dean Martin, Kevin McCarthy, Marilyn Monroe, Jennifer Jones, Libby Holman, Thornton Wilder, Salka Viertel, Stewart Granger, Jack Larson, Oscar Levant, Pilar Levi, Giuseppe Perrone, Fred Zinnemann, Frank Sinatra, Burt Lancaster, Deborah Kerr, Abigail Tommye Adams. Contact sheet from LIFE photographer Peter Stackpoles shoot with Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in 1950. I thought he was dead. He immediately returned to Taylors house to notify the party of the bloody disaster. In fact, his doctors considered it amazing that the actor had even pulled through. His other side was mostly hidden and only became widely known after he passed on, thanks to his friend and colleague Elizabeth Taylor. And then there was the physical toll. Montgomery Clift had an encounter with Marlon Brando. Montgomery Clift - Biography Montgomery Clift, Nando Bruno. In Clifts eyes, de Havilland imparted nothing of herself into the role. The most beautiful young man Ive ever seen. 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. Montgomery Clift - Hollywood Walk of Fame 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. However, Clift's life was shrouded by a dark secret that became public after his passing, by actress Elizabeth Taylor. For us, it seemed there was this big difference between what people thought about Monty in the public sphere and what people that knew him would say, said Clift. 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. Courtesy Everett Collection Elizabeth was more visible than the publicity-shy Monty. Heres A Mystery: Why Did Arthur Conan Doyles Son Dress Up Like a Knight? 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. Next came "The Nutty Professor" as Lewis' student, Stella Purdy, who he is infatuated with. It was also a dark, melancholy film: as a review in Variety pointed out, the complex mass of introspective conflicts, symbolic parallels, and motivational contradictions was so nuanced as to seriously confound general audiences, who were likely unable to cope with the philosophical undercurrents of the Arthur Miller script. 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. (The Clash famously referenced that awful scene, which changed the course of Clifts career and set him on a winding path of booze-and-painkiller-fueled decay, in the song The Right Profile from London Calling: I see a car smashed at night. But the drama didn't end there. 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. A Place In The Sun (1951) & From Here To Eternity (1953). Prior to leaving by train for Paris, a married American woman tries to break off her affair with a young Italian in Rome's Stazione Termini. . Little did he know, he was always destined for something more. Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark historyor the chilling secret shared by her and Louis. However, Clift's sexuality was not much of a secret within the movie industry. But for 12 years, he set Hollywood aflame. Clifts lifestyle had the press slotting him in with non-conformists of the dayright alongside hotshots like Marlon Brandobut the actor didnt respond well to being labeled and defined. 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 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. ), William Brooks Clift, Jr. (19191986) (Aged 66 Or 67) (Who Had An Illegitimate Son With Actress Kim Stanley And Was Later Married To Political Reporter Eleanor Clift. We bring you all the headlines and gossip in one place! You see, when Clift sat down to read through the script for The Search,he was less than enthused with the writing. 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. Ad Choices. said: Oh. However, he became more comfortable with her and eventually found it easy to open up about his sexuality. Elizabeth Taylor Tried to Seduce Montgomery Clift - Peoplemag This would not only show off his range but allow him to sidestep any dangers of typecasting. Montgomery Clift: the untold story of Hollywood's misunderstood star The pieces of the puzzle dont quite fit. Luckily, over time, they clawed their way back to financial security. 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. Years before, Clift had battled dysentery, which introduced him to the sinister side effects of pain management. Ex-lover Larson said in the film that Clift actually preferred his work after the accident to his performances before. Still, his second venture was perhaps even more of an impressive feat. This was entertainment at its finest. 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. The Tragedy of Montgomery Clift - TCM Message Boards A portrait of Montgomery Clift acting as Matt Garth in the western film "Red River" on 01 January, 1948 | Photo: Getty Images. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. He wasnt the only one who challenged such norms at the time. He spent a great deal of time and money on psychiatry.In 1956, during filming of Raintree County (1957), he ran his Chevrolet into a tree after leaving a party at Elizabeth Taylor's; it was she who saved him from choking by pulling out two teeth lodged in his throat.
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