Yet, according to a new documentary, titled Making Montgomery Clift, the stars substance abuse had nothing at all to do with his sexuality. However, he became more comfortable with her and eventually found it easy to open up about his sexuality. Clifts sexuality, like those other 50s idols Rock Hudson and Tab Hunter, was carefully concealed from the public. Fearful for her friends image, she threatened the press: If they even dared to take one photo of her friend, she would personally ensure the end of their careers. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. Making Montgomery Clift, which was co-directed by Clift's nephew Robert Clift (and Robert's wife Hillary. Montgomery Clifts sexuality finally emerged with the help of two biographers, and before long, the public turned him into a gay icon. However, Clift's life was shrouded by a dark secret that became public after his passing, by actress Elizabeth Taylor. The results were not pretty. That secret, depending on your source, was that Clift was gay or bisexual. It turned into John Cassavetes' "Too Late Blues," with Bobby Darrin. made. Just look at the fan magazine titles: Making Love the Clift Way, Two Loves Has Monty, Montgomery Clifts Tragic Love Story, Is It True What They Say About Monty? Who Is Monty Kidding? Hes Travelin Light, The Lurid Love Life of Montgomery Clift, and, perhaps most flagrantly, Monty Clift: Woman Hater or Free Soul?. He was lonely, yet with the help of his refusal to live in Los Angeles or participate in caf society, he was able to keep his private life private. The old Hollywood system was breaking apart and he was a major part of that., The first role Clift took, opposite John Wayne in Red River in 1948, offered a stark contrast in masculine presentations. 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. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Taylor and Clift: Photos From the Set of A Place in the Sun. He surely wasnt a suave Prince Charming, and yet, on-screen, he was a downright masterpiece. With alarm bells screaming in his head, James raced outside to fetch a ladder, climbing up toward Clifts bedroom window. However, his worry began to mount when the actor didnt respond to his insistent knocking. 3.80. 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. 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. Directors Robert Anderson Clift Hillary Demmon Writers Robert Anderson Clift Hillary Demmon Stars From here on out, however, he plunged even further into his addiction. Montgomery Clift and Elizabeth Taylor in A Place in the Sun. Clift's brother would later come out to say that the actor was bisexual. He wasnt the only one who challenged such norms at the time. Born in 1920 in Omaha, Nebraska, Clift was raised like an aristocrat, with a private tutor and frequent trips to Europe. But if you look at his own words, his testimonies about what acting did to him, youll see the culprit. Montgomery Edward "Monty" Clift (October 17, 1920 - July 23, 1966) was an American movie, television, radio, and stage actor who is known for his roles in From Here to Eternity, A Place in the Sun, The Misfits, Red River, and in Judgement at Nuremberg.He was nominated four times for an Academy Award.His great-great-grandfather was politician Francis Preston Blair. Although Clift and Montgomery were only good friends, their coupling inA Place in the Sunhelped drive its popularity. And so he remains frozen in the popular imagination, circa From Here to Eternitythose high cheekbones, that set jaw, the firm stare: a magnificent, proud, tragically broken thing to behold. Montgomery Clift (1920-1966) is one of the most tragic figures in Hollywood history. When interviewed, the "From Here to Eternity" actor would wave it off, noting that he would be with a woman when he finds the right person. Luckily, over time, they clawed their way back to financial security. As to why Bosworth drew on the gay-self-hate narrative, and why that view took hold, the directors blame the homophobia of the time the book was written, in the 1970s. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery. 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. Con Jennifer Jones, Montgomery Clift, Gino Cervi, Richard Beymer. July 24, 1966 12 AM PT. He has a ghastly, shattered expression. And it wasnt just in private record: in October 1956, Louella Parsons reported on Clifts very bad health and Holmans attempts to clean him up. Travel back in time with treasured photos and stories, sent right to your inbox. Sensitive, mysterious, brooding, and suspiciously single. Picture Information. 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. The entire experience had a cursed tinge to it, and before long, it left disaster in its wake. His perpetual question to himself, as he once scribbled in his journal, was, How to remain thin-skinned, vulnerable, and still alive? For Clift, the task proved impossible. Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift in A Place in the Sun. Soon, the washed-up actor was completely out of work. Clift was there, as were actors Kevin McCarthy and Rock Hudson, and Hudson's wife, Phyllis Gates, per Vanity Fair. While filmingRaintree County, Clift attended a dinner party at Taylors housebut sadly, he didnt make it home in one piece. Of course, by this time, Clifts drinking problems werent much of a secret, making him a liability to the studio. In his words, I learned that most writers dont need interviews to write about me. And even more shocking? But when he climbed into the room, he discovered something absolutely gut-wrenching. 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. 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. Montgomery Clift is a member of the following lists: American film actors, Actors Studio alumni and Bisexual actors. He also helped bring a more natural acting style to film. While they may not make old-timers forget the Greta Garbo-John Gilbert embraces of the 20s, Miss Taylor and Mr. Clift lose no chance to show why they are considered two of the hottest juveniles in Hollywood. You`ve being alwasy an inspiration for me. After his accident, Clift had an arduous road to recovery. 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. 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. 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. Clift's reputation in the 1960s was coloured by the brutal comment of Robert Lewis, Clift's teacher at the Actors Studio, who called his late . But just as Clift dove into this exciting new chapter, an unforeseen tragedy changedeverything. The most beautiful young man Ive ever seen. Universal Studios actuallysued him for the losses they incurred because of his troublesome behavior. From the start, Clift was framed as a rebel and an individual. A portrait of Elizabeth Taylor And Montgomery Clift from the film "A Place In The Sun", 1951 | Photo: Getty Images. Woodbury Blair was the son of Montgomery Blair, after whom his great-grandson received his middle name, and wife Mary Elizabeth Woodbury, daughter of Levi Woodbury (1789-1851), United States Supreme Court, and wife Elizabeth Wendell Clapp. Teach, I loved the way how he played in A Place in the Sun. 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. Itd be his only film with Brando, even though the two barely shared the screen. Peter Stackpole The LIFE Picture Collection/Shutterstock. But the press will always be the press, and no amount of Montgomery Clifts ire could change that. Taylor had married British actor Michael Wilding in 1952, but by 1956, their marriage was in decline. He still drank, but not as heavily. If Paramount wanted him, theyd have to give him what he wanteda power differential that would go on to structure the star-studio relationship for the next 40 years. . 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. But this was only the beginning. But this wasnt the actors first time at the rodeo. He died in 1966 at the age of 45. Of course, Clifts words had always been futile in the face of Hollywood. It was a flimsy speculation built on shaky evidence, but with no sign of any real lovemaking in Clifts life, it was all the fan magazines had. 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. He wasnt solely an actor, she said. / Is he alive? 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. Thanks for your time! My mom never told me how her best friend died. I am not one of Americas Angry Young Men. She once lovingly described how she was in awe of the star actor's perfect facial features. Thats not what people would expect from a mother in that period.. Moreover? It was ironic his relationship with the bisexual middle-aged Holman would be the principal (and likely the last) heterosexual relationship of his life and only cause him further anguish over his sexuality.