While the press assumed that Balaban and Clift were an item, Clift secretly dated British actor Roddy McDowall. Loy responded to him almost visibly, an observer reportedly once said. Though Prince William and Princess Kate returned to the awards show for the first time since 2020, several other stars looked regal as they graced the red carpet too. Clift's next role as the drifter George Eastman in A Place in the Sun (1951) is regarded as one of his signature method acting performances. The two starred in the 1961 film The Misfits; it would be Monroes last picture before her 1962 death. Every major Hollywood studio wanted to make a deal with Clift and was collectively shocked that a young actor could command such leverage after the release of a single film: "the death knell of the producers and the moguls, and the birth of Actor Power. The New York Times' obituary noted his portrayal of "moody, sensitive young men". Born in Omaha, Nebraska, just after his twin sister Roberta,. 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. 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. 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. Judy Balaban, his daughter, has stated that she had an immediate connection with Clift and the two were "joined at the hip," dating for many months following. A near-fatal auto accident in 1957 changed his looks and sent him into drug and alcohol addiction. But, in general, his relationships with men had more to do with sex than with a deep emotional connection. Clift did the film without pay because he just wanted to tackle this character. He also detested the man. [36], On the evening of May 12, 1956, while filming Raintree County, Clift was involved in a serious car crash after leaving a dinner party hosted by Elizabeth Taylor and her husband, Michael Wilding. 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. "Georgia" meant bad, "Florida" very bad, and "Zanzibar" unworkable. Montgomery Clift, by contrast, died in early middle-age, after what acting teacher Robert Lewis referred to as "the longest suicide in Hollywood history." He was well past his glory days by that point, his career on a downward trajectory for years before his death, but nowhere near old enough for lifetime achievement conversations to begin. In a 1957 issue of McCalls magazine, Clift quipped, "My childhood was hobgoblin, my parents traveled a lotThats all I can remember."[15]. He was a mere seedling of 45. Montgomery Clift is known for his remarkable diversity onset and great looks. Clift is buried in the Quaker Cemetery in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. speaks out against the above mentioned and. After completing John Huston's Freud: The Secret Passion (1962), Universal Studios sued him for his frequent absences that caused the film to go over budget. 'Happy Days's' Anson Williams Divorced the Same Woman Twice after Almost Losing His Life in the Early 2000s, Marlo Thomas Spouse Was a Virgin before Marriage to Mom of His 5 Kids & a Lousy Lover Afterward, Why Is Chris Pratt Receiving Backlash? His parents were Quakers and met as students at Cornell University, marrying in 1914. John Wayne and Montgomery Clift in Red River. Clift reunited with Taylor for "Raintree County," a Civil war era romantic drama. She gave so much as an actress, Clift once recalled. Clift's next major films were "The Heiress" (1949) and "A Place in the Sun" (1951), cementing his romantic lead status. There' s more to Clift than hiding homosexuality, there s pain and romance and passion and hopelessness . Before the terrible incident, the star made a significant impact in the entertainment industry. [33], Clift's first film for Paramount was The Heiress (1949). He was found dead in bed in his New York apartment the morning of July 23, 1966; he was 45. Clift, however, was so unsteady and unstable while filming "Freud" (1962) that his movie studio brought a lawsuit against him (via Vanity Fair). [100] Underactive thyroids also raise cholesterol, which might have contributed to his heart disease. On the evening of May 12, 1956, while filming Raintree County, Clift was involved in a serious auto accident when he apparently fell asleep while driving and smashed his car into a telephone pole minutes 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, But. Sadly the star got involved in a car crash that ruined his face and impacted his life and career. With the revelatory documentary Making Montgomery Clift, filmmakers Robert Clift (born eight years after his famous uncle's hyper-mythologized 1966 death) and Hillary Demmon compellingly. His father, William Brooks Clift was the vice president of Omaha National Trust Company. The red carpet played host to a number of looks; some classic, some curious, some daring, and some just begging to be turned into memes. Six Hollywood Stars on the Good Life, With a Nod to a Classic Perfume. The information in this article is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Clift, Robert Anderson and Hillary Demmon (2018). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. 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. For his character's scenes in jail, Clift spent a night in a real state prison. BIPS // Getty Images Monty was also impressed with Elizabeth, at least physically. Clift's second film role, though it premiered first that same year, was The Search which earned him his first nomination for an Academy Award for Best Actor. The song "Montgomery Clift" by British band Random Hold concerns the legend that Clift enjoyed hanging from the window ledges of tall buildings. He tended to funnel most of his energy into intense rehearsals with acting coach Mira Rostova who accompanied him on set. 5, 114, Montgomery Clift: A Biography, Patricia Bosworth, 2012, List of actors with Academy Award nominations, List of actors with two or more Academy Award nominations in acting categories, List of LGBT Academy Award winners and nominees, "Montgomery Clift Dead at 45; Nominated 3 Times for Oscar; Completed Last Movie, 'The Defector,' in June Actor Began Career at Age 13", "Scandals of Classic Hollywood: The Long Suicide of Montgomery Clift", "Making Montgomery Clift: truth behind gay self-loathing myth". 108, 135, Jerome Robbins: Something to Dance About American Masters, Season 23, Episode 1, Somewhere the life of Jerome Robbins by Vaill, Amanda, p. 240, Jerome Robbins: his life, his theater, his dance by Jowitt, Deborah, pp. kofender. Directed by George Stevens. Kramer, Stanley and Thomas M. Coffey (1997). 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. James Franco's brother, Dave Franco, portrays Montgomery Clift in a short scene in the movie. 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. [27], At age 25, Clift's first Hollywood film role was opposite John Wayne in the Western film Red River whose director Howard Hawks was impressed by his recent stage performance and was willing to sign him with no strings attached, which greatly appealed to Clift's sense of independence. He wasnt solely an actor, she said. 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. Ex-lover Larson said in the film that Clift actually preferred his work after the accident to his performances before. (1936), Clift with a sultry Marilyn Monroe in a souvenir photograph taken at San Franciscos Fairmont Hotel, which once boasted a variety of alluringly named nightspots, including the Venetian Room, the Squire Room, and the Tonga Room. Please fill in your e-mail so we can share with you our top stories! Yet, according to a new documentary, titled Making Montgomery Clift, the stars substance abuse had nothing at all to do with his sexuality. When he took his final curtain call, Clift was just 45 years old. Posted on October 17, 2012 by sheila. Clift's life was derailed, however, by a terrible car accident in 1956. Clift was also a Hollywood maverick of sorts, choosing to remain independent at a time when most actors were under contract to the movie studios, per Vanity Fair. Clift was unhappy with the quality of the script, and reworked it himself. that benefits the victims. The story of Clift's devastating car crash varies somewhat from one account to the next. Clift, presumably an introvert, would have been super frustrated to know his physical look would be a topic for national speculation. The actor died there on July 23, 1966, of an apparent heart attack. Still makes me weak in the knees. A studio portrait of Montgomery Clift before his accident on 01 January, 1940 | Photo: Getty Images. [85][86] McDowall devoted himself to Clift entirely, and he moved from Los Angeles to New York to be closer to his idol. Ah, Monty. [47] Director Stanley Kramer, later wrote in his memoirs that Clift "wasn't always close to the script, but whatever he said fitted in perfectly" and that he suggested Clift turn to Spencer Tracy to "ad lib something" when he struggled to remember his lines for his one scene. Little did he know, he was always destined for something more. Guided by the key biographies of Clift, they reliably parrot a narrative which paints the actor as a startlingly attractive and prodigiously gifted man who, according to one notably overheated tabloid TV show became a drug-addicted alcoholic living in a self-imposed hell because he had a secret he couldnt live with. 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. When he resumed filming on "Raintree County," he was a different man, one left in chronic pain because of the accident. In one instant Montgomery Clift's life changed forever. Clift first met Elizabeth Taylor in 1949, and she felt an immediate attraction to him, according to People magazine. [21] At age 20, he appeared in the Broadway production of There Shall Be No Night, a work which won the 1941 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. 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 . If you have a story that tracks along that line, that will feel true to people. 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. Inside, he found Clift dead: he was undressed, lying in his bed still wearing his eyeglasses and with both fists clenched by his side. Lorenzo came into the picture when Monty was at his lowest. Often, suicides are never fully understood. 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. "Red River," which has become a classic western, featured Clift starring opposite John Wayne. 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